Geese Linda is one of the most common breeds in our country. They have snow-white plumage with beige tan marks. Rarely, gray specks may appear on the back and in the area of the wings, this is considered normal.
Geese Linda
Description of the breed
The characteristics by which the Linda geese differ are as follows:
- Body appearance: the goose is large, tall, massive. Each muscle is very neatly expressed. The folded wings completely follow the shape of the body.
- Description of the head and neck: the head is proportional, large. The neck is long and thick. There is a bump in the forehead area. The beak is bright orange. The eyes are small, black.
- Bottom: Strong, short, dark orange legs set wide apart and slightly tilted towards the tail.
How to distinguish small Linda goslings from other yellow glomeruli? It is enough just to check for a bump on the forehead. All the other parameters described above are typical for adults. To better understand the description of the breed and the characteristic features that the Linda geese have, their photos and videos, which can be found on the Internet, will help.
Poultry farmers fell in love with birds, whose name is Linda, for their unpretentiousness, appearance, size and excellent taste of meat, liver and eggs. Growing poultry is beneficial not only for personal, but also for commercial purposes, the profit from the sale of geese is several times higher than from chickens or ducks.
Bashkir farmers, just like other breeders, for example, living in the Krasnodar Territory, Belarus and Tatarstan and other parts of the CIS, have been raising Linda geese for almost 40 years. The emergence of the breed was due to the successful crossing of the Russian domestic goose and the Chinese waterfowl. Disputes about from which of these two breeds the considered one received the basic qualities does not subside to this day. But one thing is clear: all farmers know how Linda the goose can be distinguished from others.
Breed benefits
The reasons why the breeding of Lindovian geese is more profitable than acquiring most European relatives is as follows:
- good immunity, able to overcome almost all diseases inherent in geese,
- pickiness in the choice of food, so feeding occurs without problems,
- excellent adaptation in any climate,
- excellent egg production.
In addition, the Linda goose has a large weight, with one adult you can get up to 12 kg of delicious dietary meat.
Thanks to Linda's calm temperament, there are almost never scandals and loud noise in the poultry house, however, when they come to the watering hole, the white birds, on the contrary, begin to clatter that there is urine - this is their characteristic feature. But such sociability is characteristic only of adults and completely healthy individuals.
Due to the excellent resistance to cold unfavorable climates, even when breeding livestock at home, only 2% of the chicks from the entire flock die. Geese tolerate Russian winters well in simple unheated poultry houses, provided that there are no drafts in them, this is perhaps the main reason for problems with raising birds.
One white goose of the Linda breed produces up to seven dozen eggs during the year. More than half of them fall on the spring - it's time to start growing young. To increase profitability, experts advise to build a special enclosure for geese with constant access to water.
Description of the diet of birds during the summer period consists mainly of pasture, insects and greenery. At the same time, the winged ones gain weight well. For example, if most other gander, including Kholmogory, reach a maximum of 5 kg in the first 6 months of their life, then an individual of the Linda breed reaches its maximum growth by this time and already weighs about 8 kg.
The meat of geese is soft, aromatic, juicy. Its description cannot be confused with anything, except that an elite French breed can boast of such taste. After freezing, the characteristics of Linda geese meat are completely preserved.
Bird keeping
If you plan to raise Linda geese from chicks, you can speed up the process by using broiler feed. From such a daily daily diet, goslings will gain strength in a short time and will begin to gain weight several times faster.
A table showing how to choose the type of broiler feed, depending on the age of the chicks:
Age | Feed type |
from 0 to 2 weeks | Starter |
from 2 to 4 weeks | Grower |
from 4 to 8 weeks | Finisher |
The first walk of young animals cannot be done until he is 46 days old. This time is enough for the goslings to fully mature and stop needing heat. In the future, it will be possible to release birds for a walk at least every day.
