Janet Beranger Algiz first arrived in America with European settlers. Over the course of many years, many breeds including the Pilgrim, the American Buff, and what may be the oldest American breed, the Cotton Patch Goose, were developed in the deep South. The cotton patch is a unique part of the American agricultural past that was integral to cotton production in the area prior to the development of herbicides. They were geese by profession and were expected to forage in the fields for the majority of their food. It is a small to medium bird and has the ability to fly, unlike many of the heavier breeds of geese. This trait often enables the birds to escape wild predators and local stray dogs, who are their main threat on the farm.
Landrace breed
The Cottonmouth is a breed that can vary in color and type depending on the owner’s preferences, but all are spontaneously sexual (males look different than females). In all bloodlines, males have been found to be all or mostly white with a small amount of dove gray. Conversely, females are predominantly dove-gray to brown with variable amounts of white in their plumage. Their beaks and feet vary in color from orange to pink.
Remember back in the day
Until recently, few knew about the cotton swab and even fewer remember the days when it was so widespread on Southern plantations. I wanted to know more about the early days, so I took the opportunity to chat with Mississippi farmer Justin Bates. Justin’s family goes back many generations to the area, and he still remembers the days when they kept geese on the farm.
One of my first questions was, “Where do you think they come from? England? Spain? France?” He replied, It was so backwards, the facts may be lost in time. It mentions its similarity to some autosex strains found in the United Kingdom and France. Sometimes, he would hear people refer to them as “French geese,” but most of the time they were called the “old goose” or “cotton patch.” They were also kept by local cotton-growing tribes, and in some places the birds were called “Choctaw” or “Indian” geese.
Geese history keepers
Justin pointed out that in earlier times, farms were much more diversified than they are today, and people held a variety of stocks. Most of the farms in the area had a small patch of cotton (5 to 10 acres) and almost everyone had a small flock of geese to work on. However, Justin’s grandfather, Frank “Papa” James, and his son-in-law, Earl Paisley, kept raising flocks of 300 to 400 spotted cotton geese for their large cotton fields. The birds were placed at night in a corner of the field to protect them from stray dogs and then coyotes, which began to appear east of the Mississippi River during the early 20th century. In the morning the birds were released and put to work. In the winter they will get some shelled corn to supplement their diet because foraging will be poor at that time of year. The birds were expected to nest and raise their young each year in early spring, usually on Valentine’s Day.
Ganders can be especially protective of their girls. It was not uncommon for an unlucky person on the farm to unexpectedly encounter the wrath of those birds bent on giving you the cries of life with their wings! The males were also aggressive towards each other and brought a lot of commotion to the farm in the spring. Young geese were kept regardless of their color and if they had no visual defects such as deformities or angel wings. They had to be able to keep their own in the cotton fields with little intervention from their owners, making for a very hardy breed. Above all, they needed the ability to fly, which kept the breed small and athletic.
Frank and Earl farmed geese in this traditional manner until the 1960s when cotton production in Mississippi began to wane. Geese haven’t been used as much for weeding other crops as Justin remembers, so unfortunately as the cotton fades, so does the goose. By the late 20th century, there were only a few families left who held their own apart from the ancient traditions. Frank and Earl turned toward increasing production with the farm’s traditional Pineywoods cattle, the cattle Justin still keeps today.
Cotton patch kitchen
I asked how many people ate geese. Surprisingly, Justin never knew any of his family members ate geese, but they sure ate eggs. A good goose can lay up to 90 large eggs a year, and he remembers that his grandmother used to cook with them, just as she did with chicken eggs. She had plenty of mouths to feed, and eggs were a welcome addition to a kitchen that has produced mountains of cornbread, thanks to the geese.
Justin noticed that there were other people who enjoyed the opportunity to eat geese. In particular, he remembers a Hattiesburg businessman, Mr. Fine of the Fine Brothers store, who would send a worker to the farm with a big truck and a blank check every year to Papa Frank in order to get his family’s geese for Hanukkah. He shipped birds far and wide to the family all the way up to Chicago.
Pick up geese
Besides the eggs, the family used to gather to do their annual goose-picking when they harvested feathers for pillows and a bed. The geese were not adapted to being held, so a stocking was placed over their head, gently rubbing and loosening the feathers from the body without pulling or plucking them too hard. They came out easily and were ready for stuffing shortly thereafter. Then the geese were again released into their flocks, no worse for wear.
For Justin’s family, geese have played a central role for many years. Today, Justin still keeps geese on his farm and is always on the lookout for lost flocks of them all over the South. It also serves to preserve the legacy of those who worked so hard to preserve what remains of the dynasty. Many have died and he feels it is important to remember how much they did for these birds. He recalled with some sadness Tom Walker from Texas who passed away in 2019. He was a figure not many will forget, and it was a tremendous loss for the dynasty. Walker spent many years tracking birds and was one of the breed’s staunchest proponents.
Seal of approval
In 2020, the US Postal Service announced a new set of Forever Stamps dedicated to celebrating heritage breeds of livestock and poultry. Breeds have included the Mulefoot pig, Wyandotte chicken, Milking Devon cow, Narragansett turkey, Mammoth Jackstock donkey, Barbados Blackbelly sheep, Cayuga duck, San Clemente Island goat, and yes, you guessed it, the Cotton Patch goose! The breed has the honor of being immortalized on a stamp and recognized as a national agricultural treasure.
The Livestock Conservancy worked with the USPS and George Washington Mount Vernon to officially launch the stamps in May 2021. Live animals were brought to the event to represent the breeds that were on the stamps. Kimberly and Mark Dominici of Frog Hollow Schoolmaster’s Homestead were kind enough to bring some geese and sheep to the event. It was rare for attendees to see these iconic endangered geese.
Cotton patch in the future
The breed is enjoying a rapid rise in popularity but is still an endangered breed. The flocks are usually very small and spread across the country. Finding herds that might provide diversity to the population is a priority because time is short to discover the last of the lost herds in the South.
Jenette Berenger He is the senior director of the Livestock Conservation Program. She came to the organization with 25 years of experience working as an animal professional including animal and veterinary organizations with a focus on heritage breeds. She has worked with The Conservancy since 2005 and uses her knowledge to plan and implement conservation programs, conduct field research and advise farmers in their endeavours with rare breeds. Co-author of the bestselling book Introduction to Heritage Breeds. At home, she runs a heritage breed farm with a focus on rare breed chickens and horses. In 2015 she was honored as one of the “45 Most Amazing Country Women in America” by woman’s country magazine for its longstanding dedication to the conservation of endangered species.