3 day old gosling will be 5 days old before I get her! PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW - I'M VERY WORRIED

[violets812]

I paid express to an individual for overnight shipping. He didn't ship her until later yesterday afternoon. I just called post office after tracking because sometimes the tracking isn't updated until later in the day on USPS.com. She won't be delivered until tomorrow. I am on the North and South Dakota border and they use Bismarck as a sorting station so she will go through Bismarck sometime today. That would be a 5+ hour drive for me, except that I still need one cataract removed, so I cannot drive. I know she should not be going through this at this age. Please tell me how you think she'll do. This person raises and ships birds all the time. He had the money via Paypal at 8 am with $25 for express shipping but didn't send her out until 4:00 pm. Should I be upset with shipper? I feel like writing him and saying, "She won't be here until tomorrow and she's already 4 days old today!" He took her away from her mother immediately (the whole hatch.) How is imprinting going to turn out?

The first group of goslings I raised were in a set up yourself type brass pen. They seemed to big to get through the bars but then one of them must have on the 5th day. Then the others had to follow of course! They had to have hurt to forcefully push themselves through those narrow bars. Long story short, we found one gosling out of 6. Now I would have kept that gosling contained but outside for the next few hours, (it was dark by then), so that her cheeps might bring the others closer, but it was my first time and I didn't think of it until about 3 days later. I didn't mean for this group to be indoor type pets just a group that I was spending several hours with each day. She was one of the two geese who bonded with (for lack of a better word since she was 5 days old) more than any others. The second goose was 2 - 3 days old from a hatchery, sent with chickens for warmth. Ideal - I called and talked them into it and paid extra. So it seemed like the 5 day old gosling imprinted on us or at least bonded.

I'm more worried about this gosling on the way's well-being but also I did want her to imprint. What do you think? Please, please answer - just your impression of how she will be shipping at 3 to 5 days & also about bonding. Thank you!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Express doesn't NOT guarantee over night delivery of live birds. It is very normal to be a 2 day trip and sometimes can be a three day trip. Express is how live birds are shipped, so you didn't pay for something above and beyond what is normal.

The breeder sent her most likely when his PO is use to receiving out going birds. ALL of our birds are dropped off in the afternoon after call ahead approval giving us the go ahead to ship. They never leave our PO before 5pm.

Just because he had the money in the morning didn't mean the PO would start shipping her right then. Express mail normally has 2 maybe (if you are VeRY lucky) 3 pick up times a day. Ours are morning and late afternoon. There is NO need to box a bird and leave them sitting at the PO all day when they can be at the home, eatting and drinking before prepping to ship.

The 2 days is not the breeders fault and is well within the norm for the postal system.

Geese should not be so bonded to people that they can possiblly become aggressive to others around the human they bonded to. Friendly and able to be around is one thing, making a house "pet" out of an animal that is a flock mentality sometimes works out ok, sometimes not so well. This is why it is highly reccomended to raise more than one together and allow them to be geese.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

I would also guess the shipping label has tomorrows date on it. As shippers we are told and it is put on the label the "expected" arrival date.

Dry ice, unpressurized cabins and other factors can and will delay live bird boxes along the way when they are shipped

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Oh, i'm so sorry!

i know it's very frustrating and heart-wrenching to be sitting at home waiting for babies to arrive! i think the bonding issue is less important than just getting them there alive and healthy. i don't know about shipping baby geese, but when i have ordered baby chicks from a private seller, they put pieces of mandarin orange in the crate for food and moisture.

Celtic Oaks has far more goose experience than i do. i've only had geese for a year. But i got my first trio when they were 2-6 days old. Then this year hatched out 10 goslings in staggered hatches. i have noticed they seem to go through stages of very friendly as kids, then as they get older they get a bit wary. But they all crowd around when i go out. The oldest five babies are maybe a little too bonded to me and my husband. They come up and tug, tug, tug on our clothes, sometimes pinching our skin. i have had to push them away to keep from getting injured.

i honestly want my geese to bond more with each other than me. i think it's important for them to depend on and protect each other. Anyhow, let us know when your babies arrive.

