Uses: Utility – meat.
Eggs: 15 to 25 white eggs per year.
Origin: America.
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 exist although are extremely rare and haven’t reached the UK (yet?).
Photo: American Buff Goose.
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 American 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 developed in America. They were standardised in 1947 and entered the British Waterfowl Standards much later 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 exist in the UK and are only found in very small numbers in Europe. Photo right courtesy of De Weydegansch Hatchery, the first to import these geese into Europe.
Photos
Books
The following books are available. Links take you to the Amazon or other sellers’ pages for the books.
- Domestic Geese – C. Ashton – P.63
- British Waterfowl Standards – P.11
- British Poultry Standards – P.355
- The American Standard of Perfection – P365
Discussion
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- Please leave us a comment below if you can provide further information or have a question about American Buff geese.