Cleaning

[ruffin]

Hi sorry but totaly new to this, I have a pair of 8 week old goslings have had them for 2 weeks I keep them in a large compound in the garage they have sawdust and clean hay to lay on and are cleaned out every day. Trouble is they tend to poop a lot then decide to lay on the poop. Is there any way I can clean them when I put cleaning geese into a search it just comes up with recipes for Sunday dinner also how old are they when there feathers are waterproof any help appreciated

 

[The goose girl]

You can let them clean themselves by giving them a tub of water to bathe in. You may want to take them outside for that - they splash water all over the place when bathing.

At 8 weeks I guess they're almost fully feathered, so don't worry about them getting dry afterwards. They'll preen and clean and squish water out of their feathers for hours after a good bath.

 

[ruffin]

thank you we have a very large garden which we let them into when its not raining (UK weather terable at the moment) we put a large tray of water out for them on Sunday but they were not amuzed with it at all they just used it for drinking will try them with a larger tray

 

[livininbrazil]

thank you we have a very large garden which we let them into when its not raining (UK weather terable at the moment) we put a large tray of water out for them on Sunday but they were not amuzed with it at all they just used it for drinking will try them with a larger tray

Hi Ruffin. At two months old they should be fine in your garden, rain or not. I use the big cat litter trays, or you could use a small rigid kiddie pool with bricks on the outside for them to get into it.
Funny about cleaning them for Sunday dinner! What breed do you have?

 

[ruffin]

They are a pair of Embden "Bonnie & Clyde" they are great they follow us everywhere you can see thier feathers under the down but we just love them. I have 8 rescue rabbits and they all seem to get along

 

[livininbrazil]

They are a pair of Embden "Bonnie & Clyde" they are great they follow us everywhere you can see thier feathers under the down but we just love them. I have 8 rescue rabbits and they all seem to get along

glad you´re enjoying them, let them be outside more, they´ll do fine.

 

[ruffin]

Just had them out for an hour put a old cat litt tray down with water in clyde jumped in and layed down have dried him with a towel which he wasnt amused about bonnie laid at the side and put her head in but she does tent to lay down quite a bit

 

[The goose girl]

They are a pair of Embden "Bonnie & Clyde" they are great they follow us everywhere you can see thier feathers under the down but we just love them. I have 8 rescue rabbits and they all seem to get along

They're probably not 8 weeks old if they're not fully feathered by now.

This is what my goose looked like at 8 weeks:


This was at 6 1/2 weeks:


And this was her at 4 1/2 weeks - with the feathers showing under the down:


If you're absolutely positive that they're 8 weeks old, there must have been a serious problem with their nutrition in their previous location. If that's the case, make sure they get all the starter feed they can shovel down - they have a lot of catching up to do. And don't forget to add some niacin to their diet. Bonnie's tendency to lie down a lot may stem from a beginning niacin deficiency.

 

[ruffin]

I am only going on what the guy I bought them from said, and to be honest there previouse home was a mess they look more like yours at 4 1/2 weeks old I will try and put some photos on shortly that we took last weekend

 

[ruffin]

These are what we took Sunday