 

[violets812]

Hi,

I'm sorry I don't think I emphasized my main concern. My worry is about the gosling being shipped at 3 days old and not arriving until she is 5 days old. I've always had waterfowl sent between 1-2 days old. I'm worried about the gosling being shipped at 3 days old and being in a box without water for 2 days. When I read online, I see that it is alright to have a 1 to 2 day old gosling shipped & have it take 2 days. Will she be more stressed being shipped at 3 days and received at 5 days old? I will pick her up at 9 am, as soon as the post office opens. I am hoping to hear that she will probably be alright. I am hoping to be reassured that the gosling will be alright with no food or water from the time she is 3 days old until she is 5 days old.

Thank you very much for your concern & if you will take the time to answer. Thanks!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i don't know if anyone can guarantee 100% that they will be okay. But, were it me, and since you say this seller ships birds all the time, i would call and voice my concerns. He can tell you if, based on his experience, they should be okay. You might also ask if he put anything in the box for nourishment.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

We ship all of our birds with grow gel as youngsters, and fruit, melon, greens as they get older. I always let the buyers know they ship with something, and tell them what according to what age we are sending. I give post arrival instructions as well when I email them the tracking number.

 

[jenlynn4]

I understand your concern on the age, I have never sent or received geese, but if your thinking about day olds like chickens...being able to survive on the absorbed yolk then I agree with you... the yolk will be absorbed by day 3 and nutrients used up....I think this is what you were talking about by them waiting till day 3 or was it day 4. I understand your concern. Shipping does often take 2 days even with express. I will be watching for an update..I hope they make it safely. If baby geese are like chicks it wouldnt hurt to have some vitamins and electrolytes on hand for when they get there to put in the water. but check with one of the goose experts on that. I dont know a thing about geese yet im still learning..I'm just speaking from chicken experience. JEN

 

[violets812]

Thank you jenlynn4! That was exactly my concern; you put it in a much more understandable way! And thank you too, Enchanted Sunrise - I swear I'm right on the ball, except for common sense, obvious type thinking! I called him and he complained for a while - "I thought it would be delivered today etc" and I couldn't help remind him that he didn't ship until 4pm... My daughter has promised to be at the post office door (I still have one more cataract to be removed...) at 9:00. He did not put anything to eat or drink in the box and he did say he used the 2nd hatch so the gosling was only 2 days old when shipped, not 3. And he added a stuff duck for comfort.

My Welsh Harlequins are due to hatch their eggs between now and Monday. She had about 25 eggs herself! I candled them a couple of nights ago - I hadn't messed with her nest before. She has 4 eggs now. The others were so deep under the hay and I had to dig through the mud. I loaned my incubator to a friend to have the incubator experience, or I would have brought many of those in to incubate because they were fertile surprisingly but SO much farther behind the eggs on top. This is my first time using the duck but I've got 7 years experience candling. Such a shame. My friend lives hours away - a ranch neighbor & we've moved into a small town in SD. I think it would have taken her another 2 weeks of setting and I'd rather have her caring for the ducklings getting ready to pop. I told her she did a pretty good job, as I held the bag of eggs behind my back. (Not that she would have known, but I like to give them the benefit of the doubt.) She was upset about her perfect nest though and hopped on the 4 eggs quacking at me and working on her nest. I bought 6 fertile pekin eggs, so it will be interesting to see who's in there.


How do you put the bottom on all of your lines where it says what poultry, animals, etc that you have? Thank you so much to everyone for your help! The internet is surprising. I could walk up to strangers at a farm & ranch store and get no answer but strangers here will take their time and energy to answer on here. Thank you!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Violet, I am a bit surprised he shipped a single gosling. We never ship newly hatched as singles, harder for them to keep warm that way. Please post when the box does arrive.


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