New to geese! Not sure about/how establishing a routine.

[Ganspaar]

Still stuffing geese through the hatch at bedtime, but it's not taking as long, so I think they're thinking of complying.

Fed them quackgrass yesterday (the fruits of weeding a flower bed). Eagerly consumed. Which is great! Quackgrass loves our yard.

And...the first 4 days the water in their little pool was dirty, but not awful. Yesterday they pooped so much in the pool, I emptied and refilled it twice. Water was gross.

I assumed a daily clean and refill would suffice. Maybe not?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Having 17 ducks and 2 geese I have 2 pools both get dumped and filled every other day.

 

[Ganspaar]

How big are your pools?

If I have too much water in mine, as small as it is, it's too heavy to dump. I am just trying to find that balance of keeping these easy to clean/manage.

 

[Ganspaar]

Update: It's been just over a week. I think it's all going well. They get out of their pool when I call out 'bedtime'. On Saturday they just stood by the ramp and let me pick them up to put them in. I suppose that's progress! It was pretty cute.

Sunday we added some sand (1/2 yard) around the coop to fill in some of what the chickens had excavated over the years, which made the ramp easier to climb on/access from the side. That seemed to make the difference. The last two nights they walked up the ramp on their own. Not sure why they wouldn't get on it from the front, but sai la vie!

Will need to add more sand over time, no rush though. And will need to talk them out of pooping in their 'pond'.

...and...still not sure why they won't eat any of the wheat, chicken scratch, pellet blend (to 20% protein) or the mealworms. Maybe when it gets colder out and/or they've eaten all the grass in the pen?

But, in the meantime! They love lettuce and cabbage! Today I made dinner using Chinese cabbage. A first for me! I had quite a bit left over - I checked that it was safe for them to eat (thank you guys!) and they loved it.

 

[ColtHandorf]

How big are your pools?

If I have too much water in mine, as small as it is, it's too heavy to dump. I am just trying to find that balance of keeping these easy to clean/manage.

You might look at a stock tank. You can plumb the drain with a ball valve in a length of pipe that will allow you to just open it and drain the water and rinse the tank out, close the valve and refill it. If it is raised they won't be able to bill dirt into it. Not much you can do about the poops though.

I'm glad they are doing well and helping at bedtime. I'm sure once they've foraged most of their pen, they'll start eating more of the prepared diet.

 

[Ganspaar]

I will have to look into that. Thank you.

Last night they walked into the coop on their own again! Woohoo!

Today, I tossed a handful of wheat into the fresh pool water...and they ate it! Easy enough to do, even if it only adds a bit of entertainment for them.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I will have to look into that. Thank you.

Here's an idea you could modify for them. But it's where I got the idea. I'm hoping to build something similar for my Call Ducks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/diy-raised-duck-pond.1302005/

I should add that my friends have one of the huge ones like this...

They set bags of concrete around them to make a nice sloping hill for the geese to walk up. They added a small deck with a ramp into the water with foot holds so the ducks and geese can get out easily. This would also allow you to use a stock tank heater in your winters to keep the water from freezing solid should they wish to have a splish splash.

 

[Ganspaar]

That's a very interesting proposition! You are giving me ideas . Hubby won't appreciate it!

In the meantime, I don’t think I'm ready to let them loose-loose in the yard.

I think we may build a chicken-tractor thingy for them (in the spring) so I easily can move them around the yard on fresh grass, when we're home. That will keep them contained and safe.

In the meantime, to test it out my idea, I got 2, 3' puppy exercise pens (to hook together) and a smaller shallow water trough (to drink/play in). I can move the pen around relatively easily and the little trough is easy to manage.

...just have to figure out how to herd them from the coop to the pen...

 

[ColtHandorf]

That's a very interesting proposition! You are giving me ideas . Hubby won't appreciate it!

lol No one's husbands like me. lol I have all the ideas. But it's really a fairly straight-forward project.

In the meantime, I don’t think I'm ready to let them loose-loose in the yard.

I only let mine in the fenced in backyard (which their pen was directly adjacent to) forever. Now that there's 12 of them, they are much easier to keep an eye on so I can let them out to graze when I'm home.

I think we may build a chicken-tractor thingy for them (in the spring) so I easily can move them around the yard on fresh grass, when we're home. That will keep them contained and safe.

They might enjoy that. Geese can be odd creatures though. So they may not. Do be sure it's tall enough for them to stand on their tiptoes and flap. They'll do that every so often.

In the meantime, to test it out my idea, I got 2, 3' puppy exercise pens (to hook together) and a smaller shallow water trough (to drink/play in). I can move the pen around relatively easily and the little trough is easy to manage.

...just have to figure out how to herd them from the coop to the pen...

That sounds fairly simple. Depending on how tall they are, they may bail out. So just keep an eye on them. Sometimes mine herd like a charm and sometimes they don't. It might be easiest to train them with a particular treat they like (hen scratch for example at my house is a favorite). Teach them that they only get it out of a certain colored bucket or scoop. They should follow you to the ends of the earth which coincidentally is a much further distance than from their pen to a mobile grazing area.

 

[Ganspaar]

Thank you for all the help! Very much appreciated!

They surprised me by putting themselves to bed last night! I wasn't expecting that. From my chickens, yes, but not from geese - at least not from what I read. Hope they keep doing it! Makes it a little easier for me.

The goose (Tillie) will now take romaine leaves from my hand. She won't let the gander (Chuzo) near me, or the lettuce, when she sees what I've got. I tried tossing some at him and a bit landed on his back. She ate that too...on her way to prevent him from eating the rest...

'Lettuce piranha' sprang to mind, as I watched her eat...