Large Dewlap Toulouse: How do they get so big?

[texascowboy1979]

So I ordered a Large Dewlap Toulouse chick last year.... this is the picture on the site...

and Here is my Girl 1 Year Old...

So is the dewlap size related to diet? My Dewlap Toulouse is on Pasture, Grasses, and Weeds. So she's fit and trim. She is not over feed and has pleanty of wide open space. I wanted to know what diets your Geese have. My baby Dewlaps that I just recived are HUGE, its hard to belive there only 3 / 4 weeks old. They are on Chick Feed at least for the next few months. They get feed in the Morning and Evening. During they day they are in a small grass run that I move around.

 

[StevenW.]

It takes up to 3 or 4 years for them to fully mature. They should be old enough to be put on Waterfowl grower...

 

[Balbinka]

I don't know much about Dewlaps, I sure think they are adorable!
But a lot of them I see are overweight. There tends to be a lot of fat splooshing out of the chest and over the legs.

Maybe it's just skin?


I think yours looks good, it seems like one of those things that'll take time.
The fully developed ones with the very large dewlaps are usually about 4-5 years old (from what I have seen in my area).

Hopefully, someone who raises these beautiful birds can chime in for you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I like the way yours look texas, they can have major problems when they get over weight..

 

[StevenW.]

Quote:
Yep all it is is skin! This breed gets very very big and take quite a while to fully mature.

 

[pete55]

Hi TexasCowboy

The Toulouse and their type do vary quite a bit so its often helpful to see the adults of the stock you're buying from. I assume the look of the large dewlap and bowed keel appeals to you.

The Dewlap and Keel is usually showing by 9 months and this is a good age to run the babies on to before assessing their quality. In young birds the dewlap should be there but not so pronounced as older birds. It does get larger with age and also becomes more saggy as gravity plays its part (Im thinking of some 'saggy' bits of myself that gravity's not helped with)! However you are right that its size is at its optimum when well fed. Remember the ganders do generally have a larger dewlap so do take this into account when assessing females.

They often develop further in the Autumn of their 2nd year and the Buff females in particular can drop out a better keel after their first breeding season. Im afraid not all Toulouse get so big and we see others much smaller than our lines. However our 'giant' male 'Dewlux' is exceptional and the founder in our lines. We use his bloodline to improve the size and type of our stock and select our breeding geese for these traits.

We do have another line that develops slowly and again forms a large deep keel and good dewlap over a 2 - 3 year period.

This is one of our young ganders at 9 months old. He's got good dewlap potential, strong head, very large body and a good keel (not as deep as I'd like). However he'll change again this year and also alter his carriage and not stand so upright. As I said not the lowest or deepest keel but selected for his huge size and large body frame. His line does develop slowly and he'll look very differentat 2 years old. What has surprised me is that he has fertilised eggs at 10 months old.

They need feeding well with a high quality feed from hatching and up to 6 months of age then their food consumption drops and their development slows down but does continue. We use a high quality Waterfowl starter crumb for 3 weeks then switch to Waterfowl Rearer pellets until about 9 months. This is supplemented with graze and dandelions for young goslings.

Hope that helps

Pete