The Chinese goose (''Anser cygnoides domesticus'') is an international

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

domestic goose A domestic goose is a goose that humans have domesticated and kept for their meat, eggs, or down feathers. Domestic geese have been derived through selective breeding from the wild greylag goose (''Anser anser domesticus'') and swan goose (''Ans ...

, known by this name in Europe and in North America.

History

Unlike the majority of goose breeds, which derive from '' Anser anser'', the Chinese goose belongs to the

knob geese Knob or KNOB may refer to: Objects * A round handle ** Doorknob ** Control knob, controls a device ** Brodie knob, on a steering wheel * Tow ball or hitch ball * Dorset knob, a biscuit Landforms * A rounded hill or mountain, particularly i ...

, which derive from ''

Anser cygnoides The swan goose (''Anser cygnoides'') is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, northernmost China, and the Russian Far East. It is migratory and winters mainly in central and eastern China. Vagrant birds are encountered ...

'' and are characterised by a prominent basal knob on the upper side of the bill. As the name suggests, it is believed to have originated in China, where there are more than twenty different breeds of knob goose. It was seen in Britain from the early eighteenth century if not before, and was present in the United States in the latter part of that century –

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

is believed to have kept some on his

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

. It was included in the first ''

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standard ...

'' of the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in resp ...

in 1874. In the twenty-first century it is an

endangered breed In modern agriculture, a rare breed is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand. Because of their small numbers, rare breeds may have a threatened conservation status ...

: it is reported to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym of the worldwide Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, within the FAO's management of animal genetic resources programme.Domestic Animal Diversity Infor ...

by seven countries – Australia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Slovenia,

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...

and the UK – but none of them report population data. Population data was last reported by the United Kingdom in 2002, when there were between 150 and 1000 birds. The

Livestock Conservancy The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as "h ...

in the United States lists it as watch, its third level of concern.

Characteristics

It appears in two varieties: the grey or brown, with colouring similar to that of the wild ''Anser cygnoides'', and the white. The bill and the knob are black in the grey-brown variety, and orange in the white; the shanks and feet are always orange. In birds bred for showing the neck is long and slender.

Use

As a layer of eggs it is the most prolific of any breed of goose, usually laying some 50–60

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

in a season of about five months, but sometimes reaching 100 eggs during that time. The eggs weigh about , rather less than those of other geese. Flocks of the geese may be used to guard property or to keep down weeds.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q386047 Geese Goose breeds