Along with the dairy goats and Brahman cattle, we have a small gaggle of brown African geese. I began raising African geese in 1970 and maintained a small group of breeders until 2001. Over the years I worked with various bloodlines, but two breeders provided me with very nice stock in the 80s: Halbach Hatchery (Harry Halbach, Master Exhibitor and APA judge) and Duane Urch (APA Hall of Fame and Master Exhibitor). The last of those lines left the farm in 2001.

Recently, we were fortunate to find and purchase Africans from a noted breeder in northern Ohio, Mark Nelisse (APA Master Exhibitor). Having bred and shown Africans for many years, Mark Nelisse led in points for APA's Grand Master Exhibitor for African geese, as of February 2004. In recent years, he has used Holderread lines as an outcross to improve fertility and egg production.The Nelisse geese greatly resemble those we had earlier, and we are very excited about breeding Africans again. Following are the three ganders we purchased from them, along with their mates for 2006.

Oldest Gander and older geese

Gander with two year old geese

2005 Gander with young geese