??? about geese

[lil'chickies]

I'm thinking about getting some goslings on the 25th of this month. I've read several posts where people complain about how messy ducks are. Are geese the same way? What's a good website to learn more about them?

 

[ShadyGlade]

Um, are you talking messy in terms of brooding or as adults outside in their run? The only mess my adult geese make are the piles of poo they leave in the grass. A good rain washes that away. They don't make all the daubing holes that the ducks make either.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I think it's messy, like bodies strewn around the yard... the mailman, the electric company guy, the lawn mowing guy, the DH, all having been partially eaten by a rogue, murderous gander.... no, seriously, my goose makes serious poops... big, sticky, icky poops, and sometimes there are feathers that he yanks out of the other birds... other than that, he's pretty good.

 

[MissPrissy]

Geese are like feathered cows. They walk around and eat the pasture and grasses. They are herbivores so they won't be policing the bugs for you. They also poop - like dogs. Generally speaking once they get past the brooding stage they are no work. You don't even have to buy feed for them once you get up and on pasture grasses. As long as they can graze a green patch and have plenty of water they will be fat and happy.

 

[papagoose]

I think as goslings in a brooder they will be messier than chickens and about as messy as ducklings, but that is mostly from them playing in the water as they are drinking. I could never keep a waterer full for more than 5 minutes and I would have to change their pine shaving bedding out every other day because of the smell from poo and water in the shavings.

But to me it was well worth it! I had 16 goslings last year and all the brooder changes were worth it to me when I started seeing them going as a flock around the yard eating my grass and then going over to the neighbors field to swim in his pond and visit with the horses.

The biggest drawback with adults is piles of poo where they decide to bed down for the evening, feathers they lose, and an extremely well manicured lawn. The lawn manicured being a problem is because you will see all the little high and low spots you don't uncover with the lawnmower. My yard looked like a putting green with feathers and poo on it.

You will be greeted every time you go out in the yard and alerted whenever someone else goes in your yard.

Geese are a big thumbs up in my opinion!

 

[lil'chickies]

Thanks everyone. I still think I want to get some for around here. Not have to mow!! My hubby will love that! I can deal with poo. Water the yard and such.

I already have another set up for a brooder in mind. What kind of temps do they need? What kind of feed? The same waterer and trough I use for my lil' chickies?

 

[Brickman House]

We are brooding two Embdens and two Blue Swedish together, and while their habits are similar, I can definitively tell you that our goslings are even messier than our ducklings!

Primarily because of their comparative sizes-- when they arrived as day olds, the goslings were slightly bigger than the ducklings, but now, three weeks later, the goslings are HUGE! Bigger birds mean bigger splashes and bigger poop. The mess is hellatious.

We brood them in our spare bathroom tub, with puppy pads as a tub bottom liner.

Last year, we brooded three ducklings, and changing the pad and hosing down the tub once a day kept the smell and mess pretty much under control until they went outside at 5 weeks.

This year, we've had the two ducklings and goslings for three weeks, and we're already changing the pads and hosing down the tub twice a day to keep the mess and smell under control.

Thank goodness changing out the pads and hosing down the tub is an easy ten minute job!

 

[Bullwinkle]

You aren't kidding about how messy goslings/ducklings can be!

I have a large room fenced off with 83 x3week old chicks on one side, and 6geese/7 ducks (2 1/2 weeks old) on the other. You can hardly see any poo or mess on the chicken side. After 24 hours it looked like somebody had smeared a layer of poo all over the geese/duck side... yuck!

Last night I watered the geese/ducks (a 2 gallon metal fount waterer). This morning, 8 hours later it was empty! The just seem to eat, drink, and poo.

On a positive note... the geese (which received the most attention) are very friendly and come over to greet me when i enter their area. They are very friendly to me (though not to the chicks). The ducks (pekins) are approximately the size of mallards already... while less than 3 weeks old!