Creating Goose Garden

[ermer124]

For those of you that were keeping up with me and Nelson, I decided to keep her, and will be getting a female Embden gosling from a nearby farm as soon as they hatch. She's taken really well to the move, and we're working on training the aggressiveness out of her.

On to my questions. I love gardening, but this is first time I'm trying it with a goose(soon to be two) in the mix.
1. What kind of plants are harmful to geese and I should therefore avoid?
and secondly, I would love to put a garden just for them in their enclosure, so
2. What kind of plants do they really like?

Any advice on the do's and don't's of planting a garden for geese, personal experience, etc would be appreciated. Also, what is a good treat for geese. I tried apples and grapes and she won't eat either.

 

[livininbrazil]

For those of you that were keeping up with me and Nelson, I decided to keep her, and will be getting a female Embden gosling from a nearby farm as soon as they hatch. She's taken really well to the move, and we're working on training the aggressiveness out of her.

On to my questions. I love gardening, but this is first time I'm trying it with a goose(soon to be two) in the mix.
1. What kind of plants are harmful to geese and I should therefore avoid?
and secondly, I would love to put a garden just for them in their enclosure, so
2. What kind of plants do they really like?

Any advice on the do's and don't's of planting a garden for geese, personal experience, etc would be appreciated. Also, what is a good treat for geese. I tried apples and grapes and she won't eat either.

Well done, ermer, sounds like you´ve got it sorted.
Geese generally avoid plants that may be harmful. They´ll nibble leaves off anything, whether they want to eat it, or not. They love lettuce, especially romaine, greens in general, melon, dandelions, grass, plenty of grass, also the fruit that you tried, so if they don´t like one thing, try another. You could spear a cabbage and string it up like a ball for them to pick at... You may even find that the gosling will like something and then the other one will follow suit! haha Have fun with your goose garden.

 

[The goose girl]

As livininbrazil says, geese will to great extent avoid harmful plants on their own. That said, I dug up my European Yews just in case, when I observed a gosling investigating them.

Grass and dandelions have been the all-time favorites among the geese I've had. They're also the easiest plants to grow and available almost year-round.

Some of my geese have liked different kinds of fruit, mainly plums and pears, some have liked clover, some liked daisies, but all of them have been picky eaters and preferred green, succulent grass whenever available.

It seems to me that geese often develop personal taste. My first pet goose, Keld, would do anything to get to dry cat- or dog food pellets. She knew I carried them in my pocket for treats and would spot my hand nearing the pocket from a great distance. Her preferences extended to almost anything hard and/or crispy: chips, rice cakes, biscuits (didn't give them to her, but she'd sometimes manage to steal), pills (that came in handy with vitamin supplements). She spit out softer bread of any kind. As for greens, she loved clover and almost exterminated it in my lawn while leaving the daisies untouched. My current pet goose, Anna, adores soft bread and detests anything crispy. She loves daisies, both the flowers and the leaves, and spits out clover.

 

[livininbrazil]

As livininbrazil says, geese will to great extent avoid harmful plants on their own. That said, I dug up my European Yews just in case, when I observed a gosling investigating them.

Grass and dandelions have been the all-time favorites among the geese I've had. They're also the easiest plants to grow and available almost year-round.

Some of my geese have liked different kinds of fruit, mainly plums and pears, some have liked clover, some liked daisies, but all of them have been picky eaters and preferred green, succulent grass whenever available.

It seems to me that geese often develop personal taste. My first pet goose, Keld, would do anything to get to dry cat- or dog food pellets. She knew I carried them in my pocket for treats and would spot my hand nearing the pocket from a great distance. Her preferences extended to almost anything hard and/or crispy: chips, rice cakes, biscuits (didn't give them to her, but she'd sometimes manage to steal), pills (that came in handy with vitamin supplements). She spit out softer bread of any kind. As for greens, she loved clover and almost exterminated it in my lawn while leaving the daisies untouched. My current pet goose, Anna, adores soft bread and detests anything crispy. She loves daisies, both the flowers and the leaves, and spits out clover.

Haha, funny geese! Mine are all copy-cats. If eats it, the rest will. My three original geese are great, because they trust what I offer them and will at least have a go. Then when the others see, they all dive in.

 

[ermer124]

Haha thanks. I plan on planting a couple of berry bushes and things like that. Definitely some wheat grass and things. I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[The goose girl]

Haha, funny geese! Mine are all copy-cats. If eats it, the rest will. My three original geese are great, because they trust what I offer them and will at least have a go. Then when the others see, they all dive in.

I've observed that, too, when I've had two geese. One will try and taste, the other rushes in and grabs it, afraid to be missing out on a great treat. Then they both fight over whatever I offered. Talk about mob mentality.

