Cracked wheat for geese? Other treats?

[shell4747]

I have a mess of cracked wheat I'd like to give my geese - can I just put it in their foodpan? What is this "on the water" feeding thing - should I put it in their tubs for them to suck up?

They're not eating the nice chopped lettuce I gave them, either - they picked at it a bit but didn't eat much. Can they eat it in that form? If not, how the devil do they eat grass?!

I'd love to give them treats but I haven't found anything they've liked yet.

 

[Omniskies]

Geese are extremely picky about eating something they have never had before. Once they are more familiar with it then they become gluttons.

The easiest way to get them to eat something new is to give it to them inside their pen since they will chew on anything when they are bored.

As for the wheat, just scatter it in a separate pail of water so it floats. They will happily eat it after they've played long enough to come to the conclusion that it is also tasty.

 

[eggchel]

I feed my geese whole recleaned red wheat and whole oats that I mix in with their Purina Flock Raiser feed. They also get Purina's Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance Feed which is a floating feed. It looks like dog kibble. I mix some in with their feed and toss some on their water. The ducks go nuts when I put the Mazuri on their water. The geese are more reserved, LOL, except when I give them lettuce treats. Then they go bonkers and wont let the ducks have any. I also feed them some Alfalfa hay and Orchard grass hay because they seem to like chewing on it and Im hoping it will get them to stop chewing and pulling apart everything else they can get their bills on. I put one of those 6 ft high roll out bamboo fences around one end of my Ameraucana and Millie Cochins pens to keep the late day sun off them and the darn geese have stripped most of the bamboo off the bottom 3 feet.

Chel

 

[shell4747]

Thanks folks! I'll do some experimenting. They are eating the generic poultry feed I got from the local feedstore but they are back & forth on the enthusiasm level.

The gander keeps coming up to me and yelling something I can't quite catch... I am just hoping it isn't "Can't you see we're starving to death here??" Or maybe "I'm so sick! Help!" In reality, it's probably "Pay some attention to me!!"

A little ignorance is a frustrating thing. Fortunately, there is a cure.

 

[Michelle_my_bell]

I have two 6 weeks old Sebastopol male geese: I'm trying wheat today for the first time so THANK YOU for the tip about the water!!
How do we feel about cracked corn for geese? I'm looking for something I can throw on the lawn for them to forage for (I like to keep them busy during the day while I work).