Breed Introduction: The Landaise Goose

Currently the best liver-type breed for foie gras production abroad, originating from the Landes province in western France; Hungary also raises a considerable number today. China introduced the Landaise goose from France twice, in 1979 and 1986. The plumage of this goose is mainly grayish-brown, with the feathers on the neck and back darker, approaching black, the chest feathers gradually becoming lighter and taking on a silver-gray tone, and the belly feathers milky white. The Landaise goose has a large body, a broad back and deep chest, a pendulous abdomen, an inconspicuous knob on the head, a pointed and short beak, a pharyngeal pouch on the upper neck, a thick and short neck, and slightly curled neck feathers. When standing or walking, its body is almost parallel to the ground. Adult weight: ganders 7-8 kg, geese 6-7 kg. Weight at 8 weeks of age is about 4.5 kg. Egg production: annual egg production is about 40 eggs, with an average egg weight of 180-200 g. Breeding: male-to-female ratio 1:3. Broodiness is relatively weak. The Landaise goose has a relatively high down yield and tolerates artificial plucking; breeding geese are plucked twice a year and can produce 350-450 g of down. Its liver performance is good. According to force-feeding tests conducted after introduction in Shandong, the average foie gras weight is more than 800 g, the feed-to-liver ratio is 24:1, and the body weight gain rate during the force-feeding period is 62-70%. However, the texture of the foie gras is less than ideal. The disadvantages of the Landaise goose are that ganders have poor mating ability and poor semen quality, so the fertilization rate of breeding eggs is low, generally only 60-65%.