Names   d'Oies de Chine in France/Belgium
Country Of Origin;.   ........ China ...........old name "China Goose" or "Swan Goose"
Carriage; This variety is smaller than others and is distinguishable from other geese by the knob or protuberance on its head.    
Purpose;... .......Eggs..Meat...Broody...a good utility goose
Egg Colour; ..................... eggs white    
 Egg Numbers  .............at least 50 eggs in a season (about 100 known)
Breed Defects. .  . . . .dewlap, lack of 'knob' on head    
Incubation:   . . . . . . .28 - 34 days.
Breed Hints.... Chinese geese go broody easily and are generally better layers Incubation: 28 - 34 days. If children are present always buy well handles stock as the geese are terrified of small humans   
Weights;  6 kg Goose, 5.5 kg
Breed Tip     They are succeptible to severe cold and have been recorded as getting frostbite and burns on their facial knob ( solution antiseptic cream in poor weather). They are also very keen as a breed to take on small yappy dogs and for the dogs own protection keep them away especially at breeding time when ganders attack on sight.........Poodles and Chihouhuas for preference as their call is similar to the Fox.

Flying .can fly,   rarely flies a good backgarden all rounder; Very bendy contortionists  that can get that neck through a small space to purloin  anything tasty / sweet / alcoholic etc. Another breed that likes baby mice

male head larger knob !









Breed History; . . .

The Chinese Goose is a breed  descended from the wild Swan Goose. hence their name  Anser Cygnoides. In 1857 they said " Three beautiful specimens were exhibited at the late Agricultural Show, held in the county of Philadelphia. They were owned by a gentleman, whose name I forget, living in the vicinity of Tacony, near this city. In introducing this variety to the reader, Mr. Dixon says : There is a venerable joke about a Spanish Don, who knocked at a cottage door to ask a night's lodging." Who's there ? What do you want ?" said the inmates. " Don Juan Jose Pedro Antonio Alonzo Carlos Geronimo, &c., &c., &c., wants to sleep here to-night." "Get along with you/' was the reply: " how should we find room here for so many fellows ?" The China Goose is in the same position as the Spanish Don. It has names enough to fill a menagerie. China Goose, Knob Goose, Hong-Kong-Goose, Asiatic Goose, Swan Goose, Chinese Swan, (Cygnus Sinensis, CUVIER,) Guinea Goose, Spanish Goose, Polish Goose, Anas and Anser cygnoides, Muscovy Goose, and probably more besides. Confusion, therefore, and perplexity, are"  Historic names include"Hong Kong ,Knob Fronted, Chinese Swan Goose and Spanish Geese" . . . . . "The old writers call it the Guinea Goose, for the excellent
reason, as Willughby hints, that in his time it was the fashion to apply the epithet " Guinea" to every thing of foreign and uncertain origin.* Thus, what we at this day erroneously call the Muscovy Duck, was then called the Guinea Duck. Not long back it was common with us to refer every strange or new object to a French source. Spanish Goose is another title, probably as appropriate as Guinea Goose. Bewick has given an admirable wood-cut of this bird, but he has evidently selected the Gander, which is taller and more erect than the female, though to both may be applied Willughby's description, "a stately bird, walking with its head and neck, decently erected."  . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."Cuvier (Griffiths' edition) goes further, calls it at once Cygnus Sinensis, Chinese Swan, and says that this and the Canada Goose cannot be separated from the true Swans. "

In America  Mr Belcher is a frequently mentioned breeder who imported them via  Hong Kong but states that they originated in Tchin Tchu and objects to them being called Hong Kong Geese but accepts China Goose as more accurate .He describes them as "My stock of China geese exhibit all those external characteristics the best judges assign to the pure breed. The bill is black, with a black or dark-colored protuberance surmounting the base of the upper mandible. A feathered wattle hangs under the throat; a dark brown stripe proceeds from the back of the head down the neck, until it reaches the upper part of the body between the wings; the fronts of the neck and the breast, are yellowish grey; the abdomen is white ; the back, and all the upper parts of the body, are of a dark, greyish color, and the legs dark, with black feet." From Miner's Domestic Poultry Book: A Treatise on the History, Breeding. London 1852/3

 In 1848 they are recorded by  "Mr. Alfred Whitaker, of Beckington, Somerset. " I wish you could have seen the white variety or species, as it is so far superior in every respect to the brown. The period of incubation of the White China Goose was not more than thirty days, i. e. not longer than that of the Common Duck. The White China Goose is of a spotless pure white" a very few gray feathers have since appeared . . .more swan-like than the brown variety, with a bright orange-coloured bill, and a large orange-coloured knob at its base. It is a particularly beautiful bird, either in or out of the water, its neck being long, slender, and gracefully arched when swimming. It breeds three or four times in the season ; but I was not successful with them, owing, as I fancied, to my having no water for them, except a rapid running stream. A quiet lake I believe to be more to their taste, and more conducive to the fecundity of the Eggs. I believe my birds are still in the neighbourhood, as I lent them to a farmer to try his luck with them. The Egg is quite small for the size of the bird, being not more than half the size of that of the Common Goose. "
But later "On visiting town, in May, 1848, "my efforts to get a sight of any White China Geese were unavailing. There were none left in St. James's Park ; there were not any in the Surrey Gardens, choice as that collection is; nor were any visible at the principal places where Poultry is offered for sale. The Zoological Society had parted from their specimens, in consequence of being overstocked with other things. Their head keeper seemed only to consider them in the light of a variety of the Cygnoides, " from Rev Dixon + Kerr ' Ornamental + Domestic Poultry  USA edition 1857 Uk edition was 1849

1870's Tegetmeir  has both colours  described in detail. Chinese geese differ from the wild birds in much larger size (upto 5-10 kg in males, 4-9 kg in females), and in having an often strongly developed basal knob on the upper side of the bill. The knob at the top of the beak is more prominent on males than females. By 6–8 weeks of age, the knob is already pronounced enough that it can be used for sexing. Chinese geese are a close cousin of the African goose, a heavier breed also descended from the Swan Goose they also differ from other breeds having more neck vertabrae

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