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Domestic Geese: The African Goose |
| African geese are not from Africa! They are
the same colour as the Chinese goose, and originated in SE China. They
were imported into the USA in the nineteenth century, and reached
Britain too as the 'Hong Kong' goose in Victorian times. Good examples of the African were more or less
lost in the UK in the 20th century. Most Africans here now come from
birds imported from the USA from the 1970s onwards. Exhibition Africans are imposing birds, ganders
standing one metre tall. Hand reared, they are very tame. There is a
great deal of variation in weight. Some varieties are quite small,
reaching only 16-20 lbs. Big exhibition birds in the UK and the USA reach
26 lbs - the same as their stated weight in SE China.
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