The American Buff Goose

The American Buff goose is one of the few domesticated goose breeds originated in the United States. Unfortunately the history of this beautiful goose is unknown. Some think they have developed from buff mutations in flocks of grey geese and others think they may have been created from buff colored geese, like the Buff Back, Pomeranian and Pilgrim which came from Europe.

The American Buff is a calm, sociable and friendly goose, very loyal and affectionate, particularly to its owners. It is a graceful and elegant goose to see; particularly females have something refined about them. It is a curious goose, nearly always with its beak up in the air and looking around if there might be something new.

They are never scared but always alert and watchful. People can be standing talking in front of the gate here and they will not react but if someone opens the gate and comes in they will honk. They love chatting but are absolutely not a nuisance and certainly not noisy. Compared to the Tufted American Buff, the American Buff's character is a little bit fiercer but never annoying or troublesome. The ganders in particular can look a bit macho but are never a problem, not even during the breeding season. Our Valentino sometimes will try but I only have to point at him with my finger and he remembers. He then has that look in his eyes: sorry I forgot. We have never been bitten or attacked by our ganders but you do have to put them in their place by correcting them if they react in a way you don't like or want. They do learn quickly.

The American Buff goose is an active and lively goose which is always up for a frolic with a run and a flap of its wings. A nice paddle in the bath is also a favourite pastime so, if you are able to provide a bath for them, they will be very grateful. It is also an enterprising breed; never leave a gate open as they will not be able to contain their curiosity to have a look beyond what they know. You can keep them on a small acreage but our experience is that 50m2 per goose is a minimum to keep some grass during the winter time. During the summer time you do have to cut the grass because they aren't great grass eaters. If your goose pen is this size we advise you to remove the droppings regular otherwise it will be a mess and you won't have much grass left. Fresh young green grass also affects the color of the beak and legs, as do carrots and maize. Be careful not to give them too much maize otherwise they will put on too much weight. We give it as a treat.

The most important thing when selecting breeding stock is good body size, not too big and definitely not to small. The American Buff goose is a medium weight goose and not a heavy weight goose like the Toulouse. In colour : a medium shade of buff with no grey and if possible: a back with even colour although that will be difficult because the plumage on the back usually is somewhat chequered or mottled, even on the best ones. We also found out that the saying that a gander which is slightly lighter in colour and a goose with the right colour will give the best coloured offspring; the lovely apricot-fawn colour! Also do try to avoid breeding from buffs with small or shallow bodies, prominent keels, very pinched heads, grey in the plumage and very extreme faded or dark colour.

The American Buff geese are also very good parents and take good care of their goslings. Even a single gander will adopt goslings. The goose already lays in her first year but the eggs are a lot smaller from a one year old than eggs from a two year old goose. Eggs from a one year old weigh between 145 and 170 grams and eggs from a two year old goose weigh between 180 and 220 grams. They hatch their eggs in 28 - 30 days. We hatch our eggs in the incubator because we want very tame birds which are socialised with people but even one year olds have a great mothering ability although we advise people not to hatch eggs from a one year old because of the smaller size of the eggs. You do get smaller goslings. Beside that it takes almost three years before they mature so we only hatch eggs from two year old and older geese. Our experience is that they love to have a laying nest, provided for them in a shelter or in a barn so they can lay their eggs in a quiet and secure environment.

Yes we do spoil our geese. They lay between 10 and 15 eggs before they become broody but if you collect the eggs they can lay up to 25 eggs or more. A gander can be kept with two or three geese but he will definitely have a favourite. The goslings are fast, active and very curious. They also grow very quickly, especially if you provide them the right feed; special growing pellets for waterfowl. The goslings have a very nice warm yellow colour with a shade of gold.
The American Buff goose was admitted to the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection in 1947 and as there some differences to the European Standards we follow the American Standard as we believe you have to follow the country of origin.

The American Buff goose is an endangered breed and American Livestock Breeding Conservancy tries to interest people to start breeding with these geese. The American Buff goose is critical in the US which means that there are fewer than 500 breeding birds (males and females) and five or fewer primary breeding flocks. Therefore ALBC is very happy that European breeders also have interest in keeping this beautiful breed and try to save them from extinction. More information about ALBC and the waterfowl census can be found on: www.albc-usa.org

That was also for us the reason to start breeding with the American Buff next to the Tufted American Buff. Although we don't show our birds our main issue is to keep those two breeds alive and try to save them from extinction. We fell for the colour but the character of these breeds is wonderful and they are very nice birds to have around the house.
More information about the American Buff geese, the Tufted American Buff geese and more pictures you can find on www.buffganzen.nl in Dutch and also in English on www.buffganzen.nl/index_uk.htm or by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone: 0031-135093598.

Text: Andrea Heesters
Pictures: Peter Jacobs

Copyright: Andrea Heesters and Peter Jacobs, The Netherlands.