Proper nutrition is the key to growing up well
Proper nutrition is very important for growing birds. For the first 4 months, the description of their diet must necessarily consist of 15% protein. Provided that every day the geese walk and additionally feed on pasture. For those chicks that appeared at the end of autumn and do not have the opportunity to nibble fresh grass in the meadow, it is imperative to add 2% of grass primus to the food. Also, these goslings need additional vitamin supplementation so that they are not threatened with vitamin deficiency.
We must not forget that Linda geese are quite voracious, so make sure that they always have enough food. This is the key to growth and proper development. Frequent lack of nutrition can be the cause of deformation of the eggs that the goose lays, and if it is decided to grow offspring from bad eggs at home, the young will suffer from deformity and will not be able to live up to five months of age.
Having matured and got stronger, the Linda goose becomes almost omnivorous. Feeding is great for him:
- cereals,
- grated pumpkin,
- vegetable waste,
- boiled potatoes.
Linda does not disdain dry food with additionally chopped herbs. The main thing is that there is always food and a spacious area for walking, preferably with an adjacent reservoir, because, in addition to water, there is also something to eat:
- insects
- seaweed,
- small fish
- tadpoles.
The feathered duckweed is especially beloved, which occurs in large quantities in reservoirs in late spring - early summer.
Breeding geese as a business
From the point of view of profitability, it is better to start selling goose meat when the birds reach 5 months. At this age, with proper feeding, their body weight will already be 5-7 kg. So the cost of cultivation will completely overlap with the profit received from the sale, as evidenced by numerous reviews of farmers-businessmen.
If it is decided to fatten the gander so that its weight is 10 kg or more, a lot of feed will be required, and it will no longer be profitable to sell it. And even if the poultry is raised exclusively for one's family, the meat of a ten-kilogram goose will cost almost 2 times more than a five-kilogram one, so it is advisable to allow only breeding individuals to grow fully.
ALL ABOUT LINDA BREED
Geese "Linda". 20 days. First answers to questions.
Geese Linda (Lindovsky) at the Cossack Compound in Maryino
How to grow goslings from eggs
Breeding Linda goslings at home is a simple procedure; incubation is not required for this. Many farmers do this every year and successfully. First you need to choose the 5-7 most healthy and beautiful females and be sure to ensure that the Lind geese, which will play the role of an incubator, are strong and healthy.
With one such bird, replacing incubation breeding, we will receive approximately 60-70 eggs per year. Unlike all the other geese, these geese are not allowed to walk, and their fertilization occurs every 5 days and always by artificial means. If everything is done correctly, the females will very soon begin to lay eggs, inside which the embryos are visible. Many farmers leave good feedback from crossing the Linda breed with others, for example, Kholmogor or the Humpbacked.
Egg production in Lindovian geese lasts approximately 120 days, starting from March-April. They immediately begin to actively fly, and in the first 2 months they will be able to learn the most eggs, then the activity will decline. Given these indicators, the seven geese that it was decided to use are quite enough for the breeding of a new generation of Linda geese to be successful. With proper care of Linda geese, the egg production of adults of this one maintains a good pace for five years.
As a rule, the slaughter of selection geese occurs already in the second or third year of their life, and to replace the past hens, younger females are chosen. The exception is breeding birds left for breeding with excellent productivity, they carry eggs for new offspring all 5 long years.
Linda geese grow and develop without problems, caring for them is simple, maintenance does not require special frills. The main thing when breeding is to determine in advance what is the purpose of growing poultry: for sale or for yourself. Depending on this, the required number of individuals is calculated and a system for caring for them is drawn up.
In addition to meat, from the sale of which you can get a significant increase in your budget, Linda geese have excellent quality down and feathers. This product is in great demand among enterprises or individuals engaged in sewing outerwear, producing pillows and other things. The main thing is not to cheapen: goose plumage is a very valuable product. Of course, you won't be able to make millions on it, but it will definitely be enough to compensate for the costs of keeping a bird. Proper maintenance of this breed of geese can be profitable.