Geese have two convenient slaughter windows, months apart. The early one is young birds at 9–10 weeks, before the molt starts. The late one is in autumn, once the goose has grown its second set of feathers and put on weight on pasture. Which to choose depends on feed, buyers, and how many geese you’re prepared to keep until the cold.
Early slaughter: 9–10 weeks
On intensive rearing with compound feed, goslings of large breeds weigh 4–5 kg by 9–10 weeks. The meat is tender and feed use is good. But at 10–11 weeks the juvenile molt begins and the carcass fills with pin feathers. Miss it, and the next good window comes once the feathers are fully grown — at 4–5 months.
Late slaughter after pasture
The classic small-farm system: all summer the geese are on pasture with a little supplement, and 2–4 weeks before slaughter they move to grain finishing. By then there’s noticeably less grass, and grain adds fat and weight. Geese are slaughtered at 4.5–6 months, usually in late autumn.
The finishing ration
- Grain is the base: corn, wheat, barley, oats. Corn adds fat faster; oats give firmer meat.
- A wet mash of cracked grain, bran and boiled potatoes is eaten more readily than dry grain.
- Restrict ranging: less movement, faster gain.
- Water and grit always available.
Over 2–3 weeks of finishing a goose gains 1–1.5 kg. Each kilogram of gain takes 4–5 kg of grain — expensive gain.
Don’t overdo it
An overly fat carcass sells worse: the buyer pays for meat and gets fat that renders out in the oven. Signs the goose is ready: a layer of fat can be felt under the wings, feathers are fully grown, and plucking leaves no pin feathers. Beyond that, keeping it on grain makes no sense.
Before slaughter
Take feed away 12–16 hours before slaughter, but leave water. An empty gut means a cleaner carcass that keeps longer. Make sure the geese haven’t had medication with a withdrawal period still running.
Does finishing pay
Work out what the gain costs: days of finishing × grain per day × grain price. Compare it with how much more you’ll get for a heavier, fatter carcass. If buyers pay by weight, finishing usually pays; if they pay per bird, it often doesn’t.
How to get a real number
Record the geese’s weight before finishing and before slaughter in EggPulse, and log grain as ordinary feed. You get the cost of each kilogram of gain in numbers, and next season’s decision is based on them.
