38 



LE550NS IN POULTRY KEEPING — SECOND SERIES. 



From one to fpur females are mated with ea«h male. Young geese are disposed to pair. 

 As tlie ganders grow older they will usually.serve more mates, but they do not copulate indis- 

 criminately as fowls and ducks do. Kach gander serves only his own mates, and an unmated 

 goose in a flock in which all the ganders have other mates may be entirely neglected. For this 

 reason goose growers often put an extra gander with the flock to pick up and mate with any 

 neglected or discarded females. Usually when a gander and goose have mated pnce they are 

 faithful to each othet- as loni; as allowed to remain together, and often refuse to take another 

 mate for a long time after being separated. This trait makes it possible once the geese are 

 mated to allow as many families as desirable to run in one flock, even though they be of differ- 

 ent breeds. 



Houses and Fences. 



Geese require very little shelter, and the heavier breeds are restrained by almost any sort of 

 low barrier. They do not seem to mind severe storms in the least, but will lie down on the 

 snow, draw their feet up into their plumage, and seem supremely contented, no matter how 



Flock of Breeding Ceese in 'PonJ, 



cold or rough the weather is. I have some this winter that have gone into a small shed with 

 a cockerel for which they seemed to have a special liking, but as soon as the cockerel was taken 

 away quit going under cover and remained out in severe sleet storms, A low rough shed open 

 to the south will provide all the shelter needed, and it need not be much larger than will give 

 the flock standing room under it. My own experience with geese has been limited to small 

 numbers, but though I have always provided shelter for them, and kept the floors littered the 

 geese have made so little use of these comforts that continuing them seems more in the line of 

 satisfying my conscience than, providing for their needs. Sometimes they have to be confined 

 at night for protection, but, as a rule, they can lake care of themselves. 



Care of Breeding Qeese. 



Geese breed best on pasture with streams or ponds accessible. They require little grain if 

 the pasture is abundant. If pasture is short it may be supplemented by grain and vegetables. 

 In winter they should be fed mostly on vegetable food, cut clover, alfalfa, cabbage, beets, 



