The Shetland goose is a breed of

domestic geese 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 (' ...

originating in the Shetland Islands in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Like the other

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

breeds native to the islands, the Shetland goose is small in stature, generally weighing between 12 and 14 pounds (5 and 6 kilos). They are very hardy and exceptionally good foragers, and are able to largely sustain themselves through

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

History

The Shetland goose has been used by crofters to graze pastures. This was to rid the grass of parasites, such as the

liver fluke Liver fluke is a collective name of a polyphyletic group of parasitic trematodes under the phylum Platyhelminthes. They are principally parasites of the liver of various mammals, including humans. Capable of moving along the blood circulation, t ...

, to prepare it for grazing by sheep.

Characteristics

Like a few other goose breeds, including the

Pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

and Cotton Patch, Shetlands are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

at hatch (called

auto-sexing Auto-sexing breeds of poultry are those in which the sex of newly-hatched chicks can be determined from the colour and markings of the down. Some breeds of chicken, of goose and of domestic pigeon have this characteristic. The idea of such a b ...

in poultry nomenclature), and can be differentiated on appearance alone. Ganders have entirely white plumage, while geese have a head, neck, and upper body with gray highlights and a white underbody. They generally mate for life, and are good parents. Shetland geese lay around 30 eggs a year, that are white in colour. The Shetland goose has a shorter bill, due to its natural ability to forage. Shetlands were first exported to United States in 1997, by a farm in New York. They are not yet recognized by 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 respo ...

via admittance in the Standard of Perfection.Carol Ekarius (2007)
''Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds''
North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. . The breed is currently being studied by the

American Livestock Breeds 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 ...

, which considers populations in North America to potentially be too low to maintain sufficient genetic diversity (in North America).

History

Characteristics

References

See also