Gosling noticeably larger than the other - why?

[KathiQuacks]

I made a post earlier about my 2 goslings arriving from Metzer Farms. Both female, 1 Buff, 1 African.

My Buff is noticeably larger than my African, and I’m wondering why this may be? Don’t get me wrong, they are both big babies!! I just thought they were supposed to be about the same size? Is something wrong?

They look like the right breeds, they have the correct leg bands. They’re both active, eating, drinking, talking.. I’m just very confused!

 

[DemeterAD9]

When it comes down to hatchling sizes, IMO it’s all about the egg size. Big eggs make big chicks. But humidity and how big the air cell gets also has an effect on chick size. I had bought chicks from Meyer hatchery. Received Jersey giants, brahmas, and mixed bag bargain chicks with 2 being bantams. You would think the Jersey giants would be sizable because Jerseys should lay big eggs. Well they were about the size of the bantam chicks. I assume they used young hens as breeders. The brahmas on the other hand, huge chicks.

 

[Goosebaby]

Egg size absolutely makes a difference like @DemeterAD9 said, big babies come out big eggs. Sometimes this can mean that they’ll be larger birds but genetics is a better determination of that.

Buff geese are a larger breed than Africans though so this size difference is normal. African’s are 12 to 15 lb birds (small to medium breed) whereas Buffs are 14 to 16 lb birds (medium to large breed). So what you can expect is that a female African will be around 12 or 13 lbs and a female buff will be 14 to 16 lb birds. The higher estimates are generally what ganders reach.

 

[KathiQuacks]

I considered it could be egg size. I didn’t realize Africans would get down to the 12 lb range! Makes me feel better.