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| MEDIUM GEESE | |
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Not many breeds of domestic geese originate in the UK. These do include, however, the Brecon Buff, the West of England and, arguably, the Pilgrim (a light breed). Medium geese are mostly between 16-20lbs in the gander and 14-18 lbs in the goose. Originally, they were the 'farmyard geese' - not so large as to need intensive feeding, but big enough to provide a suitable carcass for the table at Christmas. The females will generally lay two sittings of eggs (if the first sitting is removed, and the goose not allowed to go broody). The first batch is typically up to 18 eggs, followed a few weeks later by a smaller clutch of up to 12. A suitable number of eggs for the goose to incubate is 7-9. These breeds provide good mothers which will go broody and sit if given a safe nest and a clutch of eggs. In contrast, exhibition Toulouse are often less inclined to go broody. At the other extreme, light breed Chinese will not usually sit until late in the season, after they have laid a great number of eggs.
The history of the Brecon Buff was documented by its originator, Rhys Llewellyn from South Wales. He discovered buff females in the farmyard geese of the Brecon Beacons and, using a white gander, produced a pure-breeding buff flock in 4-5 generations. These geese are still very popular in Wales where both exhibition breeders and farmers like to preserve high quality stock. Adult birds weigh 14-20 lbs, the weight depending upon how they have been fed. The plumage is an attractive shade of buff, the main body feathers being fringed with almost white. This is the same pattern as the Toulouse, for the European domestic geese all derive from the same basic stock - the greylag. The Brecon is distinguished from its larger relative, the American Buff, not only by its weight but also by its pink feet and beak, which are characteristic of this breed. |
Pied geese are also typical European geese. The pied or 'spot' gene is popular in many countries surrounding the North Sea and Baltic. In Sweden, large grey back 'spot' geese are known as Skane gans; in the UK 'spot' geese are called the Grey Back and Buff Back. There are differences in size and shape between the regions, but the 'spot' colour pattern is the same. Buff Backs are similar in weight to the Brecons. They can be produced by crossing a white goose with a buff gander, but several generations are required to perfect the markings.
'Pomeranian' is strictly a type rather than a colour. This breed is standardized in Germany in white, whole grey and greyback. In the UK, greyback is the popular colour, but the grey is equally popular on the continent. The greyback Pomeranian differs from the UK Greyback in that the undercarriage has a single, central lobe in the Pomeranian. The German birds also have a distinctive, bold head, and an orange-pink bill - rather than just plain orange.
West of England These, and the Pilgrim goose, are probably the 'common goose' of Victorian England. It was recognized that, in farmyard geese, the gander was often white and the goose grey or grey and white. So continued selection for this characteristic eventually produced a breed which was sex-linked for colour. This also happened in other parts of Europe where the Normandy goose of France, and the Shetland goose, also exhibit this sex-linked colour characteristic.In the West of England, and Shetland, the gander is white but the goose is grey and white in a saddleback pattern. The genetics of this colour form are not fully understood.
For more about other breeds follow the following links.
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The Brecon Buff
Buff Back and Grey Back
Pomeranian