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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, ganzen, ganzerik, New High German Gans, Gänse, and Ganter, and Old Norse gás and gæslingr, whence English gosling.
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 ).
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 ).
[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 snow goose is now placed in the genus Anser that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. [7] [8] The scientific name is from the Latin anser, "goose", and caerulescens, "bluish", derived from caeruleus, "dark blue". [9] The snow goose is the sister species to Ross's goose (Anser rossii). [10]
Unlike most other waterfowl, the nene mates on land. [12] Nests are built by females on a site of her choosing, in which one to five eggs are laid (average is three on Maui and Hawaiʻi, four on Kauaʻi). Females incubate the eggs for 29 to 32 days, while the male acts as a sentry.
Like almost all breeds of domestic goose, the American Buff derives from Anser anser, the wild Greylag goose of Europe and northern Asia.Its origins are obscure, and various theories have been put forward; it is not known if it was bred from local grey farm geese, or from existing buff geese imported from Europe. [2]
In most species, only the female incubates the eggs. The young are precocial, and are able to feed themselves from birth. [3] One aberrant species, the black-headed duck, is an obligate brood parasite, laying its eggs in the nests of gulls and coots. While this species never raises its own young, a number of other ducks occasionally lay eggs in ...