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Chinese geese are the egg layers of the goose world, with long, swan-like necks, a knob on the forehead, and voices you can hear across the farm. They’re light, busy foragers and good weeders, and a flock of Chinese geese makes a loud, reliable alarm for the rest of the homestead.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Homestead
- What Are Chinese Geese?
- Chinese Goose Characteristics
- Chinese Goose Breed Standard
- Temperament
- Hardiness
- Egg Production
- Raising Chinese Geese for Meat
- Broodiness
- Weeding and Foraging
- Pros and Cons of Chinese Geese
- Tips for Raising Chinese Geese
- Chinese Geese FAQs
- More Goose Breed Guides
- Raising Geese
Chinese geese are a light breed, and The Livestock Conservancy calls them the top layers of all the goose breeds. Their small size and busy grazing also mean they need less feed than the heavy breeds.
They’re close cousins of the African goose, and both breeds descend from the wild swan goose of Asia. The Chinese is the lighter, more upright of the two, and it lays far more eggs.
They’re loud, though. If you have close neighbors, think about that before you bring a flock home.
If you’re new to geese, start with my beginner’s guide to raising geese, or compare the full list of goose breeds. For a quieter, heavier goose, look at the American Buff, the Embden, or the Toulouse.
Notes from My Homestead
We didn’t exactly plan on getting Chinese geese. We ordered a few mystery geese from an online breeder along with our regular chick order, since they’re much less expensive than choosing the breed. We knew they’d be purebred, but the actual breed was a surprise when they arrived. We like to keep things interesting around here.
It didn’t take long to figure out which ones were Chinese. We handled our goslings every day before 8 weeks old, and our Chinese goose turned out to be the friendliest in our flock. She’s loud, too, and my son calls her Ambulance because she’s as noisy as one of his favorite vehicles.
What Are Chinese Geese?
Chinese geese descend from the wild swan goose of Asia. They’ve been in Britain since at least the early 1700s, and in North America since colonial times.
George Washington was given Chinese geese at Mount Vernon. Both the White and Brown varieties joined the American Standard of Perfection in 1874, in the light goose class, the same class as the Tufted Roman.
They come in two colors. White Chinese geese are all white with an orange bill, knob, and feet, and Brown Chinese geese are brown and fawn, with a black bill and knob and a dark, russet-brown stripe down the back of the neck.
Chinese Goose Characteristics
Chinese geese are slim, upright birds with a long, arched neck and a large, rounded knob on the forehead. The knob is bigger on ganders, and it takes a few years to reach full size.
Their size makes them easy to handle. Mature ganders average about 12 pounds and geese about 10, according to The Livestock Conservancy, and some hatchery White Chinese run a bit heavier.
- Breed type: Egg layer and weeder, also kept as a watch goose
- Weight: Ganders about 12 pounds, and geese about 10
- Varieties: White and Brown
- Noise: Very loud
For eggs and goslings, this is what to expect.
- Eggs: Large and white, anywhere from 30 to 100 a year depending on the strain
- Broodiness: Poor to fair in most sources, so keep an incubator as a backup
- Foraging: Excellent
- Conservation status: Watch, according to The Livestock Conservancy
Chinese Goose Breed Standard
A Chinese goose should stand tall and upright, and The Livestock Conservancy calls that upright carriage a sign of good health. The neck is long and slim, and it meets the body at about a 45-degree angle.
Brown Chinese geese are easy to mistake for Africans at first glance. The African is much heavier, though, and it has a dewlap under the chin that the Chinese doesn’t.
Eye color differs between the two, too. White Chinese have blue eyes, and Brown Chinese have brown eyes and brownish-orange to dark orange feet.
Temperament
Chinese geese are not quiet, and they’re not shy. They’ll holler at anything that comes up the driveway, and that makes them a good alarm for the rest of the flock.
Handled young, they can be very tame, and they’re curious about everything going on in the yard. Without it, the British Waterfowl Association says they can be very independent and quite aggressive.
Some strains are more assertive than others. Cackle Hatchery notes that ganders may guard their space and broody geese may guard the nest, so give a nesting pair some room in spring. It’s one of the things to know before getting geese.
Hardiness
Chinese geese are a hardy breed, and The Livestock Conservancy rates them for both hot and cold climates. The weak spot is the knob, which can freeze when temperatures drop below 20 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a cold winter, give them a dry, draft-free shelter to keep frostbite off the knob. Frostbite shows up as orange patches on a black knob, and those patches fade back to black over time.
