Goslings of 2014 Hatch-a-long

[AmericanMom]

Yes. What most of us do, though is wet a sponge or a washclothe with warm/hot water and slip it in with them once they externally pip. Ive had them pop out like popcorn with doing that, thats not always the case though its more to keep them from sticking which makes it easier for them to get out whenever they decide to.

It getting close!!! I am try so hard not to get excited! DH brought home a 6x6x4 crate today to use as a brooder for the geese......

 

[8GeeseALaying]

I have 12 days left for mine. Then after that 16 days until my broody is due to hatch hers.

 

[Miss HennyPenny]

I hope to have my flock that well trained one day. But we are just starting and the eldest birds we have are 7 weeks. So we are trying to teach the birds, and I swear they are teaching us at the same time, lol. I did clip most of their wings to prevent them from flying, if they had gotten over a fence they would have been killed by dogs, so I did that that very night. I really hadn't wanted to take that defense away, but saw no other choice. Maybe when they are older and know where home is I can let them grow their wings back. Thank goodness we have not had a repeat of that fiasco since.

I suppose we did get our first hens at point of lay so maybe had a head start. They were only used to perches in a shed and we had to keep picking them off the floor and putting them through the pop hole at dusk. After a couple of weeks the penny dropped and they just got it!

They will catch on eventually. I just started hatching geese this year and everything I'd read said you have to round them up to put them to bed. Not once have I had to, I like to think the chickens taught them!

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Hay guys.

Australia has no were near as harsh Winters as the US does but the Winter chill still does stunt our grasses growth, so is fodder a good way to keep Geese up to health and happy?

 

[Ash-Rose Farms]

Aww congrats! Are they sebbies?

I believe that they are pure bred...at that time i had my seb and pil running together. but i believe this group of four at out of my seb goose en and my two seb ganders due that there top gooses.


Anyone got ether Pilgrim baby pics or Pil x Seb cross pictures??????

 

[livininbrazil]

Hay guys.

Australia has no were near as harsh Winters as the US does but the Winter chill still does stunt our grasses growth, so is fodder a good way to keep Geese up to health and happy?

Here the grass growth slows in the winter, due to it being the dry season, but it´s fine for them. I just 'top up' their diet with little goodies like lettuce or fruit, etc. Does your grass still produce shoots? still grows a bit?

I believe that they are pure bred...at that time i had my seb and pil running together. but i believe this group of four at out of my seb goose en and my two seb ganders due that there top gooses.


Anyone got ether Pilgrim baby pics or Pil x Seb cross pictures??????

These are my little pilgrims. The female is, of course, the one with the darker fluff and darker bill . I think the sebastopols are a tad prettier than the pilgrims at this age. I don´t have sebs, so can´t show a pic of the cross.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Quote: Yeah it still grows, just much slower.

 

[Starfire669]

I suppose we did get our first hens at point of lay so maybe had a head start. They were only used to perches in a shed and we had to keep picking them off the floor and putting them through the pop hole at dusk. After a couple of weeks the penny dropped and they just got it!

They will catch on eventually. I just started hatching geese this year and everything I'd read said you have to round them up to put them to bed. Not once have I had to, I like to think the chickens taught them!

Maybe your chickens did teach your geese, here the geese have been coming outside since an earlier age. So my goslings are teaching the chickens about going home! My babies followed me everywhere I went, I couldn't move more than 5 feet away from them without them panicking. So one day I just decided to see if they would follow me back to their home, and they did! And they will also run home if something startles them too much, I had to chase after them once when a loud truck scared them, they went straight to their pen and begged to be let in. Eventually the chickens will get the idea, it's just going to take time and repetition.

Now if only I could train my neighbors game chickens to stay out of my yard. His birds fly up to 10 feet in trees at night, he has tried putting them in a coop for 3 weeks but they always go back to trees so he gave up. They tear up my garden and my fence don't keep them out because they fly. His rooster is eyeing my pullets and there is no way he stealing my egg laying hens. And yesterday one of the game hens made a nest in my yard and bit me when I helped move her and her eggs back home. So while I love my chickens, my neighbor's game chickens are thebane of my exsistance.

I am also sad, 2 of my precious geese will be leaving me this weekend. I always ment to give a pair to my brother-in-law, but now that the day has arrived its a lot harder than I thought. I don't want to lose my babies!

 

[AmericanMom]

I have 12 days left for mine. Then after that 16 days until my broody is due to hatch hers.

Yep, today is day 10 on the second set of turkey eggs ... Long story short, the lady I got the first set from was trying to sell her adult birds, she had kept just collecting their eggs. She ended up with 22 more but I didn't have another incubator and didn't need the extra expense of buying one just for this . when I told her I would have to pass and why she offered me the use of her incubator! I couldn't believe it, a total stranger. She wants no money even if I sell the extra poults, but we worked out a deal where I would give her a breeding pair of my meat rabbits...

 

[bibkel]

Has anyone put in a premade pond kit for their geese? Is it safe for them to use and does the pumps keep up with the mess? Asking cause I'm thinking of trying 1.

I am interested in this answer too! I have a pond, pump, and a larger water tob. Nice thing is the tub has a drain, and i saw someone fashioned a sink drain in the bottom of a wading pool....he pulls the plug and rinses it in place, done!
I plan to have mine on the dog side of the fence, which will limit duck/goose access. I also want to make a filter system, like red volcanic rock in a half wine barrel....,creating a three tier waterfall effect. All this will be set up next to my new "art studio" shed we just put in.