A rare and threatened breed of geese, the Cotton Patch used to be ubiquitous on southern farms to weed the cotton. The breed was almost lost during the advent of widespread pesticide use, when farmers felt the geese were now “obsolete”. You can read more about their history here: https://livestockconservancy.org/cotton-patch-geese/

Cotton Patch are distinct from other breeds in that their eyes are blue and both their beaks and feet are bright pink, instead of orange. They also are one of the few breeds to auto-sex, so from the moment they hatch you can tell the sex. The males will always be all white, and the females will always be mostly grey.

Cotton Patch are a small, lightweight breed, that are excellent foragers and fantastically friendly. Of all the breeds I’ve raised, Cotton Patch are by far the nicest, even during breeding season. Because they are lightweight, they can fly pretty well but mostly choose not to if there is water and good grass in their enclosure. Despite their southern heritage, they are completely cold hardy in Vermont, and even enjoy the cold weather.

Cotton Patch geese are under conservation, and I’m looking for a really special home to steward this breeding pair.

This pair was hatched out by their parents in Early May, and are fully feathered, but still in the “friendly gosling” stage. The goose is a normal mostly-grey coloration; she will have a grey body, white wing tips, and some white feathers across her face. The constellation of white on her face will be unique to her! The gander has a mother with a saddle-back coloration, and his father also carries the genes for saddleback (this is a more rare coloration), so there is a possibility that any future female goslings could be saddleback.