_Fatteners._ In previous years these fatteners depended largely upon the geese produced on the Rhode Island farms for their supply. In the past few years, however, the supply from this source has dwindled greatly and the bulk of the geese for fattening are now shipped from Prince Edward Island, Canada, in carload lots. Such summer geese as are now fattened still come from Rhode Island and are brought in by truck. The fattening season begins in September and lasts until Christmas. Some early goslings are bought in June but there is not as good a profit from the summer geese, the demand and prices being adversely affected by the supply of spring ducklings available at that time.
Experience and good judgment will benefit the goose fattener greatly when purchasing his supply of geese for fattening. What he wants are goslings, not older geese, which have made a good growth and which have a large frame but which are in poor flesh rather than fat. Such geese will make more rapid and more profitable gains. When geese are bought for shipment by the carload from Prince Edward Island, they should be penned and fed at the point of shipment for 3 or 4 days before they are loaded in the cars, so as to put them in shape to stand the journey well. On the farms from which they come, the goslings are not fed much and in consequence are not in shape to stand shipment.
_The Goslings_ which are secured from the farms for fattening are mainly common geese of no particular breed. Some pure bred geese are also obtained as are some first crosses between the pure breeds. A cla.s.s of geese which is obtained in some numbers from Prince Edward Island and which is much desired is the so-called "Mongrel" goose. These are obtained by breeding a Wild or Canadian gander to geese of dark plumage similar to the Toulouse or African. The mongrel geese much resemble the wild gander in type and color and are in demand on the market because of their wild or gamy flavor. They bring about 10 cents per pound more than common geese. The market, however, is somewhat limited. These geese will not breed although the females will lay eggs. Where the wild gander is mated with light colored or white geese the offspring will have more or less light colored feathers and will not as closely resemble the wild parent and for this reason are not as desirable.
_Shipping._ The geese are loaded into stock cars into which three separate decks are built to accommodate them. From 1200 to 1400 geese can be loaded into a car thus arranged. The journey usually takes about 5 or 6 days and some fatteners send a man along with the car to feed and water the geese 2 or 3 times during the trip. If a man does not accompany the car, buckets of corn should be placed in the car for feed and some potatoes should also be supplied as these will serve in place of drinking water. If the car is not subjected to unusual delay, the geese should come through in good shape, but if much delayed there may be 25 to 100 geese dead when the car arrives at its destination.
When the car arrives at the end of its journey, the geese are unloaded and driven to the farm where they are turned into the fields together in a large flock. The fields in which they are thus kept should have a supply of growing green feed or gra.s.s and a good supply of fresh drinking water. They are kept here until they are wanted for the fattening pens which may be from a week to 20 days after their arrival at the farm. While in this large supply flock they are fed on corn and gra.s.s which they can get for themselves.
_Summer Geese_ to be fattened are placed only about 50 in a pen or enclosure; and are provided with a few boards set on posts to protect them from the hot sun. The later geese are fattened in lots of 3 or 4 hundred or even more, depending upon how many pickers are available to be kept busy. It is for this reason also that the geese are not all put on the fattening ration at the same time, but are started at intervals so as to have a continuous supply coming along to keep the pickers busy.
The geese not put in the fattening lots at the start are left in the fields to grow and develop until they are needed.
The enclosures in which the geese are penned for fattening are small lots or fields enclosed by stone walls or board fences 2 to 3 feet high. These lots should be dry and well-drained, a location on a side hill being good for this purpose. The fattening lots must be kept clean and stagnant water must not be allowed to stand in the lots as this is likely to cause sickness, especially diarrhoea. These yards should be plowed up each spring and planted to oats, corn or some other growing crop to sweeten them. No houses or shelters are provided for these geese but some yards are somewhat wooded which affords a measure of protection from the wind.
