Bantam geese are a terrific choice in case you’ve determined to start out your individual or increase your duck flock. Contemplate one among these three breeds of bantam geese when elevating waterfowl.

Silkie Geese

These pleasant little bantam geese will catch your eye and seize your coronary heart. Their delicate, fluffy feathers lack barbicels (as do the feathers of Silkie chickens), including exponentially to this breed’s plush-toy look.

Reaching an grownup weight of roughly two kilos, Silkie geese are light, pleasant and inquisitive birds that make affectionate pets. They forage ably and make brief work of the slugs, grubs, beetles and different bugs they arrive throughout throughout their explorations.

Accessible in an array of colours, together with black, snowy, gray and white, you most likely received’t need Silkie geese for his or her egg manufacturing. However they greater than make up for that with their attraction.

Our Silkie geese have been fairly content material being toted across the yard, fortunately nestled in our sons’ arms. 

Name Geese

Enormously fashionable with waterfowl breeders, Name geese are the topped cuties of duckdom.

Totally grown at simply over 1 pound, you may simply acknowledge Name geese by their giant eyes, tennis ball-shaped head, teensy beak and spherical, compact physique.

Their tiny measurement outcomes from the explanation for his or her domestication. They have been the authentic decoy duck, utilized by Dutch hunters centuries in the past to lure wild Mallards.

As of late, Name geese are raised primarily as exhibition birds, though their ultra-friendly nature makes them good pets. Whereas there are a number of sorts of Name geese, the colours acknowledged by the American Poultry Affiliation embrace white, snowy, gray, buff, blur and pastel.

One essential observe: though the identify “Name” is believed to originate with the Dutch kool, or lure, a reference to their function as looking decoys, Name geese are additionally recognized for his or her calls. Based on duck knowledgeable David Holderread, creator of Storey’s Information to Elevating Geese, the Name is without doubt one of the noisiest of all duck breeds … one thing to remember when you’ve got close by neighbors.

Australian Noticed Geese

Regardless of their identify, these bantam birds have been developed in Pennsylvania. They’re the results of cross-breeding Mallard, Name and Northern Pintail inventory with an unidentified wild Australian duck.

Australian Spotteds inherited the most effective options from their progenitors. They’ve the Name duck’s pleasant, lovable nature, the Pintail’s teardrop-shaped physique and the Mallard’s hardiness and glorious foraging talent. Topping out at about two kilos, the Australian Noticed can be the most effective layer amongst the bantam geese. The breed produces between 50 to 125 cream, blue or inexperienced eggs per 12 months.

Three varieties can be found: greenhead, bluehead and silverhead. All characteristic the distinctive flecks that give the breed its identify.

Australian Spotteds are the proper selection when you’ve got standing water wherever in your property. They love gobbling up the larvae mosquitoes lay on the floor of nonetheless water. Though they’re succesful flyers, Australian Spotteds are homebodies, preferring to remain close to their coop. 

This text about bantam geese was written for Chickens journal on-line. Click on right here to subscribe to Chickens journal.