Brecon Buff

Origin:  United Kingdom - Wales

Category:  Heavy Goose

Egg Colour:  White

Sitter:  Yes

The Brecon Buff Goose is a hardy and prolific goose of moderate size and patterned buff plumage. Buff is not a colour commonly seen in the wild, probably because the buff gene is recessive and sex-linked. Buff had no doubt been seen in farmyard flocks earlier, but it was in 1929 that Rhys Llewellyn of Swansea noticed it and decided to develop a buff breed. In The Feathered World (1934) he says, “… while motoring over the Brecon Beacons in Wales, I noticed a buff-coloured goose among a large flock of white and grey geese. This buff ‘sport’ interested me greatly and I purchased her there and then, with the definite intention of producing a breed of this attractive colour.” He crossed her with a white Emden-type male and in the next generation introduced buff females from other flocks. By 1934 he produced 100% true colour birds. The birds were fair layers with good table qualities. The intention was to produce a paler coloured medium-sized market goose that plucked well and apparently the buff plumage plucks more easily and any remnants are less visible.

While somewhat similar to the American Buff in many features, it differs from that variety in being more refined in head and neck and also finer of bone. The colour patterns of the two breeds are very similar, with the one conspicuous exception; i.e., that of the bill, which is a pink shade in the Brecon, compared to the more common orange bills found in most breeds of domestic geese. It is a very hardy, active breed and is reputed to be more prolific than some of the extremely heavy branches of the domestic goose family. Moreover it has the reputation of carrying a maximum amount of flesh for its size.

They have the same plumage pattern as the Toulouse and the actual shade of buff can vary according to individuals and their exposure to sunlight. The breed was shown at the Crystal Palace Show in 1934.

Brecon Buff was included in our first Australian Poultry Standards in 1998 and continues to be represented in the most recent second edition.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

SHAPE OF MALE AND FEMALE

HEAD: Rather small, trim and refined.

BILL: Medium size and uniformly tapered, with smooth juncture with the skull.

EYES: Bright and piercing.

NECK: Long and inclined to slenderness, devoid of dewlap. Carried mostly upright.

BACK: Broad in proportion to length and approximately straight from shoulders to tail.

TAIL: Compact and carried nearly level with the line of the back.

BODY: Broad, plump and smoothly rounded.

BREAST: Round and full, without keel on breast or chest.

STERN: Wide, square and moderately deep, well off the ground.

WINGS: Strong and muscular, smoothly folded against the sides and tips meeting over the rump.

LEGS: Thighs, merely long enough to show the hocks below the main, or large, thigh coverts. Shanks; fairly short and fine, but ample in bone.

PLUMAGE: Close fitting, smooth and hard.

CARRIAGE: Elevated somewhat at the shoulders and energetic.

COLOUR

COLOR OF MALE AND FEMALE

BILL: Pinkish. (Note that Ashton Waterfowl of UK state that pink bill is required for a Brecon Buff, however this is omitted as a requirement in the Australian Standards ed2 - possibly an error.)

EYES: Brown

SHANKS AND FEET: Deep reddish orange.

PLUMAGE: Fawn buff, the shade varying in the several sections in the same degree and with characteristic lacings as in the corresponding gray sections in the Toulouse and other similarly marked breeds; the shade of buff in the gander may be slightly lighter than in the female.

WEIGHTS

• Adult male about 18 lbs.

• Adult female about 16 lbs.

• Young male about 16 lbs.

• Young female about 14 lbs.

SCALE OF POINTS

Goose Points from the American Standard of Perfection referenced below.

SERIOUS DEFECTS

• Coarse heads and necks;

• Heavy bones;

• Orange bills,

• White flights, or gray cast to plumage;

• Oversize.

See Disqualifications

SOURCES

• Grow, O. (1956). Universal waterfowl standard and judging guide. Milwaukee: American Waterfowl Assoc., inc. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003128190&view=1up&seq=9

• Australian Poultry Standards 2nd edition

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brecon_Buff_Goose