Egg Production
Chinese geese lay more eggs than any other goose breed. The Livestock Conservancy gives 40 to 100 large white eggs a year with good management, though Metzer Farms says most Chinese now lay closer to 30 to 45.
Ours are excellent layers, and we’ve had quite a few double yolk eggs from our heaviest layers. Since they lay more eggs than other breeds, they’re more likely to lay a double yolker now and then.
Goose eggs have a bigger, richer yolk than chicken eggs, so here’s how a goose egg is different from a chicken egg. There’s also a long list of goose egg recipes for a spring glut, and ways to preserve eggs for later in the year.
Raising Chinese Geese for Meat
Chinese geese are small for the table, with a market weight of about 8 to 10 pounds. The Livestock Conservancy says the meat is less greasy than other breeds, and the University of Kentucky notes they’ve been crossed with Embdens for a more economical meat goose.
Goose meat is dark and rich, and to me it tastes more like beef than chicken. A Chinese goose is a smaller roast, and here’s how to roast a goose, plus goose recipes for the rest of the bird.
Broodiness
Chinese geese aren’t reliable broodies, and Metzer Farms rates them poor mothers. Some will still sit a clutch, but plan on an incubator if you want goslings every year.
Goose eggs need more moisture than chicken eggs to hatch, so an incubator takes a different routine than hatching chicken eggs. The Modern Homesteader’s Guide to Keeping Geese walks through it.
Weeding and Foraging
Chinese geese are active foragers, and the University of Kentucky says they’re the breed most suited to weeding crops. Cackle Hatchery says they can help control grass and weeds in orchards, gardens, and pastures.
In the growing season, grass and weeds cover much of their diet. We also start trays of microgreens for our geese every week, and they’ll happily clean up the lawn weeds.
They still need supervision in a vegetable garden, especially around tender seedlings. Let them work the rows before planting, or the paths and orchard, and keep them out of new beds.
Pros and Cons of Chinese Geese
Chinese geese are a good pick if you want eggs, weeding, and an alarm system. They’re a poor fit if you want quiet or a big roast.
Pros:
- More eggs than any other goose breed
- Light, active foragers and good weeders
- Loud and alert, so nothing sneaks up on the flock
- Friendly and curious when hand-raised
Cons:
- Very loud, so not a fit with close neighbors
- Small carcass for the table
- Knobs can get frostbite in hard cold
- Some ganders get pushy in breeding season
Tips for Raising Chinese Geese
Handle the goslings every day. A Chinese gosling handled daily before 8 weeks old can grow into the friendliest goose in the flock. Without that handling, they can be independent and even aggressive.
Shelter them in a cold snap. The knob can freeze below about 20 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit, so a dry, draft-free shelter matters in winter.
Plan for the noise. If you have close neighbors, talk to them before you bring home Chinese geese, or choose a quieter breed like the American Buff or the Sebastopol.
Chinese Geese FAQs
These are the questions that come up most about Chinese geese, from how loud they are to how many eggs they lay.
They can be. With early handling, they’re curious and often affectionate. We handled our goslings every day before 8 weeks, and our Chinese goose is the friendliest in our flock.
Very loud. They’re one of the noisiest goose breeds, and they’ll honk at anything new. My son calls ours Ambulance because she’s as noisy as one of his favorite vehicles.
More than any other breed. The Livestock Conservancy gives 40 to 100 large white eggs a year with good management, though Metzer Farms says most Chinese now lay closer to 30 to 45.
Not well. Chinese are a light breed, so they can get off the ground, but domestic geese can’t fly like wild geese. They only really fly when startled, and even then they generally make it 30 feet or so at most.
They’re close relatives, and both have a knob on the forehead. Chinese geese are lighter and lay far more eggs, while African geese are much heavier and have a dewlap under the chin. Here’s more on African geese.
More Goose Breed Guides
A few more breeds to consider for your flock.
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Raising Geese
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I am a wood carver and am working on a Chinese Goose and having difficulty in finding basic dimensions such as length from the bottom of the feet to the body when standing, widest size across the chest and widest point of the body, the distance from the bill to the tail when standing using a horizontal dimension. Do you have a recommendation of where I can find these sizes / dimensions?
Thank you for your assistance
That is a darn good question…but I don’t have an answer unfortunately.