posted 1 year ago
I don't have geese, but like Jay, I go with what suits me and our farm, with the chickens & ducks. I'm different with my goats because they're a developmental breed, and I'm working with others across the USA, to bring genetic conformation and high quality into the breed as we all work toward breed recognition. It's a very different thing, from my birds, and the sheep I'm getting, tomorrow - all of which will be staying here, for our personal needs.
Also Like Jay, I won't tolerate aggressive critters, so that's always first choice, for freezer camp - we'll call it my guaranteed scholarship program, lol. Beyond that, I look for the qualities I want to promote. For example, human-friendly ones and those mammals born or birds hatched from parentage I know to be good layers/birthers, the biggest, healthiest ones with the best survival instincts(predator awareness, foraging ability, broodiness, mothering, lactating, etc), and they stay put, while the rest go to join the jerks, at freezer camp. I'm going through the choosing between my ducks (all mutts), now. We are supposed to be getting another 6 for freezer camp, in a couple weeks, but I have 16 here now, of which I only plan on keeping 2 drakes and 4 or 5 hens. Three of the hens and one drake are decided. The rest will be separated, and are going to be chosen probably by which ones I like best, based on personality & look - because after all the other criteria, aesthetics and being able to tell which ones are which can make a difference for me, though I'm not sure I can really explain why.
The last layer of freezer candidates for me, quite honestly, usually becomes a matter of which ones are closest, when it's time.
"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato