Color Inheritance in Geese and Its Application to Goose Breeding

THE literature dealing with color inheritance in geese is very meagre. So little has been reported that difficulty is experienced in finding a logical starting point for study. Observation of a fortunate cross has yielded data beyond what one might anticipate. Along with evidence obtained before and since, this material provides a partial explanation of the color phase of goose breeding. In 1952 one lot of 151 day-old goslings resulting from a cross of White Chinese males with Emden females was obtained from a commercial goose hatchery. Of the total, 150 were colored and one was white (canary-colored down). According to the hatchery operator, a similar white gosling was hatched from the same cross the previous season. Since both parent varieties were white, the presence of considerable color in all but one of the offspring is a unique result, unlike any encountered in crosses of chickens. The goslings were sexed . . .