Best winter feed for geese

[rosawoodsii]

My mother was just given 4 adult geese. Right now they're out on pasture during the day, and get whole corn at night. I know they'll need more than that come winter, which is right around the corner. Do most people feed layer pellets? Is there a special feed for geese? Since my mother is 87, the care of these geese will fall on me, and I'd like to take care of them properly. At least I can savor the idea of Christmas goose, and then there'll be only three...

 

[Cottage Rose]

Yes they should have some protein such as provided in a chicken layer feed (preferably pellets or crumbles vs. mash) unless you can find a waterfowl maintenance feed which is unlikely. Some people use gamebird feed...
or better yet, if you can find it, Purina Flock Raiser.

 

[banter]

I am having very good results with Purina Mills Flock Raiser combined with grazing (in season) and some scratch feed. I also feed oats and thawed frozen peas in the winter, with apples and any greens I can get cheaply for treats.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

corn on the cob is a great way to keep them busy.... we get bushels of it (dried of course) and toss them in - they love it and they spend hours standing around squawking about it. hilarious!!!

here is a funny fact - my geese HATED the snow! just plain ol' hated it. on one horrible snowy, cold, and nasty day (granted it was icy) i had to CARRY my older goose, Penny, across the yard to their covered day pen. she wouldnt walk! there was a whole lot of swearing as i tromped across the ice and snow carrying that silly goose!

 

[Golden Valley Farm]

My geese, chickens ,ducks , turkeys eat the same year around. I never give layer pellets and have excellent egg quality. If you have access to sunflower seeds, milo especially if your area is low in selenium , whole oats, 29% turkey starter. I have it mixed to total 16%. I do add in the spring during breeding season some calf manna .My young geese start eating all this at 3 weeks adding some 16% crumble until they get a little bigger. The sunflower seed are an aquired thing so give it time , it is always the first to go.

 

[rosawoodsii]

Quote:
This sounds pretty expensive. Do you give these to your adults as well? BTW, do you use black oil or striped sunflower seeds?

 

[Golden Valley Farm]

Not really, It ends up being about 7.60 for a 50lb. bag. I ususally have a ton made at a time. Black oil sunflower seeds is what I use. I don't know what grain prices are there. That might have alot to do with how expensive it is. Oats are always cheap.

 

[rosawoodsii]

Yeh, doing it a ton at a time would definitely make it less expensive. That's just not a possibility for me. Even if I had room to store it, i wouldn't have the funds to pay for it all up front. Oats here are around $21.00 per hundredweight. BOSS is $18 for 40 lbs. And layer pellets are around $12 for 50 lbs, depending on the brand. I don't think we can even find milo in this area. Corn is presently around $22.00-$24.00 per hundredweight, cracked or whole.

Still, maybe I'll do all the figures and see what I come up with. It may end up being at least the same as layer pellets when all is said and done.

 

[Lund121671]

Here is what I feed during late fall and winter. I mix 50 pounds of duck/goose pellet 16%, 25 pounds of whole corn and 25 pounds of cleaned wheat. They all LOVE IT!!!! and do great. I do only feed grain once per day. I give them enough till 24 hours later. They have a heated 5 gallon bucket all of the time. Some geese do and do not like curtain things so experiment with them. I have a few that I don't think ever eat the corn.

 

[banter]

I've been growing sunflowers for the poultry the last 3 years. I just cut the heads when they "nod" and dry them whole for winter treats. This year I grew amaranth, (Orange Giant) which I haven't cut yet. Both have done very well for me and were easy to grow. I have only grown enough for treats this year, but next year I'd like to grow A nice plot of each.