The Pilgrim Goose

The Pilgrim Goose remains one of the more popular breeds of domestic duck, although there is some slight concern about overall numbers. It is a breed particularly favoured by smaller farms and domestic keepers of geese.

The standardisation of the Pilgrim goose is accredited to Oscar Grow a waterfowl breeder from Missouri. The breed itself is more likely to have originally come from Europe, and in particular it is said to have been a common British bird during the nineteenth century and earlier.

Pilgrim Geese - Redleg - Released into PD

The standardisation has lead to distinct colourisation characteristics, and the Pilgrim Geese breed is one of the few that can be identified sex wise by its colours. Ganders are mainly white, although some light grey can often be found on secondary feathers as well as around the rump area. Ganders also have blue eyes. Pilgrim geese, the female of the breed, are light grey in colour with some white around the head area. The female also have brown eyes.

When newly hatched the Pilgrim Goose can quickly be sexed, with males a light yellow with light beaks, and the female hatchlings a grey-olive colour with dark beaks.

The Pilgrim is regarded as a medium to small size goose, and a gander will normally weigh in the region of 6.4kg, with the mature female Pilgrim goose a kilogram lighter. The size does make it a good table bird.

Both the ganders and the goose of the Pilgrim breed will have orange feet and shanks and also an orange bill. The bill of the Pilgrim Goose should also be knobless, and the presence of a knob is a sure sign of crossbreeding.

There are a number of reasons as to why people like to have the Pilgrim goose on their property. The female is normally a decent layer, and in two clutches will normally lay about 30 eggs. The Pilgrim has also got a very docile temperament, and when raised from hatchlings will have a sweet nature that allows them to be more of a pet than anything else. The Pilgrim is also relatively hardy and will gain the majority of the food intake needs from foraging and grazing.

The Pilgrim Goose is recognised as being one of the quieter members of the species, although they can still be an effective guardian of property, as they can be very possessive. A good flock of Pilgrim geese can be a great addition to any holding.

Copyright - Originally Posted 5th March 2010