sexing geese

So Anna decided to surprise me by buying.a pair of geese this weekend. (And it was such a good surprise she tricked me into doing the actual buying).

Anyway, I don't quite know whether to trust that they're a mating pair so to speak, and the internet isn't being very descriptive about how to actually perform the vent sexing without injuring the birds when I press on their abdomens.

Any advice?

How old are they and what breed?
Generally you can tell by their voices, females have a lower pitch than the boys.
Also if they are older the females tend to have one lump between their legs and boys two.
Generally boys are larger than girls as well, but that does depend on the breed.

Hidden River wrote:How old are they and what breed?
Generally you can tell by their voices, females have a lower pitch than the boys.
Also if they are older the females tend to have one lump between their legs and boys two.
Generally boys are larger than girls as well, but that does depend on the breed.

Hard to answer those ones! Normally I would never do this, but they came in a box and the box said absolutely nothing at all. My best guess is production type Toulouse, but I have no idea when the dewlap is supposed to develop. They currently have a very undeveloped dewlap. They do both have fairly large double lobed abdomens. I think I detect a small difference in their voices but I don't know how different they are supposed to be...should it be as distinct as with ducks or more subtle? There is a smallish size difference as well, but they are both fairly small from what I would assume of a toulouse so I am assuming they are quite young geese, this years hatch maybe?

I did gingerly attempt a vent sexing, but since I don't know what I'm doing I was extra cautious not to hurt them. I thought only one had a penis, and it seemed underdeveloped. But I really don't know what I'm doing, all other species I have are so easy. For all I know I just wasn't pressing hard enough and was only looking at a half inverted vent.