FATTENING AND MARKETING GEESE 



scribed are used in parts of Europe for the produc- 

 tion of the enlarged goose livers which are em- 

 ployed in making "patte de fois gras". 



Methods Used on Fattening Farms 



As previously mentioned, a few farmers make a 

 specialty of bujang the geese in their section of the 

 country in the fall when it is too late for serious 

 trouble to develop from hemorrhagic septicemia, a 

 disease similar to fowl cholera, and to fatten or fin- 

 ish them in large flocks for the Thanksgiving and 

 Christmas markets. Methods are employed in dif- 

 ferent sections which differ quite widely. 



On a farm in the Middle West the geese are col- 

 lected from the general farms where they are pro- 

 duced in small flocks and brought to the farm where 

 they are kept in flocks as large as 1,000 or even 

 more, and are allowed to run in a cornfield or or- 

 chard. They are fattened for about a month. Com 

 on the cob and plenty of water is kept before the 

 geese all the time and if they are running in a corn- 

 field they eat the leaves off the com stalks for rough- 

 age. Roughage is supplied if not available other- 

 wise and straw, hay or vegetables are utilized for 

 this purpose. 



No shelter is provided during mild weather, the 

 geese getting such protection as they can from the 

 trees or com stalks. If the weather turns unusually 

 severe, the geese are generally driven into sheds or 



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