Cotton Patch

Conservation status
  • FAO (2007): not listed: 128 
  • SPPA (2025): critical
  • DAD-IS (2026): not listed
  • TLC (2026): threatened
Country of originUnited States
Use
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    4.5–5.5 kg (10–12 lb)
  • Female:
    3.5–4.5 kg (8–10 lb)
Colour
  • Gander: white with some dove grey
  • Goose: grey with some white markings
Classification
APAno
EEno
PCGBno
Notes
auto-sexing
  • goose
  • Anser anser

The Cotton Patch is an American breed of goose. It was formerly widespread in the south-eastern United States; in the twenty-first century it is an endangered breed. It is named for its traditional use to clear weeds from fields of cotton, corn and other crops. Like most other domestic geese, it derives from the wild species Anser anser. It is an auto-sexing breed – the gander and goose are immediately distinguishable because they are of different colours.: 46 

History

The origins of the Cotton Patch are unknown. It is thought to derive from European geese brought to the New World in the colonial era. Until the mid-twentieth century it was extensively used in the south-eastern United States to keep fields of crops such as cotton and corn clear of crabgrass and other weeds. In the twenty-first century it is an endangered breed.

The United States reports no breed of goose to the DAD-IS database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.: 128  The Cotton Patch is not among the breeds of goose recognised by the American Poultry Association,: 20  nor is it recognised by the Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture or the Poultry Club of Great Britain.

Its conservation status was listed as 'critical' by the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities in 2025, and as 'threatened' – the second of its three levels of concern – by the Livestock Conservancy in 2026. It is included in the Ark of Taste of the international Slow Food Foundation.

Characteristics

The Cotton Patch is broadly similar to the European Norman, Pilgrim, Shetland and West of England, which are also auto-sexing breeds; it may share common ancestry with them.: 46 

It is a small goose, with body weights in the range 3.5–4.5 kg (8–10 lb) for geese and 4.5–5.5 kg (10–12 lb) for ganders. The gander is white, either with or without some dove grey feathers, while the goose is either brownish grey or dove grey, with some white markings. The beak and legs are orange or orange-pink; the eyes are blue.

Use

The geese were formerly used in large numbers to clear weeds from fields of crops such as cotton and corn; they also provided eggs, meat, goose-fat, feathers and down. Geese may lay as many as 90 large white eggs in a year, usually in a clutch of between 4 and 7.

References

  1. 1 2 Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 SPPA 2025 Critical List. Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities. Archived 5 October 2026.
  3. ↑ Breed Data Sheet: United States: Goose (domestic). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cotton Patch Goose. Pittsboro, North Carolina: The Livestock Conservancy. Archived 16 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
  7. 1 2 Geese. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 9 January 2019.
  8. 1 2 Gérard Guy, Roger Buckland (editors) (2002). Annexe 1. Souches d'oies (in French); in: Production des oies, FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 154. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISSN 0254-6019, ISBN 9251048622. Archived 27 May 2025.
  9. 1 2 Chris Ashton (2012). Keeping Geese. Ramsbury, Marlborough: The Crowood Press. ISBN 9781847973368.
  10. 1 2 Lamar James (21 July 2004). The hunt for 'cotton patch' geese. Delta Farm Press. Archived 20 February 2005.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Cotton Patch Goose: Ark of Taste. Bra, Cuneo: Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversità Onlus/Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Archived 16 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 2026 Conservation Priority Poultry Breeds. Pittsboro, North Carolina: The Livestock Conservancy. Archived 16 August 2026.