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The
Faroese goose (Føroyska Gásin in Faroese) is probably the
oldest form of tame goose in Europe and possibly the direct descendants
of the tame geese that the Landnám folk brought from Scandinavia and the British Isles.
Since the Faroe Islands have no native predators that are capable of
killing the geese, a special "goose culture" has developed in the Faroe
Islands, which has no equivalent in neighboring countries. From May to
October one can see flocks of geese walking freely in the outfields,
where they feed on the short summer grass without any supplementary
feeding.
In winter the geese move freely in the cultivated infields of the
villages, which in some cases is of such good quality that earlier the
geese did not need complementary feed in the winter. In most places,
however, caretakers provide supplementary food just before and during
egg laying and when snow is on the ground. The properties of today's
Faroese geese result from natural selection over centuries, where only
the most well-adapted birds reproduced. |
