De-icers and goose pool

[LadyWolf44005]

I have a kiddie pool for my 2 male geese. Since it is winter can they have a de-icer in there pool as they use it? Sorry it it seems like a dumb question!

 

[sourland]

I think that would have a seriously negative impact on their health. During the winter many provide swimming water only on days that are above freezing.

 

[LadyWolf44005]

Ok. Thank you for replying! I will just get the de-icer for their water.

 

[The goose girl]

I've used a heated base deicer underneath my geese's kiddie pool. Since it's not designed for heating a larger body of water, I made a styrofoam base for it to insulate the bottom and the sides.

It was a hassle to cut out the styrofoam plates, secure them so the geese wouldn't eat them, and make sure the wire was out of reach. It did work pretty well, but I don't use it anymore. On "ice days" I just fill their pool with lukewarm water, so they get to bathe until the water freezes over again. If it's very cold they usually only get their buckets. They'd still like to bathe, but outside their wet feathers freeze before they can preen themselves, and I'm rarely in the mood for two geese thawing, drying, and preening for a couple of hours in my living room. Only one of them is diaper trained ...

I wouldn't use an immersion deicer with geese - I worry they'd gnaw it apart and get electrocuted.

 

[Percheron chick]

Geese love chewing on anything strange in their pen. Power cords are fun, fun, fun. Geese don't need swimming water in the winter. Just give them a bucket of water and they will sit next to it and take a bath. If you have a nice day, give them something larger like a litter pan and dump it at dark.