Roman Goose

The Roman Goose, now more commonly known as the Tufted Roman Goose or Roman Tufted Goose, is one of the more common domestic breeds of goose. The Roman Goose and the Tufted Roman Goose are only named differently because of the fact that the latter has a tuft of feathers on its head.

The domestic Tufted Roman Goose has its roots back in the Danube River area of Europe and also Italy, with the breed being recognised back to several hundred years BC.

Roman Tufted Goose - Joe Thomissen - CC-BY-SA-3.0

The Roman goose is identified by its pure white plumage, blue eyes, orange or reddish legs and pink bill with white bean. Male and female Roman geese will look identical, although the male is likely to be slightly larger. In terms of weight, the Roman Goose is one of the smaller varieties weighing in between 4.5kg and 5.5kg.

The Tufted Roman Goose looks a great deal like the Embden Goose, although far smaller and lighter, but the normal tuft of feathers is a characteristic that sets the two apart. The tufts of feathers are smaller than a crest would be, and subsequently less pronounced.

The relative small size of the Roman Tufted Goose makes it generally unsuitable to be a bird bred for its meat, being financially unviable. This though doesn’t prevent it being a popular breed for many smallholdings. The Roman Goose is recognised as having a rather friendly nature, making it a good family pet. Whilst these geese may make a lot of noise, something that makes them useful as guardians of property, it is normally a noise related to delight.

An additionally benefit of keeping Roman Tufted geese around is the fact that they are an excellent form of insect and bug control for a garden. Bugs make up a large part of the bird’s diet, and will happily turn over rocks in search of the delicacy.

Although known as the Roman Tufted Goose it is quite possible to find them without the tufts. Indeed whilst a tuft-less Roman Goose may be rare in the United States, it is far more common in places like the United Kingdom, although in essence the two birds are the same.

It is now more common to see a Roman Goose in competition, or as a family pet, rather than in any commercial setting. Many people find that they do make good pets and can be quite friendly with their owners.

Copyright - First Published 4th March 2010