7/26/2023 0 Comments Flocks of geeseGoose goalsīefore bringing your geese home, spend some time researching the various breeds. If your goal is to raise a flock that will stick around the barnyard, the daily feeding and watering will accomplish this. If that is your desired relationship with your birds, be sure to spend plenty of time with your goslings to forge this special friendship with them. Not only will they not show aggression, but they will follow their imprinted parent around, honk to be picked up, and generally behave more like a house pet than a farmyard animal. When raised by hand, goslings come to identify the person who feeds and cares for them as their parent, and they remain attached to that person for the rest of their lives. Imprinting is a behavioral trait unique to waterfowl and some land fowl species. Regularly visiting with your new birds also increases the chance they will bond with you. If you hear a lot of distressed peeping, they may be cold or not have enough food. Bringing up babyĬheck on and monitor your goslings regularly to make sure they are happy. You can decrease the brooder temperature by 5 degrees per week, and by the sixth week, goslings should no longer need any artificial heating method. In their first few days of life, geese require a temperature of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a brooder heat lamp to maintain a constant temperature in the brooder. If possible, block off a small portion of a brooder box or livestock stall, and slowly move the partition out as the geese grow. Within just a few weeks, they will need at least double that space. New goslings need a secure space with about a half square foot per bird. Bedding usually lasts a few days with new goslings, but as they grow they’ll need fresh shavings daily. Geese are notoriously messy, especially as youngsters, and any bedding will need to be changed frequently. Shavings make ideal bedding, but you can also use hay or straw. Brooder amenitiesĪs with any baby bird, a gosling’s brooder needs to be warm and dry. Once they are a couple of weeks old, you can introduce them to a pond or a tub for bathing, and they will splash and swim with delight. A wet gosling can be dried with a towel, but it’s best to remove the option of swimming entirely. In a brooder, they have no such protection and can become ill if they get soaked in water. In the wild, a mother goose will dry off and warm a damp gosling. Goslings love swimming, but until they are at least a couple of weeks old, they should not be allowed to swim. Water must be checked and cleaned regularly – once or twice daily – to prevent contamination from droppings. Chick waterers usually offer plenty of depth for submersion without the extra space for splashing. Do not give them so much water that they try to swim. Goose nostrils tend to clog if they do not have the ability to fully submerse their beaks in water, so be sure their water bowl is deep enough for them to dip their beaks into. In addition to the moistened feed or dry feed, goslings also obviously need a source of fresh water for drinking. Feed at a ratio of 3 pounds of yeast to a 25-pound bag of feed. Most farm supply stores offer feed specific for waterfowl chicks, but if you already have chick starter, you can feed them this with the addition of brewer’s yeast to help prevent any growth. They need water to wash dry feed down, and it’s pretty entertaining to watch a gosling fill their mouth with feed, waddle to the water for a drink, then wattle back to the feed for another mouthful. Goslings need their food soaked in water in order to swallow the meal. When goslings first arrive, either from a hatchery or local farm, they will need immediate access to food and fresh water. If you’ve decided a flock is in your future, be sure you are ready for your first goslings. They offer entertainment, guardianship, meat, eggs and more. Geese make a delightful addition to any farm operation. Woman holding an African gosling at the Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup, Washington, USA.
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