How much feed should you give to geese?

[papagoose]

Hi all,

I measured the amount of cracked corn I give today when I fed them. I put two large grain scoops in a bucket and it weighs 6 pounds 10 ounces. They get that much daily. I have started giving them good grass hay as well. So with 16 geese it works out to about 7 ounces of corn apiece. I will check into suppliments for them as well. I want them to lay good fertile eggs. I intend on ebaying some and hatching some for sale at the local critter swaps.

 

[Cottage Rose]

Papagoose
You really should be giving them a chicken or waterfowl layer or breeder formula.
Corn can cause waterfowl to gain weight around their reproductive organs and cause fertility problems.
Aside from that corn should be considered a supplemental fed, a little given in the winter for extra energy and certainly not their regular ration.
Can you get whole oats?
That would be much better for them than corn.
Straight corn is not going to produce healthy breeding stock and fertility.
If your goal is to breed them, then you need to make some major changes
in what you feed them.

 

[poultrykeeper08]

I thought cracked corn and whole corn was only good to give them during winter for heat ???

You should get rid of the cracked corn and give them some layer pellets at least

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I give my ducks/goose cracked corn for a treat... like fritos... yummy, but totally not nutrition...

 

[papagoose]

Ok everyone. I am going to the co-op tomorrow and getting layer pellets for my geese. Any other particulars I need to ask for? These are my babies and I guess listening to the people I got them from here on what to feed wasn't a good idea.

As soon as the weather gets a bit better I will have to start hunting for wading pools so they will have a place to breed. I bought medium size dog houses for them to nest in, like they will actually use them! Last year one of my girls decided to nest in the goat's pen. We lost a lot of eggs due to the goats running over the nest before I could get to the eggs.

 

[cajunlizz]

This is information I found online regarding geese ...


Diet

Our geese are fed a diet of layer pellets, cracked corn, oats, wheat, and oyster shells. During the day they are let out for at least 4-5 hours to be allowed to forage on grass and weeds. During the breeding season they should be fed laying pellets and some ground oyster shells to produce hard shelled eggs, but the oyster shells is not necessary. Dry, powdery mash should NOT be fed to geese because it can get stuck in their mouth and lead to "dropped tongue". They can also be fed wheat and oats. Geese always need a clean supply of water available. It must be deep enough so that they can submerge their nostrils, so they can clean them out.

DO NOT GIVE GEESE BREAD. The bread will swell up in the stomach when the goose drinks and can be fatal.



Housing and Bedding

I use a large dog kennel to house my geese. The top of the kennel should be covered with wire to protect against any predators. Also you should cover half of the top in the spring, summer, and fall. During the winter the whole top and 2-3 sides should be covered with a tarp to protect against rain, wind, and snow. The shelter must be waterproof, predator proof and well ventilated. At night the geese must be penned up.

For bedding I like to use straw, not hay, although I do use hay for the nests. Straw is better because the pieces of straw are cut up into smaller pieces and more brittle. I recommend mucking out the geese enclosure every 1-3 weeks, depending on how many geese you have in the enclosure, and how big the enclosure is.





ALBC Watch List

The Toulouse breed is on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy's watch list. Being on the watch list means that there are fewer than 5,000 breeding birds in the United States, with ten or fewer primary breeding flocks, and globally endangered.

See the list at http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html#chickens





Call Duck information


The Call Duck is the smallest breed of domestic duck. They only weight about 1-2 pounds. They were developed to be carried around by a hunter to call the wild mallards down for hunting. Call Ducks are a cheap bird to keep because of their small size. They have small plump little bodies with small, full, round heads and short bills. Call Ducks are great ducks to have as pets. They are friendly and easy to care for.






Housing

Once the ducks reach about 6 weeks of age, they will want to be outside most of the time. The will need a safe, dry, and secure place for them to be safe from the elements and predators. I reccommend keeping the ducks inside at night to help protect from predators such as raccoons, and foxes. The pen should be fenced in and about 4 feet tall. The top of the fence should be covered with wire netting or chicken wire. Do NOT use shavings for ducks under 2 weeks of age as they will try to eat them and choke, but shavings are good for adults. I prefer to use straw. It is easy to break apart and makes a nice cushioned bed for the ducks. During the winter their shelter should be covered with a tarp on the top and 2-3 of the sides of the pen to protect the birds from rain, wind, snow, freezing rain, and sleet. If the temperature gets below freezing, 32 degrees farenheit, I would put a heat lamp in with the birds.



Water

Ducks do not need water to swim in but I reccommend it. The water must be deep enough for the ducks to stick their beaks in up to their nostrils. The ducks need that to clean the dust out from their nostrils. It will make your birds much happier. I suggest cleaning the water at least twice a day depending on how dirty it gets, and how many call ducks you have.



Feed

Call Ducks do best on a pelleted feed. During the breeding season I reccommend adding crushed oyster shells to the food. That helps to make the egg shells hard. During the winter the best feed is wheat mixed with some crushed corn, and some pelleted food. Also during the winter I recommend feeding them some crushed corn. The crushed corn helps them build up the fat that they need to survive in the winter. Call Ducks also need a little bit of grit mixed in with their food to help them digest and break up the food.

Some predators include the weasel, mink, skunk, raccoon, fox, wolves, hawks, owls, domestic dogs, rats and snapping turtles. Make sure that you predator-proof where you will house the call ducks. Always cover the top of the pen with chicken wire so that no predators can crawl over the pen and get to the birds.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I don't think that geese are allergic to bread. My goose's favorite food is pancakes. He tries to get in the house and eat ALL the pancakes... i don't let him. He eats bread, but it's a treat, like cake, not real often, and not in large amounts.... I use a mixture of Layer pellets, grower pellets, alfalfa, and various other things like spinach greens, corn, stale rice cakes, table scraps and of course, the occasional pancake... don't give them medicated feed...... they will thank you for it!

 

[cajunlizz]

chickensducks&agoose :

I don't think that geese are allergic to bread. My goose's favorite food is pancakes. He tries to get in the house and eat ALL the pancakes... i don't let him. He eats bread, but it's a treat, like cake, not real often, and not in large amounts.... I use a mixture of Layer pellets, grower pellets, alfalfa, and various other things like spinach greens, corn, stale rice cakes, table scraps and of course, the occasional pancake... don't give them medicated feed...... they will thank you for it!

They DID NOT say geese were " Allergic " to bread they said

DO NOT GIVE GEESE BREAD. The bread will / can swell up in the stomach when the goose drinks and can be fatal.​

 

[ShadyGlade]

I don't personally feed bread to my geese, but not far from where I live is a causeway where thousands of people a year have been feeding literally TONS of human bread to Canada geese since before I was born. If it was dangerous or harmful the Pennsylvania Game Commission would never have tolerated this practice.

 

[banter]

Any kind of layer pell or grain also swells with water. Just put some in water and you'll see! Grain takes longer. The prob with bread is that white
bread hasn't enough nutrients for waterfowl, and they can fill up on it before they eat more appropiate nutritious food. Whole grain breads without preservatives should be fine in MODERATION! I actually have been baking a non-yeast, multigrain bread for my waterfowl to supplement their diet, and (as a treat) for years. Too many high calorie treats produce overweight geese with fatty livers. Foi gras! Overweight geese can have egg binding problems, and overweight ganders can have problems mating. Just like people the amount of treats have to be balanced with exercise. Most geese if able to graze in season and if they have water to play in don't over eat.