Styrian farm

Animal welfare is a top priority on this goose farm

Dietmar Rath with his cackling charges

(Bild: Christa Blümel)

Even though the traditional Martinigansl is not served until 11 November, many Styrians are already eating this autumn specialty. For many, the origin of the animals is particularly important. A model initiative is Dietmar Rath's "Steirische Weidegans", which focuses on species-appropriate animal husbandry.

There's no doubt about it: after a short lifetime, they too will end up on the plate for our enjoyment. But until then, they are allowed to live in such a way that - unlike pigs, which vegetate on fully slatted floors - it is not an indictment of humanity. "I wouldn't have done it any other way," emphasizes Dietmar Rath, who keeps around 300 geese on huge green meadows in Eastern Styria.

And the birds make a very cheerful impression! The 300 specimens chatter in the meadow, run up to visitors and pluck curiously and trustingly at their trousers.

"It's over before they know it"
Isn't it precisely this trust that causes Rath problems when he later takes them to slaughter? "No," he says. "Because I slaughter them myself at home." In the dark, where the feathers are (voluntarily) in the barn, he almost sneaks in, takes one after the other, stuns and kills it. "It's over before they know it, there's no fear."

Curious goose during the "Krone" visit

(Bild: Christa Blümel)

This method of killing is indispensable for Rath, having previously taken them to the butcher: "The transportation alone, from the meadow to the crates, their fear, the long wait in the slaughterhouse, the procedure - no one drives around with my animals like that," he has been certain of ever since.

Family business for ten years
The family business has been keeping geese like this for ten years now, having started with just 50 animals. The "Gössl" are hatched in Upper Austria, brought straight to Etzersdorf in Eastern Styria and then spend four months on the pasture - until their time comes. They then weigh 3.5 to six kilos, "each one grows as fast and as much as it happens. They are not helped along."

Rath only takes as many (goose and gander taste the same, by the way) as he can sell - but the demand for good quality means there are more and more of them. "Last year, we didn't even have any more Martinigansl for the family," he smiles. Local restaurants such as the Ochensberger or the Wilde Eder are happy to take the goose, as is the Herzl Weinstube in Graz. The goose from the Schwabenhansl (the farm's common name) is in great demand - as is the down, which is used for upholstery and blankets.

And yes, it does make a difference: whether the goose is allowed to live like this or in a fattening farm where it never has a piece of meadow or sees the sun in its short life.