_Feeding._ When the geese are placed in the fattening lots, some fatteners prefer to fast the geese for from 3 to 5 days, giving them no feed but plenty of water to drink. This gives them a good appet.i.te and puts them in good shape for fattening.
The geese are fed three times a day, in the morning, at noon and at night. The morning and night feed usually consists of a moist mixed feed fed in troughs; while the noon feed is whole corn thrown on the ground.
The use of one feed of corn a day is supposed to check any tendency toward diarrhoea. In very cold weather some fatteners feed the mixed feed at noon and the corn at night. At first the geese are not given all they will eat but are worked up gradually, increasing the amount each day until they are getting all they want. As a rule the geese will drop back a little in feed consumption after they reach the point where they get all they want and from this time on, the feeding must be very carefully watched to see that they are not given so much that they will leave some to sour which would cause diarrhoea. The morning and noon feeds are lighter, the heaviest feed being given at night. The bird"s appet.i.tes will vary from day to day so that it is best to make the rounds twice in feeding to make sure that they have enough and that none is left. If any is left it must be gathered up and carried away.
No provision is made for furnishing the fattening geese with green feed or roughage. The practice with respect to drinking water varies. Some fatteners keep a supply before the birds in troughs which must be washed out each day to keep them clean. Others furnish no water except that used in mixing up the feed.
_Corn Meal_ is the princ.i.p.al ingredient of the fattening mixture. To a sack of corn meal is added 10% beef sc.r.a.p and five good shovels of grit or medium sized gravel. In addition some fatteners add 10% of flour to bind the mixture together. This material should be thoroughly mixed up in a dry state as a better mix can be obtained in this way. It is then mixed up with water, the practice here varying. Some fatteners mix in a trough with boiling water a short time before feeding, while others mix it with cold water letting it soak over night and adding more water in the morning if it is too dry at that time. It should be mixed until it can be shoveled readily but should be quite solid, never in a sloppy condition as this is likely to cause diarrhoea. A little salt may be added, if desired, as an appetizer. While corn meal is generally used, hominy may take its place. After the geese are started on the fattening ration, this must be given throughout the fattening period. Changing to some other feed will throw the geese off feed and cause a loss.
_Feeding._ When the mixed feed is ready it is shoveled into boxes or barrels on a low wagon and driven to the fattening lots where it is shoveled into the troughs for the geese. Ordinary V-shaped troughs are favored instead of flat troughs as the latter afford hiding places for rats which may cause damage in addition to the feed which they eat by frightening the geese.
Geese are easily frightened and must therefore be handled rather carefully and gently as a severe fright will interfere with the gains they will make. Some fatteners provide electric lights where the geese rest at night so that they can see and will not be so likely to become frightened.
When the geese are ready to be killed they are driven up to the killing house and into a pen where they may be easily caught. Each goose as caught is examined to see whether it is in condition for killing. If it is not it is put back with a later lot for additional fattening. Good condition in a goose is judged by its weight when handled and also by the condition of its breast and the fat on its back. A good place to test geese for fat is on the side of the body just below the point where the wing joins the body. If fat can be seized between the thumb and finger at that point, the goose is in good condition.
_Dry Picking._ All fattened geese for the Boston market are dry picked.
The goose is held between the knees of the picker with the wings held fast against the sides of the body. The head is grasped by the left hand, the mouth forced open and the veins in the back of the throat just beyond the skull severed with a sharp knife for the purpose of bleeding the bird. If the bird is to be stuck, which is not always done, the point of the knife is then plunged through the roof of the mouth to the brain. The legs are then seized in the left hand, together with the ends of the wings to prevent the goose from struggling and the goose is struck once or twice sharply on the back of the head with a club held in the right hand. This is for the purpose of stunning the bird. The geese may also be bled by sticking the knife through the neck from the outside just below the head.
The picker then takes his seat beside the feather box, holding the goose on his lap with the head held between his knee and the outside of the box. He proceeds to pluck the feathers as rapidly as possible, removing all the feathers except the main wing feathers or those of the first joint of the wing and the feathers of the neck half way from the head to the body. All the soft body feathers are thrown in the box and saved.
