November, beginning of the goose & duck flocks’ year

I culled the Saxonies and Pilgrims. In the fall, I am culling birds that won’t join the breeding flocks.

Our duck and goose breeds are listed in the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection, so we have lists of physical attributes that they should conform to.

Saxony ducks and Pilgrim geese are also listed on the Livestock Conservancy’s conservation priority list. The Conservancy’s descriptions of each breed focus not only on physical characteristics, but on the goals of their original breeders , especially with an eye towards usefulness.

For both the ducks and geese I am looking for good sized birds that have done well in our farm setting under our management practices. I compare weights, body width between legs, wide heads and for the geese, stout necks.

Next I check for correct feather coloring. Pilgrims have sex-linked coloration, so removing birds with off coloring is important. Because I’ll be creating multiple breeding lines, I want some light and dark Saxony ducks/drakes .

In an effort to keep some genetic diversity, I try to keep my breeding groups stable which works especially well with the long lived geese.

Keepng track of poultry

Lilac HIll Farm raises Pilgrim geese, Dominique chickens and Saxony ducks. At this point, we have three well established breeding lines of Pilgrims -11 geese, 3 ganders and 4 extra ganders; a beginner flock of Dominiques - 6 roosters and 12 hens; and a new flock of Saxony ducks - 2 drakes and 4 hens.

Almost all of our birds are hatched in an incubator so I can toe punch and zip tie the hatchlings easily.

Zip ties are affordable, available in many colors and with their high visibility, I can evaluate birds as I move through daily chores. As young birds grow, they need new bands regularly, so I handle potential breeding stock often when I replace zip ties. Every time I handle a bird, I evaluate for size and conformation.

By the time a bird reaches adulthood, they will have at least two zip ties on each leg. I zip tie both legs in case one tie is lost.

• One zip tie signals the year of hatch: YELLOW = 2020; WHITE = 2021; PINK=2022

• BLUE, RED, ORANGE or GREEN zip ties indicate breeding group. Each of these breeding groups also has a coordinating toe punch.

• I add a PURPLE zip tie at any time in the year to note a bird that has exemplary vigor, size, conformation or behavior. Purple banded birds get extra attention when I am choosing breeding stock.

• Since my foundation Pilgrims were acquired over the course of a few years they have only breeding group zip ties.

• Because we raise multiple hatches of goslings, goslings have their breeding group tie and a unique colored tie to indicate which hatch they belong so I don’t unfairly compare a first hatched gosling to one hatched two months later. Eventually geese that join the breeding flock wear only their hatch year and group tags.

• Chicks, ducklings and goslings don’t get banded with their “year” band until they near adulthood since they are distinguishable from the adults in the flocks.

Because I breed with a goal of improving the utility of these heritage birds, observing and comparing the breeding groups as part of their whole flock is easier out in the field when I can see the colored zip ties.

Lilac Hill Farm Cassoulet

Cassoulet is a rich, slow cooked bean  dish, traditionally prepared with pork sausages, duck/goose pieces and pork skin.  The combination of the tender meats, creamy beans and caramelized crusty top is very satisfying, especially in winter. Once the dish is assembled and set to slowly bake, it requires little attention.

 A few cooking notes for adjusting this recipe:

• Since our larder does not always have the exact meats listed in the recipe, I follow the techniques listed in this recipe, but substitute lamb shoulder chops, lamb or pork sausage and our pasture raised chicken and duck legs and thighs.
• Until our next pig butchering when I will add enough garlic sausage to our cutting order to satisfy our cassoulet cravings , I add garlic to our ground lamb or pork. 
• I do use rendered duck fat from our birds. Even if we do not raise many ducks this year, I will raise a few especially for the fat.
• Our cassoulet has more beans and less meat than recommended in the recipe because we really like the beans and my cast iron pot fits fewer pieces of meat neatly on top.