Traits: Striped Feathers, Cream Feathers, All KINDS OF FEATHERS

Tupelo during the feathering out stage

Philodendron showing the usual chest feathers of a feathering out goose

My slow and adorable goose named Tupelo was quite a marvel when she first feathered out. Typically a young goose when he or she first feathers out will have a bunch of speckled feathers on their chest and the chest will look brownish. But Tupelo was an exception. Her chest feathers were cream. Apart from the chest feathers there are the tail feathers. Most geese will have sloppy coloring on their tail feathers. Each tail feather has a gray spot in the middle outlined by a thick white border. Sometimes that spot is not all that perfect and has a mixture of white on it. Other times the top half of the tail feather can be white while the bottom half is gray with some of both color mixed in. So it is rather crazy when first feathering out and can stay crazy even past that. 

Tupelo's tail feathers came in very neatly. They were fantastic! Now she just has tail feathers like any other goose. Usually, a goose will have neater tail feathers when they are almost done feathering out and it is mainly crazy and untidy when they are four to five weeks old. Apart from the coloring on the tail feathers it also has to do with their pruning. But if their spotting is not right the pruning will not matter all that much. Each individual goose's feathers vary greatly. When they first feather out, their top-of-the-wing feathers are edged with brown instead of the classic African/Chinese goose white. It will change over time as they continaully feather out. The side feathers below the wing which are striped can be different shades as well. Some geese will have lighter shades of gray. I like the ones who have the dark gray with their white making up the distinctive stripes. I look at the top of the wing feathers which are one of the first spots for feathering out to see if I like the size of each feather. My two year old geese got nice-sized feathers when they molted, I guess since they are more mature. 

Their are so many things to learn about regarding feathers! Chinese geese will often have feathers that are brown and feathers that are gray on the top of their wing while African geese have all gray.