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Geese a-laying Swans a-swimming [forgotten by the singer] Lambs a-bleating: Ladies dancing: Lords a-leading: Bells a-ringing: Henderson, 1879 [21] My true love sent to me Partridge upon a pear tree Turtle doves French hens Curley birds Gold rings Geese laying: Swans swimming: Maids milking: Drummers drumming: Pipers piping — — Barnes, 1882 [22]
Many other stories contain geese that lay golden eggs, though certain versions change them for hens or other birds that lay golden eggs. The tale has given rise to the idiom 'killing the goose that lays the golden eggs', which refers to the short-sighted destruction of a valuable resource, or to an unprofitable action motivated by greed.
Geese have also been strongly selected for fecundity, with females laying up to 500 eggs per year, compared to 5–12 eggs for a wild goose. [ 3 ] [ 5 ] As most domestic geese display little sexual dimorphism , sexing is based primarily on physical characteristics and behaviour.
As a layer of eggs it is the most prolific of any breed of goose, usually laying some 50–60 eggs in a season of about five months, but sometimes reaching 100 eggs during that time. [10]: 371 [9]: 5 The eggs weigh about 120 g, rather less than those of other geese.
The Chinese and African Geese are the domestic breeds of the swan goose (A. cygnoides); they can be recognized by their prominent bill knob. [ 1 ] Some breeds, like the Obroshin Goose and Steinbach Fighting Goose , originated in hybrids between these species (the hybrid males are usually fertile – see Haldane's Rule ).
The adult geese will fly down to the ground and then "squawk" up at their babies to try and convince them to follow. It doesn't always work, however, which means the adults can be up there for a ...
The African Goose is a large, heavy bird, among the heaviest of all goose breeds. [8]: 364 [10]: 353 [12] According to the British standard, weights are approximately 8–11 kg for geese and 10–13 kg for ganders; the Bund Deutscher Rassegeflügelzüchter [] gives weights of 7 kg and 8 kg respectively.
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.