We have six Toulouse geese that we ordered this past spring and we are trying to fatten four of them up with corn, in a separate pen, before butchering. Normally our poultry is rather lean and I'd like to have goose fat for some French recipes. Has anyone used other techniques to put weight on birds before slaughter?
Fattening Geese?
greenhouse_gal,
I'd almost kill to have live Toulouse geese in my flock and here you are killing Toulousse geese. Don't suppose you'd trade a pair of Toulousse geese for a pair of equally beautiful Brown Chinese?
This message was edited Oct 8, 2010 11:04 AM
Day old bread and doughnuts along with the corn. We've used that to finish geese, ducks (as if ducks need extra fat) and turkeys. You will be amazed at how much fat they probably already have. It lays under the skin, so you don't really notice it while the feathers are on. Ours were about 14 to 18 pounds at 5 to 6 months. We got our bread and doughnuts from a local bakery that saved them for us.
Kelly, if it makes you feel any better, we're keeping two of the Toulouse geese along with two older white Chinese. But we didn't raise them for pets; they're for the table. We have a bunch of geese already in the freezer, but those were African and Chinese and they were very lean, which is why I wanted to try fattening these a bit. I didn't think about bread; that's a good idea, Jylgaskin. Maybe I can find a source for that. How long did you pen and fatten yours?
Leslie
Ours were never in a pen, just in a large fenced in yard. We gave them bread treats all summer a couple of times a week and then got into the doughnuts in Spetember. We butchered in late October, early November.
Toulouse are wonderful at raising their own young. We got 11 out of one goose!
I'm thinking of having goose for dinner. I've wanted Toulouse forever ... bought mine for $9 each ... thinking they were Toulouse. At least it wasn't an expensive mistake.
This message was edited Oct 8, 2010 11:06 AM
To tell you the truth. I wasn't all that impressed with the Traditional Christmas goose. I like our turkeys much better and there isn't as much fat to deal with. I did can some of the clarified fat in 1/4 pint canning jars. It is wonderful for the skin and has tremendous healing qualities. I learned about it from a WWII veteran. He was shot down over Germany and sustained severe burns on his hands and chest. One of the guards brought him goose fat and applied it every day with one of the quill feathers. Not only did the burns heal, but the scars were minimal.He never forgot that guard and I never forgot the story.
Now I use the fat to make a salve mixed with beeswax, cocoa butter and lavender oil. I use it all winter on my hands. It's amazing.
jylgaskin,
Than you for your precious tale. I have a dear friend Mike from grade school who lives just a few miles away from me now after 40 years of being far far away. His father was in the German WWII Army as a young teenager. Mike was born in East Germany. His parents escaped Germany in 1955 when Mike was just 2 yrs old. His father is still with us. He's a tough old guy withf horror stories to tell about the the Communist Regime and being in Hitler's Army and escaping Germany and wandering through Europe as refugees. Mike has a wonderful family and he's a great carpenter. They're wonderful people in our small community.
Kelly in Moxee
I have a funny story about cooking a goose.
Well my DH can be a little qirky once in a while and this was one of those times he use to work at a golf resort and was on grounds crew and they had alot of geese.
Well one day this goose got hold of a power line and let's just say his light went out.
My DH saw it happen and picked up the poor thing and took it too the work shop and when he got there thought it's fresh i think it would be okay to eat it so he dressed it and put it in the shop frig.
When he got home i saw him bringing in a bag and was very intrerested in what he had until i saw it.
I said i'm not eating that and he said i'm cookin it and i'll eat it myself i have always wondered what goose taste like.
He cleaned it and put seasonings on it and just dressed it up so pretty then put it in the oven about 30 minutes later i said something stinks.
He said you are imagineing things and i said well my imagination smells something and it stinks.
He went to the oven and opened the door and he said it just smells gamey thats all and put on some more spice's.
30 Minute's later i opened the back door i said you have got to get that out of the house it really stinks.
It's just about done i believe he said go outside and you won't smell it so outside i went 1 hour after doing a little something outside i came back and the smell made me gag.
There sitting on my stove was the carcass of a goose all dark brown and gross looking and stunk. He said i think it's done and with that he cut off a piece and took a big bite and spat it out in the floor.
He exclaimed as he ran for the bathroom thats the most disgusting thing i have ever tasted and then i heard him throw up.
He tossed it out into the yard and the dogs ran and wouldn't even touch it.
That goose laid in my yard almost 2 weeks and then i made my DH dig a whole and bury it.
For a long time after that when he would say whats for supper i would say how about a nice big Goose.
I imagine the electrocution probably had a lot to do with it. How funny! Actually wild goose isn't too bad if you skin it and wrap it in bacon to cook for a long long time. Lots of bacon. Almost anything is edible if it has enough bacon wraped around it. But I sure wouldn't go out looking for it. House goose is much better. You don't need as much bacon.
I don't think 50lbs of bacon would have helped LOL!
lol harmony that is just to funny. Goose and duck is very good, but they have to be cooked up out of their juices, or they will be very very greasy and oh so ewwwwwwww. I am sure that one tasted bad because of the electricity.
I believe his goose was cooked before he ever cooked it LOL
lol yea exactly.
One of the reasons I wanted to fatten my geese more was because a lot of the French country recipes I like to use call for goose fat. I had no idea it was good for the skin, though. I do remember reading that sheep shearers always had very soft hands from all the lanolin.
The geese went the way of all poultry last Saturday. We just butchered four of them. I was able to separate some of the fat off and render it for use in cooking, and I'm sure there'll be more when we roast them.
We use a chicken plucker to help get the feathers off, although there's still a lot of work left when the plucker is done with them. On the other hand, the same plucker picks chickens clean as a whistle. How do you all pluck your geese?
We did it by hand, it took forever. We singed the little "hairs" with a torch. A neighbor later explained how to use parifin wax to get the pin feathers. Google can probably give you a better explaination than I can.
An Amish girl taught me to pour rubbing alcohol in a lid and light that. Then move the bird over the flame to singe the feathers off. Works great and is easy to do.
Hi Greenhouse-gal,
Have you pics of your Toulouse geese, are they the same type of mine ?
I say it is/was a cruel way to fatten a goose but my father is 87 years old with a fantastic memory. He told me that when he was growing up he remembered that some people would fatten a goose by nailing its feet to a board and feed it till it put on some fat.
My father didn't approve of the method either.
Larry
Just checked this thread again. Dany12, my geese look just like yours. We haven't cooked any up yet, but we still have two left in the chicken yard. I'll be curious to see whether we get any eggs from them.
My grandparents were Hungarian, by the way.
Leslie
jylgaskin, what's your recipe for the goose fat salve? It sounds great!