Today, while I was at the feed store admiring their new shipment of baby ducks & chicks, a lady comes up to me and asks "Would you like a pair of geese?"
She has 2 female Chinese geese that she'd bought last year at this feed store. They must be from the same batch of goslings that my 2 geese came from. My pair of Embden geese, male & female, were also bought from that feed store last year.
She has been looking for a "good home" for these geese for a while, but hasn't been comfortable with the people replying to her ads. She says they're friendly & gentle, and they've been setting together on a nest of (sterile) eggs. They need to find a new home because the family's new dog has been chasing them around the yard.
What do YOU think? Should I take them & add them to the flock? Will they upset my Embdens or will they all learn to get along? Will my gander accept them? Should they be introduced gradually? Quarantined?
I really don't "need" any more beaks to feed here, nor do I need any more big noise-makers adding to the din. But I'd like to help out this woman, and help these geese find a good home, if not here, then somewhere. I do know a few people who might want them, would it be better to have them taken directly to their new home instead of making a stop here?
I did think it might be nice if these geese were broody then I could put some of the fertile Embden eggs under them to incubate. Could my Embden gander mate with these Chinese geese? Would their eggs be fertile?
I'd like to hear what you folks thought before going over to check out these geese. Thank you!
She has 2 female Chinese geese that she'd bought last year at this feed store. They must be from the same batch of goslings that my 2 geese came from. My pair of Embden geese, male & female, were also bought from that feed store last year.
She has been looking for a "good home" for these geese for a while, but hasn't been comfortable with the people replying to her ads. She says they're friendly & gentle, and they've been setting together on a nest of (sterile) eggs. They need to find a new home because the family's new dog has been chasing them around the yard.
What do YOU think? Should I take them & add them to the flock? Will they upset my Embdens or will they all learn to get along? Will my gander accept them? Should they be introduced gradually? Quarantined?
I really don't "need" any more beaks to feed here, nor do I need any more big noise-makers adding to the din. But I'd like to help out this woman, and help these geese find a good home, if not here, then somewhere. I do know a few people who might want them, would it be better to have them taken directly to their new home instead of making a stop here?
I did think it might be nice if these geese were broody then I could put some of the fertile Embden eggs under them to incubate. Could my Embden gander mate with these Chinese geese? Would their eggs be fertile?
I'd like to hear what you folks thought before going over to check out these geese. Thank you!
