Cotton Patch goose

The Cotton Patch is a breed of domestic goose originating in the Southern United States.

Up until the 1950s, Cotton Patch geese were customarily kept on rural Southern homesteads and farms as multi-purpose poultry used for weeding, meat, eggs, down, and grease.

Their grazing kept fields clear of crabgrass and other weeds, while leaving crops unharmed and reducing the amount of manual labor necessary.

After the mid-20th century, herbicides almost entirely replaced weeding on American farms, and the Cotton Patch goose declined in concert.

They are also slimmer in body than most domestic geese, and retain a relatively good flying ability into adulthood.