The coa.r.s.er feathers are thrown on the floor. The down is removed by rubbing the moistened hand over the skin. To save the hands, ordinary rubber heels dipped in water are often used. Sharp knives are also used to shave off the pin feathers which cannot be plucked and any down not removed by rubbing.
The dry picked goose presents a much better appearance than a scalded goose and the feathers are more valuable. The skin of a dry picked bird is not so likely to be rubbed off in removing the down.
_The Value of the Feathers_ is sufficient to pay for the cost of the picking or perhaps a little more. The cost of picking in the fall of 1920 ranged from 15 to 20 cents per goose where the picker was boarded and 24 cents without board. A good man can pick about 40 geese in a day.
Women are not employed for this work as the geese are too big and too strong for them to handle.
After the geese are picked, the blood is washed from the head and the feet washed if that is necessary. They are then thrown into barrels of cold water to cool and must be left there until the body heat is entirely removed. The wings are tied in place by means of a string or tape tied around the body and wings and the legs may also be crossed over the back and tied. The geese when ready for market are either shipped in by express or are taken in by automobile truck.
_Gain in Weight._ In fattening according to the methods described above a gain in weight is secured of from 6 to 8 pounds per goose. This does not represent the total gain in value, however, for the fattened geese will bring more per pound as a result of their finished condition. The fattened geese when ready for market will weigh from 12 to 20 pounds.
Weights taken on two carloads of fattened geese showed an average weight of 14 pounds. On December 2, 1920, fattened geese from these farms were bringing 42 cents per pound on the Boston market while the mongrel geese were worth 50 cents or a little better.
The question may arise as to the size of farm necessary to carry on a business of this sort. Using the methods employed about Boston a farm of 30 acres would be sufficient to handle 20,000 geese in a season. In selecting a farm for such a purpose, a location should be chosen where there are no close neighbors as the odor from the geese and yards is offensive to most persons.
_Selling Geese Alive._ Most farmers who raise only a few geese ship them alive, either sending them to some commission house or selling them to someone who makes a specialty of fattening. Such geese are often in poor condition and bring the lowest quotation. Large coops similar to those used for turkeys should be used in shipping geese.
_Killing._ Where geese are killed on the farm for shipment to market they are usually hung up by means of a cord about the legs. When geese are to be dry picked the veins in the throat just beyond the skull are first severed with a long bladed knife such as used for killing turkeys to cause good bleeding and the point of the knife is then plunged through the roof of the mouth to the brain performing the stick which serves to make the feathers come out more easily as with other cla.s.ses of poultry. Since it is rather difficult to dry pick geese, they are usually scalded or steamed and where this is done, the stick is not made but after the veins in the throat are cut, the goose is stunned by a blow on the back of the head with a short club. A blood can or weight is then hooked through the lower bill which keeps the neck straightened out and prevents the blood from being thrown about the room or on the birds.
The birds are allowed to hang until they are dead and thoroughly bled out.
_Picking._ When geese are dry picked, the feathers are removed just as soon as the birds are stuck for the longer the delay the harder the feathers pull. The wings are picked to the first joint and the feathers of the neck half-way to the head. The soft pin feathers and fine down may be removed by shaving the skin or rubbing the body with moistened hands will partially remove them.
Usually geese are scalded or steamed for picking. For steaming a wash boiler three-quarters full of boiling water and with a burlap sack tightly stretched over its top can be used. The goose is simply laid on the sack and the steam coming through the burlap steams the feathers and makes them easy to remove. The breast should be steamed first, then the back and then each side. Two or three minutes will be time enough to complete the steaming. The feathers are steamed until they pull out easily. The goose must be kept moving to prevent the flesh from becoming scalded and since the breast is especially tender it is usual to lay the head under the breast to prevent the latter from scalding. After steaming the body feathers are removed and the bird is then singed over a flame furnished by alcohol burned in shallow tin plates, in order to remove the down. The down may also be removed by sprinkling powdered rosin over the goose"s body which is then dipped into hot water. The hot water melts the rosin which sticks to the down and the down and rosin can then be rubbed off together.
