Raising geese for down...anyone?

[Beekissed]

Well, if you've ever been under a down comforter, your own body heat is sort of reflected back at you times ten! Plus, with its insulating abilities, I bet the bottle would stay warm for some time. I think the chicks will love it! Like having a stuffed animal to sleep with.....if one could put a clock in if for a heart beat, even better!

 

[Ace]

I wouldn't mind trying it. I'm raising up an Embden for a Christmas goose and have a good amount of other geese to pair off. Just though...how many geese does it take to really start getting enough down to be worthwhile?

 

[love blrw]

I have to let you know that I took care of a wild goose for a few days while waiting for animal control to pick him up (he had been hit by a car). Now I have 20 chickens, and the smell does not bother me, but the smell of goose droppings seems much more pungent. After three days I was happy to see him go.
But goose meat is very delicious and if you are going to raise them for down/feathers and meat and put a pen up away from the house, I think that is a great idea.
If you wash the geese before you cull and then drop them into hot bath before you pluck, maybe you would only have one more washing to do. I would think that drying would be the hardest thing to do. Maybe use a zipper pillowcase to hold them in while you dry in a dryer.

Is it profitable? Well geese are rather large, but they love to forage. We have many domestic geese that are in our park and only survive by handouts and foraging. I think it sounds like an interesting venture. Any start up will cost you money, but if we are thinking locally, then down is a good source of padding for blankets, etc. You'll also have meat and eggs, maybe you can sell them also. And the guard factor is a very good thing. I love having my dog for the guard factor alone (besides the fact that we love her).
Good luck!

 

[Beekissed]

Went to buy a pair of 3 mo. old Emden cross geese today and met with nothing but frustration. You have to understand that ads like this don't pop up around here just every day, so I leaped on it. A pair of geese for $12. First add I've seen for the breed I want.

First, the directions weren't accurate...but then, noone around here knows where they live! I've not met one person who could give accurate descriptions of landmarks, road names or mileage to where they live. I wasted a monumental amount of gas and time driving around and stopped to ask for directions twice.

Second, the lady said they would be there all evening. I finally find this place and they are not home!

Third, the geese are loose in the yard and are very healthy and pretty but the place looked like it was straight out of the movie "Wrong Turn", or for you older generations, think Tobacco Road, Deliverance, Grapes of Wrath... Yeah, they were probably healthy as horses, as most of these inbred, rough livin' stock are, but I still worried about their health.

Moot point, really, as I didn't stick around to be chopped into little pieces and served to the malformed inhabitants of this hollow of horrors! THEN, the lady leaves a message on my machine and says she's sorry she missed my call as she was outside all evening. She must have been meaning to call someone else and saw my number on the caller ID, as I did indeed already speak to the lady and she was NOT outside all evening, as I was actually on her premises.

So....no geese for down and, by golly, I'm not running all over creation to buy any. Next time, the person will meet me halfway at a public place at a prescribed time.

One of my pet peeves, BTW...unreliable people with the wrong directions to their home. I've been duped like this quite a few times.

 

[Beekissed]

Update on this topic from BYC:

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1028485#p1028485

I'm definitely adding geese to my SS animal list. Seems to me, in hard times, it may be beneficial to have an animal that can produce eggs, meat and warm clothing...not to mention keeping the lawn mowed close.