Brand new to birds

[John_K]

Hello everyone...nice to meet you
I just received a duck and a goose as a present. I had no intention of keeping them; however I seem to have fallen in love with them. So deciding to keep them I have been doing a little research and you all scared me. So I have a few questions

1) Is there a post that you can direct me to that will show me the complete ins and outs of raising geese

2) What exactly is there poop supposed to look like?

3) Jonas seems to be picking at himself....is this normal?

4) Can they go in the pool?

So any information you can give me, or direct me to would be great, and any hints you want to give me as a 1st time goose owner would be great.

 

[Heather J]

Welcome to the joys of raising water birds! I have had geese and ducks for a couple of years and they get on great together. Since they were raised from day 1 in the same brooder and pen they don't even seem to realize they aren't the same species (believe me, my drakes chase the female geese all the time for mating).

I don't have a site recommendation, but depending on how old your birds are will make a lot of difference. Are they adults, tiny babies, or juvies that don't need heat anymore? In any case, you'll want them on a feed for waterbirds or game bird if you have access to one. I don't here, so I've been feeding mine the same as the chickens, and as adults they are doing just great on layer feed.

They need some kind of shelter to get out of the weather (mine use theirs almost exclusively to get out of the summer sun, since i have no trees, but it's nice to know it's there if there is a bad storm they want to get away from. The important thing to remember is that they are very cold hardy and can deal with all kinds of weather. Other then the heat in the summer, mine never use the shelter, even in the worst snow storms or weather. Mine is just a little A-frame I built with two sheets of plywood and some 2x4s. Both of the ends are open for access, with it turned to block the worst of the wind. I have this in a secure fenced area to protect them from coyotes and the occasional mountain lion. Mine free range during the day and I shut them up at night or if I'm having someone over and want to keep them out of the way.

They need enough water to duck their heads under so they can clean out their eyes and nose holes, but don't have to have a pond. My first year I picked up a bad waterbed bladder and created a little pond with rocks so they had something to play in, but it was only about 8 inches deep at the deepest. Since then we've managed to pick up a used cattle waterer--the six-foot round rubbermaid type, and they love to swim in it. Just be aware that whatever you use, you'll want it to clean easily because they are inclined to poop in their ponds--it's their favorite place to do so. I wouldn't let them in my pool, if I had one, it would be a mess!

Their poops kind of look long and skinny like a cat's, only green from eating grass and weeds and not as solid. They poop quite a bit, but if their range area is big enough, you won't notice so much.

As long a they have access to food and clean water, shelter of some kind, and a safe place to hang out, and they have decent amount of space each, they'll do just great. They really are easy to raise.

Is your bird picking at the same place over and over, or is he preening? Preening is totally normal, especially right after a bath, but if he's actually pulling out feathers or picking the same place over and over, I wouldn't worry about it.

Hope this helps!