G EESE

1. GEESE Volume 1 2014 Best of Breeds Save the Heritage Geese! Toulouse Goose: Multipurpose Breed Includes: • Guard… Goose? The History of Raising Geese • Pros and Cons of Owning Geese • A Gaggle of Geese: Tips on Goose Care • Delicious Goose Recipes • And More!

2. Welcome to the Farm… See more great articles and posts at… weheartpoultry.wordpress.com! Welcome to the Farm

3. I have looked around in stores for magazines that are about geese only, but all I find are duck and waterfowl magazines. Not worth buying unless you’re looking for ducks or chickens, too. So I decided to make my own magazine about these amazing feathered friends. So… what are geese? Geese are part of the domesticated group called poultry, which also includes peafowl, chickens, ducks, quail, turkeys, and more. Geese serve an important role in our lives as a source of down and feathers, meat, eggs, “guards”, weeders, and even pets. Now you might be asking about how you would raise them right. So, how do you care for geese? Simple enough, just give them a good shelter, a place to “graze”, some feed, and fresh clean water. They are cheap and easy to raise. So what if you raised your geese until they were big, fat, and perfect for your holiday dinner? Well, butcher your bird and cook up some delicious roasted goose! There are also special articles about Best of the Breeds, Rare Breeds, and more! See how to raise your own geese for 4H, and also find some awesome tips for showing your bird! Editor’s Note Alexandria Brown Editor's Note

4. Save the Heritage Geese By Alexandria Brown “Geese are social, intelligent birds that tend to get along with other livestock, from chickens to donkeys. They may get aggressive during the breeding season, but that doesn’t mean these fowl deserve to be characterized as barnyard fiends.” Traditions are an important part of our lives. They give you a chance to celebrate life, what you love most, and your history. Raising heritage geese is an old tradition that is rarely practiced today. Heritage geese are a traditional livestock that were raised by farmers in the past, before the drastic reduction of breed variety caused by the rise of industrial agriculture. Since no one practices this tradition anymore, the population of heritage geese is declining. These geese should be saved. The tradition of raising heritage geese is not practiced often. Due to today’s industrial farms that rely upon only a few specialized types of livestock, the heritage geese’s population has decreased dramatically. Now only a few farms raise these geese. A few farms, like Dave Holderread’s Waterfowl Farm and Preservation Center, Flip Flop Ranch, and Sassafras Valley Farms, stick to their tradition of raising heritage geese. Connie, owner of Sassafras Valley Farms, said on her website that “We are one of the very few farms that raise geese in this part of Missouri, and people call me the goose lady, owner of the oddball farm (as far as pastured animals go), but I find the title, ‘goose lady,’ endearing.” Save the Heritage Geese

5. Flip Flop Ranch is known for its collection of Cotton Patch geese. The owner of the Cotton Patch geese, Tom Walker, once said: “Over a period of three or so years I traveled more than 10,000 miles to Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee trying to find as pure as possible some Cotton Patch geese. I have breeding pairs representing the best that I could find during that time. I hope that there are enough good quality Cotton Patch geese remaining to re-establish this lovely, mild-tempered goose to its erstwhile purity.” I have raised geese for only a year, but I am already in love with these birds. I am willing to carry on the practice of raising heritage geese for many years to come, and I hope that future generations will find that raising geese is special, too. Heritage geese are on the brink of extinction because they are not often raised. When geese first came to America, they got their place as a number one source of meat, eggs, fat, down, and feathers. However, when the commercial farming of chickens and turkeys came into existence, the number of geese sadly declined. Save the Heritage Geese

6. The American Livestock Conservancy (ALBC) found that four of the domestic goose breeds were critically endangered, or close to extinction. That means their numbers were less than 500 breeding birds. Those four breeds are the American Buff, Pilgrim, Pomeranian, and Roman. Added to the list are the Cotton Patch and the Shetland. The Sebastapol (a Russian breed that is identified by its curly feathers) is classified as rare, with less than 1,000 breeding birds. The African, Chinese, and Toulouse geese are in the Watch category, meaning that there are fewer than 5,000 breeding birds. The number of the Heritage geese is still declining. The geese serve as an important genetic resource (non-heritage breeds, like the industrial form of the Toulouse goose, are descendants of the heritage breeds), and when these breeds become extinct, their unique genes are lost forever. That way, they can’t be used to make new and improved breeds. The disappearance of heritage geese means losing part of our history that we cannot get back. To save the heritage geese, raise your own to help get raising geese back in business. Also, donate to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy to help them find out how low the population of geese is, and spread the word. Save the Heritage Geese