Geese (Anser: gray geese, Branta: black and white geese) are monogamous and faithful. And great guardians. The male is called gander. The female goose has a bigger pot belly. They can be 30 years and be fruitful from their third year.
The eggs are edible.
The first moving thing that a goose chick (gosling) sees will be followed as his mother. This can also be a dog or a tractor.
A pair of geese graze about as much as a sheep. I use them as lawn mowers. If they are small and flufy (even without feathers) I let them stay in a small loft. If they have free range they never use the loft, not even in winter.
They eat up to a kilo of grass per day! Some forums say that you need 50m2 grass per goose. I count approximately 250m2 per goose. And they keep the grass (too) short. One or two times a year I go there with a lawn mower to cut the long and rugged shoots, and to mow the germinating acorns away. When the grass stops growing the geese are ready to hibernate. In the freezer.
They are large birds, but there is not much flesh.
They also eat bark of young trees. I once wrongly suspected hares and rabbits. (And therefore caught and eat them. Sorry guys.)
They also lusts kitchen and garden waste. But you should apparently test it. One year the gaggle eats also tomatoes, rose hips and /or cheese crusts, the next year they do not even look at it.
In a gaggle are always a few geese on the lookout. They are great guards. The others can meanwhile quietly graze. When in danger, the guards alert with their honking. The Romans used them already as alarm.
They provide pens and down.
Foie gras (fatty liver) is known and notorious.
The eggs are edible.
Skin and fat makes up about a not inconsiderable proportion of 1/3rd of the harvest. So a sin to throw it away. In humans, skin is the largest organ! Our skin has an area of 2 square meter, and a weight of about 15 kg for an adult.
Skin is cut into narrow strips and, together with the abdominal fat melted in a pan. This results in a large mug goose fat per animal. Keeps really long in the refrigerator.
The remaining skin, I prefer some more crunchy. So I let it bake longer. Meanwhile, I cut with kitchen scissors into the pan shrinking strips into small pieces. The half ends up in a portion of rice with curry, the other half in potatoes with mustard. So nothing is wasted.
After boning bones and remains are boiled. This produces a fine broth. I pour it out (to use with soup), so the remains cool faster and can be fully unfleshed. (And remember to remove the marrow out of the neck.)
The bones themselves afterwards go in a hot stove, and the ashes (lime and minerals) are for the compost pile.
S(c)hmal(t)z or goose fat
is at room temperature a liquid yellowish white fat.
It has a delicate flavor and is used in the cuisine of the Perigord when cooking poultry and baking potatoes. Goose fat contains about 25% saturated fat, 60 to 70% monounsaturated and 10 and 15% polyunsaturated fatty acids (including omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids). This approximates goose fat the composition of widely acclaimed olive oil...
Of saturated fatty acids is known that they increase the blood cholesterol and thereby increase the risk of heart disease. In contrast, the monounsaturated fatty acids may have a protective effect on cardiovascular disease (by raising or maintaining the "good” HDL cholesterol and slightly lower "bad ”LDL cholesterol).
Can you name five waterfowl? Johnny : Two swans and three geese.