Can I put collars on my geese?

[redhen]

A paintball gun HURTS and hurts BAD! And can BREAK a birds bones or internal damage... And it IS animal cruelty.
Jesus.. this makes me sick...
Those poor animals..

 

[StevenW.]

Quote:
Givin me goosebumps thinking about it and I've been hit by a paintball before and it almost broke my arm

 

[gritsar]

I totally agree with redhen.
Paintball shots hurt and hurt bad.
I refrain from the rest of my comments by just

 

[happydog]

So... I probably shouldn't be shooting my kids with the paintball gun either?

Sorry, it was a poor attempt at humor. Of course I don't shoot them. Birds or children.

I guess I didn't make it very clear, I just need to mark them temporarily. We use a color coded zip tie system here too. Works great. But when they're out in the field mating, I can't see what color that 3/8" leg band is.

When I know who's who I'll put the leg bands on. But I don't know what color band to use until I know who I'm banding. And who's mated to who.

I'll get the chalk, thanks! That sounds a lot safer than a collar.

 

[redhen]

That makes no sense..you said hit them with a paintball gun..left a big orange splat on them...
Now your changing your story? Sorry, dont believe it.
Please DONT shoot them again... not a good idea and its very cruel.
And Yes,use the leg bands instead...
And with that..i'm done here..

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
_________________________________________________________________________

Quote:

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Either you are the biggest WIMP in the world or you and your friends are using super powerfull guns. They are made to shoot other humans without injury. You should wear eye protection and guns used for paintball 'wars' are tested to be sure the guns are within the the safe range. As a hunter who has seen shot from shotguns bounce off of goose feathers... I have used my paintball gun to mark quite a few animals livestock like horses, cows. pigs. & sheep barely notice getting hit though smaller dogs and cats are sometimes knocked off their feet when hit in the hindquarters. I use paintball as my least dangerous responce because the paint marks the animal and the owner knows the animal was somewhere he shouldn't have been. The next step up is paintballs thrown by my slingshot for the same reason.

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
Either you are the biggest WIMP in the world or you and your friends are using super powerfull guns. They are made to shoot other humans without injury. You should wear eye protection and guns used for paintball 'wars' are tested to be sure the guns are within the the safe range. As a hunter who has seen shot from shotguns bounce off of goose feathers... I have used my paintball gun to mark quite a few animals livestock like horses, cows. pigs. & sheep barely notice getting hit though smaller dogs and cats are sometimes knocked off their feet when hit in the hindquarters. I use paintball as my least dangerous responce because the paint marks the animal and the owner knows the animal was somewhere he shouldn't have been. The next step up is paintballs thrown by my slingshot for the same reason.

Don't forget what happens when two ganders go at it. I guarantee the paintball gun hurt less than what they do to each other and I've personally had the long lasting welts and bruises to prove it after breaking up a gander fight-to-the-death match.

Paintballs guns can prove themselves an invaluable tool on the farm. I'm not sure this is one of those instances, but it's not time to call out the PETA protest marchers just yet either.

 

[Silver Spring Waterfowl]

The only way to sex a non-autosexing goose is to vent sex it. They don't like it (Iwouldn't, either) and they sure don't appreciate your learning curve, but there's no substitute.

Here's how our ID system works:

Every bird that we have or keep for breeding has a colored metal ID band on its left leg. The color identifies the year of birth. After we run through all availbale colors, we'll have to start over, but that's years down the road. On the right leg, each hatch is designated with its own color. That color remains on top always. The second or third colors below that identify individual birds.

Here's a couple of examples:

There a bird with a blue band on its left leg and a red band on it's right leg mating with a bird that has a red metal ID band on its left leg, and a (top to bottom) yellow, red, and green set of bands on its right leg.
Blue is 2008, red on right tells me that bird is Tufts. He is mating with a bird born in 2010 (red metal ID), "Yellow Team" bird, (hatched 27 Apr 10), red and bellow the yellow is "Sally".

A bird with a red metal ID tag left foot and a blue(always top to bottom) and orange zippie on the right leg (red ID, born 2010, Blue zippie on top, hatched 13 Mar 2010) tells me this is Lucky. He's mating with a bird with a green metal ID tag (born 2009) and a yellow (hatched 18 Mar 2009) and black zippie combination on her right leg. That tells me it's Elspeth (yellow and black).

We reserve black zippies for birds intended for slaughter and orange for birds that we are going to sell and not breed. Those go on the left leg in place of the metal ID tag.

A good set of binoculars will identify birds out in the field.

This works really well when there are a lot of birds to watch. Zip ties can and do come off. They are an item of daily observation around here. It also allows us to to keep good breeding and health records

 

[cracking up]

I don't know about crested romans but my Chinese male outgrew my females pretty quick. He's taller, bigger and LOUDER. One day when I was feeding the chickens before giving the geese their treats he chased me and bit my leg. My girls would never do that.