Broody Goose off Nest at 4 Weeks

[acceabex]

Whew... They are on order, grabbed them from Metzer just before they went out of stock. The price on the Sebs, they better lay golden eggs, .

I had planned to leave the nest down until the goslings arrive (first ship date is May 7) but they seem to have kicked the eggs out and destroyed the nest. I'll brood the babies next to the adults and carefully gauge the interest, etc. I'm hoping the girls take to mothering these guys, I wish they were shipping Monday.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It may take a little time but I think they will take to them geese just so love babies. Keep us updated so glad you got in on them.

 

[acceabex]

I forgot to ever post back the resolution.

• After ordering the babies, I picked up the eggs to avoid a rotten egg bomb. They were frozen then disposed of. Momma goose mopped for weeks then acted like she was going to murder me.
• The babies arrived (through USPS which was STRESSFUL). Everyone made it, my local post office was great even though the package said "lost in transit, in route to recovery facility..." It turns out it was down the street but not scanned. Building a relationship with your post master is always the first thing to do when shipping live animals.
• I put the babies in the coop, but they wanted to go straight for the adults (despite being in their own cage with heat lamp, etc) and I did not trust my gander. I'm still not sure he didn't kill the baby that did hatch, but it is what it is. So up to the brooder for them.
• I brooded them inside for a few weeks until they were sufficiently feathered to move outside without the heat lamp. For introductions, I kicked the adult geese out to their yard and brought the babies down to their new coop area (right next to the adults). That evening I let the adults back in. Both girls immediately took to the 3.5 week olds, so much so that they refused to go out or leave them. I still didn't trust the gander, so they all stayed inside for a few more weeks... The grocery store thought I lost my mind buying that much lettuce. Every cashier would ask if it was for a party -- I perfected the dead pan "No it's for my geese" with no further explanation. I did quite enjoy the look of "I have no clue what to say next".
• On one fateful day, I decided they had to go out and I had time to babysit. So I turned them out together in the yard. Everyone was best friends... But I still did not trust the gander. That night I wasted 45 minutes of my life trying to separate them.
• The next day they all went out, Ella made sure I knew she was displeased with the sleeping arrangements. That evening, I brought them back in and decided I'm not fighting them again. I only checked on them 10 times that night... They could not work out what was wrong with me and why I couldn't just go to bed.

Several weeks later, they are a big happy family. My indoor coop (called a 2 car garage by most folks) consists of two large dog crates and an ex pen. The babies sleep in one of the crates and the adults pile at the entrance. I've noticed the momma geese let the babies wander a bit further, but still are ever watchful. The gander doesn't care.

So my cute little geese family increased from 2 girls and a boy to 4 girls and 2 boys. All get along well, but I am prepared to separate trios if that ever happens to change.

In all of this, I learned (1) it was a wicked good idea to replace momma goose's babies. I do not know where she would be, I think she may have mourned herself to death if I let it go. (2) I clearly do not trust them enough... It's not at all like ducks or chickens. Geese are really accepting of anything that is also a goose. My ducks and chickens, on the other hand, have multiple different areas to keep everyone happy.

I'm hoping to have better luck next spring -- I'm considering letting the girls brood again vs incubating the eggs. Does anyone have suggestions? (We will be expecting pure bred Buffs, Sebastopols, and a mix between buff and sebastopols)

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wow how funny and uplifting too. I am so happy it all worked out Just hope your recovering from it all.

I have to see pics though you can not get off that easy. sure wish I had gotten notification on this thread though