Australian Settler (formerly Pilgrim)

The origins of the original Pilgrim Geese are unclear, but they are thought to be either descended from stock in Europe, or developed from American stock during the Great Depression era. Pilgrim Geese (now called Australian Settlers here) are medium in size, sturdy, and quick growing They are one of the auto-sexing breeds where the female is completely grey apart from her stern and distinctive white spectacles. The male is completely white. In Australia the name was changed to Australian Settlers in the 2012 Australian Poultry Standard edition to reflect their reconstruction from stock in this country.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

SHAPE— GANDER AND GOOSE

BILL : Medium in length, straight, stout, smoothly attached.

EYES: Moderately large.

HEAD : Medium in size, oval, trim.

NECK : Medium in length, moderately stout, slightly arched.

BACK : Moderately broad, uniform in width, flat and straight.

TAIL : Medium in length, closely folded, carried nearly level.

WINGS : Strong, well developed, neatly carried to body.

BREAST : Round, full, deep.

BODY: Moderately long, plump and meaty; keel permissible in females. Adult abdomen, deep, square and well balanced, free from bagginess. Carriage above the horizontal, but not upright.

LEGS AND FEET: Lower thighs—medium length, well fleshed.

Shanks — moderately short, stout. Feet—toes, strong, straight, well webbed.

PLUMAGE : Hard, tight and glossy.

COLOUR — GANDER

BILL : Orange.

EYES: Bluish gray.

SHANKS AND FEET: Orange.

PLUMAGE : Pure white. Some slight grey spotting in wings, back and tail of ganders, lighter in older males. This spotting is important to maintain the auto-sexing qualities of the Settler.

COLOUR - GOOSE

BILL: Orange. Eyes: bluish grey in male, hazel in female. Legs and feet: orange.

HEAD: Light gray and white. The front part of the face near the bill broken with white which forms the distinctive 'spectacles' around the eyes. This white increasing as the bird gets older.

NECK: Light gray, upper portion mixed with white in mature specimens.

BACK: Light ashy gray, laeed with lighter gray.

TAIL: Ashy gray, heavily edged with a lighter gray approaching white. Tail coverts—Very light gray approaching white.

WINGS: Bows and Coverts —a light ashy gray, edged with a lighter gray. Secondaries—a medium gray, edged with a lighter shade approaching white.

Primaries — a medium gray. Primary coverts, light gray. BREAST : Very light ashy gray, shading off to nearly white under body.

BODY: Very light gray, gradually getting lighter as it approaches fluff which is so light as to appear white. Sides of body — soft ashy gray, each feather edged with a lighter shade.

STANDARD WEIGHTS

Adult Gander 14 lbs (6.35kg). Adult Goose 13 lbs (5.9kg).

Young Gander 12 lbs (5.44kg). Young Goose 10 lbs (4.54kg).

SCALE OF POINTS

From: The Poultry club standards, containing a complete description of all the recognised varieties of fowls, ducks, geese and turkeys, ed. by William W. Broomhead. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009202629

This scale of points is given by the Poultry Club of Great Britain for goose breeds list in the 1923 Standard. This included the Pilgrim Goose which was standardised in the UK in 1939. The Pilgrim was included in the 1998 Australian Poultry Standards. When the second edition of the APS was published the name of the breed was changed to Australian Settler.

SERIOUS DEFECTS

See Disqualifications

SOURCES

• Ashton Waterfowl website: http://www.ashtonwaterfowl.net/pilgrim_geese.htm Retrieved 30 September 2019.

• The American standard of perfection, illustrated. A complete description of recognized varieties of fowls, as revised by [the Association at its 62d-67th annual meetings, 1937-42.] Public Domain accessed from: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009169004

• The Poultry club standards, containing a complete description of all the recognised varieties of fowls, ducks, geese and turkeys, ed. by William W. Broomhead. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009202629

• Article on Pilgrims by Ashtons. https://ashtonwaterfowl.net/pdfs/FF_Autosexing_Geese_2018.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2BrLhFA7nXVksDeOs-V6tEFi3oP8Mhj4JM_AG-mcjN8wEw_SBLhuFZ4LU