Geese may also be steamed by scalding slightly in hot water and then wrapping tightly in burlap or some other cloth. They are kept wrapped for about five minutes which allows the steam to work thoroughly through the feathers which can then be plucked easily.
Exactly the same methods can and often are employed in dressing geese as are used with ducks. The reader is therefore also referred to the material in Chapter VII.
There seems to be no great insistence on the part of most markets for dry picked geese. Some will pay slightly more for the dry picked birds but others make no difference.
_Packing for Shipment._ After picking, the geese are washed and then placed in cold water to cool. Ice water is best for this purpose and is essential in warm weather. The carca.s.ses must be allowed to remain in the water until they are thoroughly cooled, which will take at least one to two hours. If any animal heat is left in the bodies, they will spoil very quickly. Often the carca.s.ses are dipped in hot water, before being thrown in the cold water, to plump them. After they are thoroughly cooled, the geese are packed in barrels for shipping. If the weather is cool they may be packed in well ventilated barrels without ice, but if the weather is warm, cracked ice must be used in packing, proceeding in the same way as when packing ducks as described on page 109. It is always risky to pack without ice.
_Saving the Feathers._ Goose feathers are valuable and should therefore be saved when the geese are plucked. The soft body feathers and the coa.r.s.er feathers should be kept separate. The feathers should be cured by spreading them out in a thin layer on the floor of a loft or room, stirring them up occasionally until they are thoroughly dried out, when they can be sacked and sold. Failure to dry the feathers thoroughly will result in their heating and molding with the result that they will arrive at their destination in bad shape and will be worth less money.
The soft body feathers of geese are practically all used in making beds and pillows while the quills are sometimes utilized in making toothpicks and cigarette holders. Prices for goose feathers in June 1921 were as follows:
Pure White dry picked 75c per lb.
Good average white " " 65c " "
Largely gray " " 55c " "
Largely gray scalded 40c " "
Long goose quills 5c " "
These prices were for good dry feathers.
Plucking Live Geese for their Feathers
In the days of feather beds and home-made pillows the practice of plucking live geese for their feathers was very common. Now, however, with the demand for goose feathers less and with the opinion of some breeders that plucking geese is both cruel and injurious, the practice seems to be decreasing. Many goose raisers in the South and a less number in the Middle West and North however still pluck the feathers from the live geese prior to the time of moulting. The frequency with which the picking is done varies greatly, some picking as often as every six weeks during the spring, summer and early fall while others pick twice, once in the spring and once in the fall, or once in the spring only. Geese should never be picked during the late fall or winter when the weather is cold or during the breeding season. Both young and old geese are plucked and the average yearly production of feathers per goose is about one pound. When the quills of the feathers are dry and do not contain any blood, the feathers are ripe for picking. In plucking, a stocking is placed over the head of the goose and the goose held on the lap and between the legs during the process.
An a.s.sistant to hold the goose during the plucking simplifies the work greatly. In plucking, part of the soft feathers of the breast, sides, abdomen and back are taken but these sections should not be plucked clean. It is especially important that enough short feathers be left to support the wings.
After plucking, the feathers must be cured before they are shipped. This may be done by spreading them out on a floor as described for the feathers taken from slaughtered geese or they may be placed loosely in burlap sacks and hung up in a garret or loft. Hanging in this way and in the loosely woven sacks, they are subjected to a good circulation of air and will dry out without heating. Sacks of feathers should not be piled or packed closely together, on top of one another or even be allowed to lie on the floor until they are thoroughly dry as otherwise they are almost sure to heat and mold.