Chiese Geese

[bearhugger]

I have 7 Chinese Geese that are 4 weeks old . Anyone know how long I should wait to let them go to our pond ?

 

[larkflying]

Usually it is best to keep them out of the water until they are mostly feathered out -- 6 to 8 weeks . It is hard to wait though! And, if you are having that unusually hot weather then maybe it would be fine. I think mostly the concern is that they would get soaked and not come out when they should (because geese LOVE water) and then catch a chill. If daytime and night time temperatures are pretty high though, then I don't know if they would be chilled (I certainly wouldn't).

If you had a small kiddie pool, I'd think they could play in that for sure . . . I know my goslings were able to hop in and out of one by the time they were 4 weeks old . . .

I'd also worry a little about safety -- until they get their full size they would be more vulnerable to hawks/eagles and such on the pond . . .

 

[Going Bhonkers]

Larkflying has a good point about the hawks/eagles. Have you introduced them to water that they can swim/play that may not be as big as your pond? Another issue is that they aren't as "water ready" in their down feathers compared to their real feathers. Most people suggest that to wait until they're feathers grown in. If you haven't already, the best thing is to start out small. My geese swam in a small plastic container when they were 2 weeks old, and maybe for only 10 mins before they got tired. They needed help getting out because their legs were so short. At around 4 weeks old we upgraded them to this


Then around 2 months old they got this "pool" which is deeper:


And we started taking them to our pond at 3 months old.