Geese/ducks decimating the grass!

[Sylverfly]

So no matter how much room I give the birds and how much water I put on the grass my geese and ducks are devouring the grass leaving nothing but hard packed dirt behind. With this drought the grass just doesn't have a chance. So I'm thinking of putting them in the smaller run and bringing in a load of sand spreading it around and giving up on the whole grass idea till the rains return. I've tried rotating them around but they eat everything too fast. The Question: is it OK for them to be on sand all the time, and how deep does it need to be? Most of the run I would use is shaded so it should stay pretty cool no lava sand problems there. The run is probably 40' x 30' with a small pool in it. I'm worried about my birds getting bumble foot walking around on hard grass less ground all day but maybe sand is no better?

 

[capsicum]

Grass is mainly what geese eat, did you not know this before getting them?

As for the ground, just avoid having any sharp bits laying around, bumble foot is caused by an infected cut not by hard ground. Maybe get some chickens to tear it up.
OR
Dividing the pasture up into smaller bits and rotating the birds to new areas, before the grass is bare, so that the grass in the old area can recover is generally recommended and used for all sorts of livestock. You still need a minimum number of square feet per animal, but it's less than the area needed for grazing one big area.

 

[ArcticFowl]

I keep my geese and ducks in a run and feed them grass daily and they know I am coming and expect the grass and all go whack quack at me until they get some.. even if they have fresh picked grass they want more if someone else comes out there..

They will eat the heck out of your grass try the rotation as mentioned in the post above pretty frequently and it should keep your grass where its able to reproduce and keep growing.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

You have to let the geese graze, what size space are you providing and how many birds?

 

[Sylverfly]

With this drought the grass just doesn't have a chance. I've tried rotating them around but they eat everything too fast.

Yes I knew Geese ate grass, and normally we have plenty but today is the first rain we've had in weeks and weeks We have not had to mow the yard since the first part of June. we have over 20 acres and combined maybe 1/2 acre if put together is still short enough green grass. The ground is yellow,crispy, and dead, only a few plants are still green and they are weeds that the geese will not/cannot eat. I have 2 large runs and one small that I have been rotating them on but there is so little grass that they eat every bit of green in 1-3 days top. I put them in one run with "good" grass and water the other two runs then I move them but the grass cannot keep up. I also let them out to eat the few green spots around and herd them back in. I can't let them free range because my neighbor won't keep his animal killing dog off my property. I asked about the sand because I just don't have the time to be watering, raking, and moving them this much and sitting outside watching them all day. I guess I was confused about what causes bumble foot because I had read that it was caused by "the constant walking on Hard, rough or sharp surfaces." I just wanted to know if sand was OK for in the run because I was afraid they could get foot problems with nothing soft to walk on, they would still have access to grass just not 24/7. Perhaps I took your first statement the wrong way, mine is not meant to be rude. I would not invest my time and endanger the safety of an animal by purchasing it without at least doing very minor research concerning the general care of said animal. I always do extensive research on any new creature that is brought onto my property before it is here, but I will always ask questions when a problem arises and am always willing to hear suggestions from those with greater knowledge on the subject and more experience as well.

 

[Sylverfly]

Small run is 40'x 30' 2nd run is 70' x 50' and my temp run is running along the 70' by 50' run and is just chicken wire I had so not sure on the actual side widths on that one.. its at least 150' of four foot wire. I have 8 Chinese geese and 8 ducks (5 magpie and 3 Cayuga) so 16 birds total.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

I know the drought is effecting many. Can you put together raised beds that you block off to grow oats and grass and other greens for the geese? You can also offer them salad greens, fruits and veggies.

Carrots, Cantaloup, watermelon, apples ect.

You are right that hard surfaces can lead to bumble foot. So although sand isn't great since the grass won't grow in it when it does rain, it is better than hard compacted dirt.

 

[capsicum]

I was just asking, there are a lot of folks who don't plan ahead.(could have had 20 geese in a suburban backyard for all I knew)
I like the garden and fruits suggestion of CelticOaks.
Without knowing what kind of ground you have it's difficult to give advice on most of this, soil full of sharp stones would probably lead to food problems but I personally wouldn't worry too much about soils with few rocks, esp if the rocks are rounded. I don't know your weather very well, but even with water northern grass tends to go dormant/brownish in prolonged temperatures over 85 and if even if it doesn't it's going to take an inch of water per week to keep it happy. You mentioned it's shaded, deep shade will never produce strong enough grass growth, but light shade may help keep it growing in mid summer.

When the hot drought is over, or early spring, try planting some various clovers, they often put down tap roots and keep green a bit longer than grass once mature don't mow it too often or too short though. Crimson grows quick but only lives 2 years, medium or mammoth red is robust and lives 4-5 years, white clover is small but hardy, yellow sweet clover has very deep roots lives 2 years quite tall, rose and strawberry clovers are often used for pasture, my chickens seem to like vetch(it's not clover but it is a legume.) white is the most tolerant of acid soils, alfalfa and yellow sweetclover are tolerant of very alkaline soil, most like neutral pH. Tall fescue (lawn breeds are less coarse than basic pasture types) is a very deep rooted drought resistant grass.