Do your geese dig?

[Froglet]

ive got a theory about this hole digging. I've seen them adding water to their holes and they seem to be using the muddy water to clean inside their beaks. They don't appear to be eating the mud much or routing around for grubs but kind of almost vibrating their beaks in it and then going for a dip of clean water to rinse. I did think they were building slug traps but have discounted that as the slugs fall into the holes but don't get eaten unfortunately.

 

[The goose girl]

ive got a theory about this hole digging. I've seen them adding water to their holes and they seem to be using the muddy water to clean inside their beaks. They don't appear to be eating the mud much or routing around for grubs but kind of almost vibrating their beaks in it and then going for a dip of clean water to rinse. I did think they were building slug traps but have discounted that as the slugs fall into the holes but don't get eaten unfortunately.

What an interesting theory - the goose equivalent of toothbrushing!

 

[Goosegrrl]

My young trio of african/chinese dabble in the sand/dirt(I'm in FL, so mostly sand) where the hose drips... they don't dig holes though. Maybe because it's very sandy soil and it does the job better than less sandy, more loamy or clay soil?

OTOH... when they are penned for the night they do dig up small beak sized holes and put the sand/dirt into the water bucket.

Interesting theory on the cleaning.
I'm not looking forward to any ankle breaking holes... hopefully my sandy soil will keep them dabbling shallow for their beak brushings. LOL

 

[Lady Grey]

My ducks and geese dig holes around their pools. Gravel isn't an option for me, so I move the pools frequently. The upside to this is that all the water and manure get worked into the lawn without any work on my part. So even in the drought, we have lovey green grass in part of the yard!

The geese are definitely worse than the ducks about making big holes. I think they're herbivorous, which would explain their fascination with the underside of the grass! I often see them tearing up big chunks of moss to get to the grass roots-- just yesterday I found a big pile of moss in the yard, and bare earth next to it. Better than chemicals! Crazy birds.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My geese love to dig up roots with their bills my one female will work quite a bit till she gets a large root out. I have to say my Muscovy ducks are the worst for digging holes though. My chickens come in second.

 

[buggymuffin]

My ducks (Khaki & Cayuga) are horrid hole diggers. We can't leave standing water anywhere. My Pilgirms don't seem to be as interested, although I did find one of them ripping out grass by the roots at the edge of one of the holes the ducks dug and and then rinsing it in the pool before he ate it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My ducks (Khaki & Cayuga) are horrid hole diggers. We can't leave standing water anywhere. My Pilgirms don't seem to be as interested, although I did find one of them ripping out grass by the roots at the edge of one of the holes the ducks dug and and then rinsing it in the pool before he ate it.

A well brought up goose washing it's food before eating. lol