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A domestic goose is a goose that humans have domesticated and kept for their meat, eggs, or down feathers, or as companion animals. Domestic geese have been derived through selective breeding from the wild greylag goose ( Anser anser domesticus ) and swan goose ( Anser cygnoides domesticus ).
Of lesser commercial importance is goose breeding for eggs, schmaltz, or for the fattened liver . A few specialized breeds have been created for the main purpose of weed control (e.g. the Cotton Patch Goose ), or as guard animals and (in former times) for goose fights (e.g., the Steinbach Fighting Goose and Tula Fighting Goose ).
The word "goose" is a direct descendant of Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂éns.In Germanic languages, the root gave Old English gōs with the plural gēs and gandra (becoming Modern English goose, geese, gander, respectively), West Frisian goes, gies and guoske, Dutch: gans, New High German Gans, Gänse, and Ganter, and Old Norse gās and gæslingr, whence English gosling.
Once it has breached the egg's surface, the chick continues to chip at it until it has made a large hole. The weakened egg eventually shatters under the pressure of the bird's movements. [183] The egg tooth is so critical to a successful escape from the egg that chicks of most species will perish unhatched if they fail to develop one. [180]
The Chinese is an international breed of domestic goose, known by this name in Europe and in North America. Unlike the majority of goose breeds, it belongs to the knob geese, which derive from Anser cygnoides and are characterised by a prominent basal knob on the upper side of the bill. It originates in China, where there are more than twenty ...
The bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) is a goose that breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest. It is known for the extreme altitudes it reaches when migrating across the Himalayas.
[13] [15] After 3 years of selection, the average egg production increased from 14 to 28. [13] Furthermore, the highest producing goose in 1951 laid 38 eggs whereas the highest producing goose in 1952 laid 44 eggs and in 1953 laid 59 eggs. [13] Improvements in fertility and hatchability were also recorded as all eggs laid were incubated. [13]
The upland goose or Magellan goose (Chloephaga picta) is a sheldgoose of the shelduck-sheldgoose subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans. [2] [3] Sheldgeese resemble true geese and display similar habits, yet they are more closely related to shelducks and ...