Geese

Once common on farms in the southeastern United States, the Cotton Patch goose gets its name from the tasks it performed. These geese weeded cotton and corn fields up until the 1950s. Cotton Patches are remembered in the rural south for helping many farmers and their families survive the Great Depression by providing a regular source of meat, eggs, and grease.

 

In all the bloodlines, the males are found to be all or mostly white with a small amount of dove grey. Inversely the females are mostly dove gray to brownish in color with variable amounts of white in their feathers. They have pinkish to orange feet and have blue eyes.

 

The geese lay large white eggs, with about 4-7 eggs per clutch. In the past, a good goose could lay up to 90 large eggs a year. The eggs are tasty, and their meat is flavorful. Ganders weigh 9-12 lbs. and geese 8-10 lbs.

 

Today, they are listed as THREATENED on the Conservation Priority List.

 

Info provided by ~The Livestock Conservancy~