r of farmers in scattered sections who take the unfattened geese
raised on the general farms and finish them for market.
_Pen Fattening._ For this purpose the geese are put in pens large enough
to hold them comfortably but without any yards. Not over 20 to 25 geese
should be penned together for this purpose. To get the best results the
geese should be kept as quiet as possible and to accomplish this the
pens are partly darkened and the geese disturbed only at feeding time.
The geese are fed three times daily; in the morning, at noon and at
night, being given all they will clean up. One feed should consist of a
moist mash composed of one part shorts and two parts corn meal. This
mash should not be sloppy. The other two feeds consist mainly of corn
with some oats or barley. Some roughage such as vegetables or hay should
also be supplied. The pens should be deeply bedded with good oat straw.
The geese will eat a considerable amount of this which thus helps to
supply the roughage which they need. The straw also, of course, serves
to keep the pen and the birds clean. A plentiful supply of good drinking
water is also necessary. The usual period of fattening is three to five
weeks and a gain of from 4 to 6 pounds per bird can be secured. This
method of fattening is commonly used by goose raisers in Wisconsin and
the geese from this state are noted for their fine quality.
A less intensive form of pen fattening is often used by farmers where a
small yard is provided in addition to the pen itself and where no effort
is made to darken the pen. If no other means for fattening are
available, a small yard can be built, a few boards arranged for a
shelter at one end and the birds fed in this enclosure as described
above.
_Noodling Geese._ Noodling geese is a method of hand feeding which has
for its purpose the production of the best fattened geese. It is not
employed to any extent except in the section about Watertown, Wisconsin,
where the farmers specialize to some extent on goose fattening. It is a
method requiring long hours and tedious labor and cannot be profitably
carried on unless a special price can be obtained for the product.
In noodling geese, 8 or 10 geese are placed in a pen about 8 by 12 feet
which is heavily bedded with straw. A partition extends halfway across
the pen and is utilized to keep the geese separate as they are fed.
Young ganders and any old ganders or geese which are to be marketed are
used for noodling.
The pen is kept dark and the geese