We used to raise American Buff Geese for our own purposes, hoping to sell breeding stock, but that never worked out for us. 1 Their beautiful coloring, nice temperament, value as sentinels, excellent meat and soft down for pillows were wonderful, and the lovely buff color meant that they don't show the dirt like a white goose will, but you can't sex a Buff by looking at them. So we choose a breed that is far easier to manage!
The End
We stopped raising American Buff geese in 2006; having moved on to Pilgrim geese. Both Buffs and Pilgrims are easy to maintain and have a docile disposition, but Pilgrims can be sexed at any age by their color. We choose to raise only the simplest and most practical breeds on our farm!
Above: The geese in our orchard in early November. The grass is getting sparse, but they enjoy the windfall apples, as well as the grain I begin feeding at this time of year.
Left: The geese enjoying the lush grass in the raspberry patch in early December.
Below: A pond! The geese in a low pasture that collects water most winters.
Right: Buff goose and her first goslings. Click on the photo at right to see more pictures of goslings.
Geese are vegetarians and will happily graze the grass in your pastures, orchard or yard. they love dandelions and will eat them down to the root with great relish. Combined with the fact that their manure makes for a lush lawn or pasture; geese are the perfect environmentally friendly, chemical-free "weed and feed." Our geese enjoy cleaning up windfall apples in our orchard, and always receive our organic apple peelings and cores when I make pies. We feed them certified organic grains when/if pasture becomes sparse.
American Buffs are easy to deal with at butchering time. We have raised 4 breeds of geese thus far, and found our Buffs one of the best. Because of their lovely color, it is easy to pull the feathers from the breast before harvesting the valuable down. The feathers are slightly lighter in color than the down and show up easily if you missed a few. After the feathers are removed, the down is very easy to harvest. I put the down straight from the bird into a pillowcase, fold the pillowcase over twice at the end, hand stitch it closed and then run it through the
washing machine several times. After a trip through the dryer, a new organic pillow is born!
The meat of a goose is tender and juicy and far superior to turkey in our opinion. Geese are easy keepers, so raising them for meat is not a daunting task. As long as you have the grass for them to eat, a water bucket for them to drink from and some grit or small gravel, you are all set! A pond is appreciated by geese, but is not necessary. Ours use a 12" high livestock water tank to bathe in.
Geese have excellent vision, are always alert and will sound the alarm at any intrusion.
American Buff geese, at less than 500 adult birds,
