How to start breeding LWfG - FromScratch? Pentti Alho

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How to start breeding LWfG - FromScratch?Pentti
Alho

• Buildings
• for reproducing pairs (up to 80 birds)
• All year round "pastures" (5000 m2)
• Winter halls (200 m2)
• Separate compartments (30) for nesting (each
  40m2)
• Storage for fodder etc
• for other LWfG (up to 80 birds)
• Double pastures and winter halls

• Reproduction
• Natural incubation in one pair compartments
  This is the main method since the natural
  parents are easiest and best.
• Incubators Some eggs must anyway be incubated
  artificially,
• and therefore, suitable rooms for young goslings
  must be built.

• Initial birds.
• A least 150 founders are needed for a sound
  population
• Ideally wild
• Available in limited numbers (5/year in Russia)
• Extremely expensive
• Adult birds generally useless if not pairs.
• Eggs not transportable
• Catchinh large numbers (100) damages donor
  population
• Genetic tests? Or none?
• In Practise captive
• Limited availability (Global captive 300-400 ind)
• Genetic tests compulsory
• Expensive, too! 200-300 Euros/pair depending on
  juv. or ad.
• Alternatives
• Using young birds one has to buy them from many
  farms,since no place has large numbers and/or
  independent lineages. In practise this means a
  delay of 3-4 years in the hope of forming at
  least a few pairs. Starting with 20 individuals,
  one may expect to arrive at about 5 pairs
  finally.
• Using 2 cy. birds or ad. birds. The later are
  really rarely for sale. Generally, only 20-30
  per cent of fram birds are productive. ( 1-cy,
  2-cy. not paired, widows (very slowly
  re-pairing)etc.)

• Foster parents
• Finding foster parents is not at all self
  evident.
• Finding foster parents is absolutely necessary.
• Finding LWfG foster parents is currently
  impossible.
• Using Ultralighrt Aircraft in the first phase
  would later create LWfG foster parents.
• Without aircraft, Barnacle Geese are the only
  alternative.

• Creating and sustaining a productive captive
  stock
• A durably productive captive stock must be
  sustained. Also, large numbers of goslings must
  be produced to be released in Nature - the main
  purpose of all this.
• LWfG are slowly reprocucing, long-lived birds.
  Therefore, creating a large enough (100) captive
  donor population for one farm takes 10-15 years
  if captive founders are used and much longer with
  natural founders ( 5 each year, see chart)

2007 Soon nesting begins and much more daily work
is needed, in particular when separating pairs
into compartments. Nothing goes by force. Stress
and losses of birds must be avoided.