Pilgrim Geese

[RoboDuck]

Thanks. My wife and I have been sitting here for a while checking lots of hatcheries. We finally found 2 place that sell hatching eggs. I have contacted them to check availability and hope to get some eggs from two different places. After they hatch, I will pick a female from one place and a male from the other to be absolutely sure they are of different blood lines and then sell the rest. From what you say it sounds like a pair will work fine. I really appreciate your input.

 

[bluejeans]

I have pilgrims geese the best cheapest thing to raise for greens is barley.. or oats . 50 lb will set you back about 20 bucks if you buy it in feed store but will gice you lots of greens .

just say you want whole barley or oats not special planting oats.. you can raise it in your house or green house.. barley germinates in about 3 days and grows fast if kept arm oats takes a little longer .. the Vikings raised barley for livestock feed it grows good even in some artic climates.. I have barley right now in my grreen house .I wold think a fller could get it to germinate under black plastic out side fairly easly . it germinates and grows good in my not heated green house .. I planted it was below 0 at night still came up in green house..

it one of my iowa boy secrets that I use in high country new mexico.. And what a joy to walk in the green house while out side every thing is dead or just white..

 

[RoboDuck]

I have lost track of where I post things. Anyhow, Brown Fox Farms sells hatching eggs for Pilgrims. I spoke to the lady tonight and she was the nicest person. They are a small farm that does first come, first served ordering max order of 6. I am #4 in line...woohoo. Crooked Creek Farm was the other place that sells the hatching eggs. I can't wait to get them and get them incubating.

 

[livininbrazil]

I found an old thread through my Google search and, yes, they are named after the original breeder. I'm not into showing so I don't need that high quality. My original choice was Toulouse but then someone mentioned the Pilgrims to me. I very much prefer them now. I don't like the geese with the big bumps on their heads like the Africans. Only the Production Toulouse was what I was looking for as we didn't like the Dewlaps. Pilgrims have a very sleek, neat look to them. Maybe since you have them, you know..... Do they do best as a pair or would they do better as a trio? Or do they even care?

I have pilgrim-type geese. The original gander has his favourite Mrs, but also mated the past two years with another goose. However, she was definitely the under-goose and this year she´ll have her own gander. They´re so happy in a pair. Another gander was with 3 geese, but has his favourite Mrs. The other two geese(female) paired off together as if a pair and raised their goslings (fathered by this gander) together. They chose pairs.

 

[tbishop]

It sounds like folks are getting set for spring. I would love to hear from people who live in the Northern United States. I have 4 ganders and 6 geese and live in northeastern Minnesota. I'm hoping to find folks in Wisconsin, Michigan, Maybe even North Dakota who are also raising them. Kinda compare notes and share what cues bring on breeding.

 

[Ash-Rose Farms]

hey all i live in wi but far as i know mine hasn't start to lay yet am i the only one??????

 

[tbishop]

I'm in NE Minnesota- no laying here either. Last year they started end of April. This year might be later...

 

[Ash-Rose Farms]

mine just started this week finally! tbishop i hope its not that late for you this year

 

[tbishop]

Well about 2 weeks ago I notice a couple of the geese were not with the group. I got nervous until I found them setting on a nest together. The next day one of the older geese had run the younger ones off. I left her alone until last weekend. As she didn't move, I decided to move her and make sure she had eggs under her. There were 25 or so! On advice from a more experienced breeder, I took 9 of the eggs inside to my incubator. The rest fit nicely in her nest. I HOPE things go well and we have a bunch of babies in a few weeks!

I just saw I had made a post in this thread last year. I wanted to update. I have 1 4 year old gander, 3 year old ganders, 2 2-year-old geese, and 4 year-old geese. One of them hatched from an egg I got off of Ebay. I'm not convinced she's a pilgrim so I have held her out of the group. She'd rather be with the ducks anyway...

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm in NE Minnesota- no laying here either. Last year they started end of April. This year might be later...

Takes a while to warm up [to laying] the further north you are.