Recent content by Gyburc
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can a sebastopol goose starve herself if she lays on her eggs?
One of my young geese did in fact starve herself by sitting too long on her eggs. She seemed to go into some kind of trance-like state, and ignored food and water when it was put right in front of her. We didn't realise how bad she had got, being fairly inexperienced goose-owners, and I still... -
Geese - understanding humans
When I bought my geese as week-old goslings, I drove them back from the breeder's. It was a four-hour drive, so to keep them entertained (and myself sane) I talked and sang to them all the way. They are still quite intrigued by me singing in the garden, 18 months or so later. My geese... -
The geese hate my clothes
When I first got my geese, I had some stripy black and white wellies that I wore out in the garden. Eventually, they got holes, so I had to replace them and bought some dull green ones instead. My poor geese. I walked out to give them some cabbage as a treat, and they ran away from me... -
What to do about a biting gander?
Hi there, I have a gander who is now a year and nine months old, and he is going through his second breeding season. I'd just like to second what the previous posters have been saying - don't let him get away with biting you! He is testing the group hierarchy and aiming to be top goose, and... -
Update on Goose with twisted beak!
A really good update! I'd been keeping an eye on my little goose's beak over the weekend, and the overgrown bit did seem to be giving her some trouble, so I was worried. Then this morning I let the geese out and fed her some cabbage - and lo and behold, all the overgrown bit was gone! I think... -
is she ever going to sit on that lovely nest.
I agree with the previous poster, the eggs will be fine, and you just need to be patient and wait for your goose to sit. If she does, do watch out for her and make sure that she does get off the nest to eat and drink - geese can get obsessive about sitting, particularly the young ones. We lost a... -
Update on Goose with twisted beak!
Thanks to you both... I'll ask our local vet to see if they can help. However, of course I don't want to cause her distress. We're keeping a close eye on her (actually, we can't avoid doing so, because she is so very friendly and would happily wander around inside the house if we let her), and... -
Update on Goose with twisted beak!
Hi all, I have three 18-month-old Toulouse geese, and one of them hatched with a severely twisted upper beak. She has survived pretty well so far and even manages to preen herself, even though her top mandible is only half the length of the bottom one. She can scoop up corn and other feed by... -
Flying Toulouse.
I'd clip their wings if I were you. It will stop them for now, and by the time they are up to full adult weight they probably won't be able to get that far off the ground. That said, though, my three Toulouse are about 1.5 years old now, and the smallest can get up to 4 or 5 feet off the ground... -
Delicate Question About Culling A Goose..
Quote: That is how my husband does the chickens... According to my husband, it was harder to do with the geese than with the ducks, but still not very hard. However, I should point out that my husband is 6 foot tall and pretty strong, so this will definitely have helped. -
Delicate Question About Culling A Goose..
My husband has dispatched several ducks and a couple of geese (not ours) using this method: Use a sturdy broom or broom handle. Hold the bird upside-down by the legs and lay its head and neck on the ground facing down. Place the broom-handle over the neck and stand with your feet on the handle... -
My funny goose stories, Share yours!
I've had a little flock of ducks for some years now, and last summer I bought some Toulouse goslings, who started off in my living-room but quite quickly moved outside since the weather was very warm. Once the goslings were considerably bigger than the ducks, they started to put them in their... -
Gander adopted flock of adult ducks??
Hi all, My husband and I have 8 ducks, all adult, and three Toulouse geese. Ever since we got the geese last year, they have tended to bully the ducks - nothing vicious, just obviously unfriendly. The gander was the worst - he would chase the ducks and try to yank out their tail-feathers. The... -
Why does my goose get annoyed by the ducks' hanky panky?
Our geese used to do this a lot. They seemed to object particularly when our drake chased his girls around a lot first. I really don't know why! Re the male/female ratio in the ducks, do be careful. We had a couple of female ducks get quite badly mauled around last year when we had too many... -
Sad news about one of my broody geese
Apparently they will, sometimes. In Hermione's case, she must have been ignoring the food and water out in the garden as well as the lot I put in the shed for her. Poor goose. I'm keeping a sharp eye on the other two - for the moment they seem fine and are eating and drinking well, and one of...