Toulouse goose

The history of the Toulouse is a long one, going back at least to 1555.[4]^: 472 It was reared for meat and for foie gras.[12]^: 378

Some were brought to the United Kingdom in the 1840s by Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, who was at that time president of the Zoological Society of London.[12]^: 378 There it was bred for considerably greater weight; the British breed standard dates from 1865.[12]^: 378

Some of these heavier British birds were later exported to North America.[12]^: 378 The Toulouse was included in the first Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 1874. It is reared principally in the upper Midwest, where its good tolerance of cold weather is an advantage.[4]^: 472

The Toulouse generally has a placid disposition.[13] Ring size is 27 mm for both ganders and geese.[14] In France weights are usually in the range 7–9 kg. The British standard calls for an average weight of about 10 kg for geese, and nearly 13 kg for ganders.[12]^: 379

The production strain of the Toulouse goose was bred to be fast-growing, gaining weight rapidly when there is an abundance of food and no room for exercise.[15] It may be reared for its meat, for goose fat, or for foie gras.[4]^: 472 Exhibition strains are slow-growing.[13] Geese of the type without dewlaps lay 25–40 extra-large white eggs per year, while geese of the dewlap type lay 20–35.[5] The birds may also be a source of goose down.[4]^: 472