The American Buff Goose

Uses: Utility - meat and as a good broody.

Eggs: 15 to 25 per year. Colour: White

Weight: Gander: 10-12.6 Kg, Goose: 9-12 Kg.

Colours: Buff

Useful to know: As a pet, hand reared can become very tame. Tufted American Buff Geese also exist although are still extremely rare.

Photo: An American Buff Goose owned by Hicks Waterfowl World.

American Buff Geese are very similar in appearance to Brecon Buff Geese and are marked like Toulouse Geese but are buff, rather than grey. The American Buff and Brecon Buff, side by side are almost identical in appearance but the bill and legs / webs are a bright orange on the Amercian Buff rather than the pink colour found in the Brecon Buff. The American Buff is slightly heavier and the eyes are a slightly different shade of brown.

Little seems to be known about the origins of the American Buff Goose. They are one of the few breeds of Geese to have been developped in America, being standardised in 1947 and entered the British Waterfowl Standards in 1982.

Tufted American Buff Geese

Tufted American Buff geese originate from the standard American Buff geese. They have a tuft of feathers on the crown of their head (consisting only of upright feathers, there is no 'lump'). This breed was created by Mrs Ruth Books, by crossing American Buffs with the tufted Roman goose over many years of breeding and selection.

Currently, Tufted American Buff Geese do not exisit in the UK and are only found in very small numbers in Europe. Photo Courtesy of  De Weydegansch Hatchery, the first to import these geese into Europe.

Books

• Domestic Geese - C. Ashton - P.63-66
• Keeping Ducks and Geese - C. & M. Ashton - P.63
• British Waterfowl Standards - P.11-12
• British Poultry Standards - P.355-356
  

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