 

[Tivona]

I have my birds in my garden. Kale is a favorite of every goose I have had. It must be fenced off or it will be eaten down to nothing...including roots. As far as poisonous plants I have to keep the potatoes and tomatoes fenced off or they will eat the leaves (poisonous). Other plants I haven't seen any issue with but I try to only plant edibles.The rhubarb (poisonous leaves) they will beat up hiding under the leaves of but none of my birds have eaten any.
The biggest problem with geese and ducks in a garden is that they will kill plants by just over eating the them. Fencing off anything I really want to keep is the only way once the weather gets to hot and the grass stops growing so fast. Once the grass is low then everything that is green will be checked out. Tasted and nibbled. Currently half of my elephant garlic is nibbled to half height and I still have the grass growing great. The kale is only safe due to the chicken wire blocking it off and the parsley gets a persistent nibbling. My berries (blackberry, raspberry, blueberry) get the leaves trimmed up in my garden but they seem to leave the branches. Bamboo is safe if the shoots can get high enough. They nibble the leaves up on that too though. Fruit trees...apple, nectarine, and pear all get any windfalls eaten. They killed my bachelor buttons, pansies, and artichokes. They trim the daylilies. The gladiolus, ferns, jasmine, and wisteria are all left alone as are most herbs. Any salad green or pea or bean is gone and dead in hours if not fenced off. Onions are nibbled but not destroyed. I also allow wild edibles and flowers (Dandelion, catsear, plantain, dead nettle, lady's thumb, wood sorrel) to grow which they eat some of and leave others. Each bird has its favorites and things they don't like but these are the patterns I see with mine.

 

[livininbrazil]

I have my birds in my garden. Kale is a favorite of every goose I have had. It must be fenced off or it will be eaten down to nothing...including roots. As far as poisonous plants I have to keep the potatoes and tomatoes fenced off or they will eat the leaves (poisonous). Other plants I haven't seen any issue with but I try to only plant edibles.The rhubarb (poisonous leaves) they will beat up hiding under the leaves of but none of my birds have eaten any.
The biggest problem with geese and ducks in a garden is that they will kill plants by just over eating the them. Fencing off anything I really want to keep is the only way once the weather gets to hot and the grass stops growing so fast. Once the grass is low then everything that is green will be checked out. Tasted and nibbled. Currently half of my elephant garlic is nibbled to half height and I still have the grass growing great. The kale is only safe due to the chicken wire blocking it off and the parsley gets a persistent nibbling. My berries (blackberry, raspberry, blueberry) get the leaves trimmed up in my garden but they seem to leave the branches. Bamboo is safe if the shoots can get high enough. They nibble the leaves up on that too though. Fruit trees...apple, nectarine, and pear all get any windfalls eaten. They killed my bachelor buttons, pansies, and artichokes. They trim the daylilies. The gladiolus, ferns, jasmine, and wisteria are all left alone as are most herbs. Any salad green or pea or bean is gone and dead in hours if not fenced off. Onions are nibbled but not destroyed. I also allow wild edibles and flowers (Dandelion, catsear, plantain, dead nettle, lady's thumb, wood sorrel) to grow which they eat some of and leave others. Each bird has its favorites and things they don't like but these are the patterns I see with mine.

What a varied diet they have!

Nibbled this and that....
I find my youngsters are the worst, and we have to fence off the saplings we plant or they´ll really suffer, mostly they just take the leaves off and nibble the bark. Bless.

 

[liricalmis]

I live in Washington state and we have alot of foxglove flowers here. Can they kill a goose? My daughter and I had 5 geese. and one day she went out to check on them in there pen and found one dead. not a mark on her, we don't know what happened. She was fine an hour before. she was only about 4 weeks old and just getting her feathers. We don't have a clue what what happened

 

[livininbrazil]

I live in Washington state and we have alot of foxglove flowers here. Can they kill a goose? My daughter and I had 5 geese. and one day she went out to check on them in there pen and found one dead. not a mark on her, we don't know what happened. She was fine an hour before. she was only about 4 weeks old and just getting her feathers. We don't have a clue what what happened

Hi Liricalmis. Sorry to hear about this. Now, I don´t KNOW if it´s likely to be the foxgloves, but if it were me, I´d get rid of them, or at least keep the geese away from them by fencing the area off or something. When gozzies are with their parents they learn stuff, but without the parents, they will investigate anything. Even without actually eating the flower or leaves, the goslings are quite likely to nibble at them, as they´re so terribly curious. It could well be what caused the death. Here, I pull up the plants that I know are poisonous, just to be on the safe side. Generally speaking they seem to know, but there´s always a risk. And, of course, everything about a foxglove is poisonous. shame, they´re beautiful aren´t they?