Geese

[Munch]

Did the butcher see my BIL coming when he bought a free range goose for £67. It was about 6kg

[Bramble-Poultry]

at the wholesale market we took some of our turkeys to, they also were selling goose, and an oven ready one, about 12lb dressed, was going for around £25 each. Thats a trade price, so you can double it for retail.

Free range turkeys were selling for around £1.80 - £2 per lb

[chris]

@ chrismarks - we are now based just outside rhayader in mid wales and will be rearing norfolk geese and brecon geese this summer for the table.

we have just finished off our christmas with 150 turkeys going off, surprisingly after that lot we had pork for christmas dinner!

we agree with mell about not breeding brother to sister if you wish to retain some for breeding, but it is indeed a recognised practice (terminal matings) for all birds intended to be culled for meat as you will not proliferant bad genes from the initial cross as all offspring are then killed.

Good to know, thanks. It's a bit of a trek for me, but we'll see! May be nice to pop up for a nose either way () once you're all sorted (I hear you recently moved).

[Glutton4...]

I took this picture this morning. They usually fly over twice a day, to and from the reservoir out the back. This morning they decided to stay and graze. I counted about eighty of them!

[Glutton4...]

Canada Geese, if you're wondering. Sorry, I couldn't get any closer!

[Bramble-Poultry]

@chrismarks - you are more than welcome, best to give us a shout though before as we arent always in, depending on whether we are at markets etc.

i am not allowed to advertise my website on here, but if you PM me i can send you contact details

@glutton - canada goose - hmm tasty. as a non-native species they are classed as vermin and as such there is no closed season on them so you can "acquire" one at anytime (as long as you observe strict safe gun laws) - well worth it. The goose you can crown and roast the breast, the legs can go into a confit and teh neck can be plucked, skin carefully removed and used as a rudimentary salami skin which you stuff with teh chopped up back meat and herbs and spices. not a lot to waste on a goose!

[Glutton4...]

Thanks for the heads-up - will send my Dad out tomorrow with his gun! My three Embdens like to have a shouting match with them!

[Hilary B]

I've kept geese a few times, first set were a trio, the gander was half-brother to the geese, no apparent problems with the few they hatched (they just weren't very good at the business average of less than 1 reared per year). I think the pair (best I had) were also half-siblings, they hatched and reared a handful each year (which was all we wanted) with no problems at all, but after 4 or 5 years, for no obvious reason, the goose just died.
The ones we acquired after that never quite hit it off, and that was just before we moved anyway. I think they did well for the neighbour whose property they moved themselves to!