Toulouse

Despite their size, they are an extremely quiet and docile breed and often referred to as Gentle Giants. However breeding can be difficult.

It is generally believed this breed was first brought to England around 1840’s and developed by early waterfowl enthusiasts from the early commercial type geese into the large deep fronted geese we see today.

The heavy weight of the goose world with birds reaching between 20 & 30 lbs.
An almost horizontal carriage with a long, broad and deep body and a prominent and deep breast.
The head should also be strong, massive and round with a short strong beak.
One immediate characteristic of this breed is the pendulous and well developed dewlap which extends in folds from the base of the beak down the upper neck.
They are available predominantly grey but the rarer Buff Toulouse are sometimes seen.

This large breed can produce good meat birds. However they tend to be quite slow growing.

The large exhibition Toulouse can be a challenge to breed due predominantly to their sheer size which can influence fertility.