What age do Giant Toulouse geese start laying?

[CaliFarmsAR]

Howdy y’all! I just got two Toulouse geese, they are about 1.2 years old and one is for sure a male, but the other we ain’t sure about. Would he/she be laying already if it was a girl? Im new to geese so sorry if this is a dumb question. Thanks for any help!

 

[Iain Utah]

Beautiful! Congrats on the rare find! It looks like the buff is a gander and the grey is a goose. To be sure, if you could post a video with them making noise, I will be able to confirm. If so, how lucky of you to have found a buff/grey pair. My greys have started laying as early as beginning February and as late as end of May. They will lay up to 30 eggs in their youth (if you take all but 1-2 eggs from nest). Otherwise, they tend to lay 15-20 eggs at best. It is extremely rare for them to successfully hatch babies, so plan on incubating if you want goslings. Assuming you have a buff gander with grey goose, you will have color-sexed babies. The boys will be grey (and carry buff gene) and the girls will be buff.

 

[Iain Utah]

Oh... and to better answer your question... dewlaps will start laying as early as 10 months old, but typically their eggs will not be able to be fertilized (despite yearling ganders being able to fertilize) until they are in their second laying season.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Oh awesome!! I was told the gray is a male, I don’t think they’ve ever gotten eggs from him or her
How do I post a video? I don’t have YouTube so not sure how to lol

 

[Iain Utah]

Well, I'd bet money the buff is a gander, but cannot be sure about the grey. The grey's neck appears shorter and the topline is flatter, which usually is female, but it could just be the posture in that single image. And I do have a grey gander that looks a lot like the one in your picture. I am honestly not sure about posting videos, but I think you can click on the "attach files" paperclip and attach a video that way. Assume hatched in March 2023. It is possible for a March 2023 goose to have not started laying yet, but I'm sure there would be breeding signs. Get a kiddy pool and watch the two together.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

I got a big stock tank for them, they don’t seem to like it though ok u tried and it won’t let me upload a video… both are pretty loud though, the gray one is a lot more vocal than the buff. He/she makes low sweet sounds often

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Ohhhh I got it!! That’s what the gray one sounds like, the buff doesn’t say much

 

[Iain Utah]

From the video, I'd say both boys. Super cute!

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

From the video, I'd say both boys. Super cute!

Aw man.. really was hoping girl