Ducks and geese

[luv geese]

Hello all!
I am new to ducks and geese. I have 9 ducks and 2 geese. I have one male and one female goose. The female is starting a clutch and has 3 eggs but she hasn’t started nesting yet. My question is that they laid them in the old goat pen. I moved the goats to a larger pen and put the ducks and geese in their older pen which is a good size. There is a smaller pen inside the pasture that the goats stayed in and of course peed and pooped in. This smaller pen has lots of hay and a autowaterer. Again, the hay having layers of poop and pee, I just hadn’t got to it to clean it out yet. Well, now, the darn goose has laid 3 eggs in this hay so far. So my question is, are the eggs contaminated? The hubby wants to eat them but I’m of the mind that if they might hatch I’d rather do that. The male is busy herding the ducks around and doesn’t seem to pay the female any mind at all so I’m not convinced they are fertile anyway. So how long can I leave them out there before they are inedible? Should I be worried that bacteria will hurt the eggs whether they are fertile or infertile? I want to move this pen to new ground so it can be a clean new laying area and put nesting boxes and such but I’m afraid to move it and disturb her nest. Or move it to the new area and have her abandon it. Any thoughts or guidances? Please be nice and remember I have never owned birds before. As an aside, I have 2 beautiful buff Toulouse geese, 4 welsh harlequins male and female, 3 Cayuga male and female and 2 mallard male and female-
Thanks so much!
Shannon

 

[nao57]

Well hello!

What an awesome thread.

You know I was just hoping to post a thread on wondering what its like to have ducks with geese, etc. And then you showed up!

I would warn you to not eat the geese eggs! They don't lay all year like ducks and chickens do. This is why they are raised as meat birds instead of egg producers. Canada geese average 5 eggs a year supposedly. The chinese/Asian geese supposedly they say they can do eggs a few times a year but it seems to be on a different track. Some times of geese also they say won't lay eggs until they are like 3 years old also; this is what they say about Canada geese. (But I don't know if that applies to all geese? And I don't know if Canada geese are quoted as laying low numbers of eggs also just because it would be too cold for eggs up there most of the year?)

Well, I'm a bibliophile not a geese person. So I hope someone else will speak up because I haven't had geese myself. I've been reading about them because I'm fascinated with the claims and evidence people show of using them like guard dogs. And they are efficient, since they can be raised on grass.

I have many questions about them also. Like what happens if you mix ducks and geese? Will the ducks act like geese? Will they be more willing to eat each others' foods etc? There's so many things I want to ask.

I wouldn't say the eggs are contaminated.

Its more like all fowl eggs have natural bacteria in them even from the moment they are fresh. Ducks carry salmonella for example. I think there's an acceptable level and an unacceptable level however. (Not sure what that amount is.) I guess it comes down to if you are trying to be fairly hygienic? But all living things have bacteria and some bacteria are good. And bacteria eat each other. And one of the problems with antibiotics for example, is after using them the good bacteria are wiped out of body also. Don't you wonder how this would affect stuff like Covid-19?)

Are you in the city or rural?

I suspect the geese are going to say they are loud as hell and may make neighbors not like you.

But the guard aspect has to be approached a certain way it seems. But sounds interesting.

I hope you can elaborate more on them later. They are interesting animals that fill a role of being very efficient with resources. Videos on them, people say its cheaper to raise them than all other fowl, because of the fact that they don't need grain, but just need fresh grass.

(I wouldn't feed them old decayed lawn mower grass. That may induce problems. But if its fresh it shouldn't be a problem.)

Please comment later on them.

 

[DiYMama540]

Welcome to BYC!
As long as the eggs have been kept dry, and there's no chance they were frozen, they will be perfectly fine to eat or hatch.

When the birds lay their eggs, they are coated with a protective layer, the "bloom", and it works to keep out bacteria and keep the egg fresh for long periods of time!

 

[DiYMama540]

Also, if you want to clean the pen go ahead and do it. Just take the 3 eggs she's laid and destroy her current nest. She won't be too happy with you about it, but she will make another one.

Geese are seasonal layers, some breeds laying more than others, but they still lay enough that you will need to collect quite a few in addition to letting her sit. They can only cover so many eggs to hatch at once.

 

[luv geese]

Hello and thanks for responding!
We have had the ducks and geese together for about 3 weeks. I bought all of them from abreeder. Originally as I had only one pen that’s like 100x100 with an enclosure in it, the goats and geese and ducks were put together. Now, we have a much larger pasture where we are going to put 2 horses and the 2 goats together. The horses aren’t here yet. The goats seem lonely. I think they enjoyed the ducks and geese and became friendly. I would see them all laying around each other in the shade took about a week and a half for the ducks and geese to chill out.

I have a white saneen mix and a black and white Nigerian mix , I think, who knows! But Bunny (a goat named bunny) the white is literally the sweetest animal ever she would lay in your lap if you let her just loved to be scratched.

The black and white is Betty and she is is the same sweetie except she is protective and runs at dogs and stuff, they both have their horns. And we have a bunny named Belle! Everything starts with a B!

Our pond had a gator named Benny but he has found greener pastures......or ponds

We had talked about getting ducks and hubby wanted geese because he liked them just for fun but the breeder said he didn’t have any. And with the quarantine stuff we just decided it was time. So when I went to get the ducks he was like well I decided to sell these 2 so we took them sooo elegant! This breeder sells the ducks at 9-12 moths instead of ducklings which worked for me. I’m a hovercraft as it is and with ducklings I’d be a NUT!

So I have a male and a female goose. Don’t really know how old they are. They are just beautiful but I was worried because he didn’t seem to like her at all! however! This morning I saw them mating! Yay it’s literally the first time I’ve seen him even near her so I’m very excited to have babies! The breeder did say she was broody and had helped him with about 15 babies the prior year. The minute I got them home after picking them up and opened the cage the gander walked into the crate with the ducks and checked them all over and herded them out into the pasture and has been doing it ever since. Now the breeder kept the geese and ducks separate for what that is worth I was quite surprised how he was with the ducks especially since some are males but they do whatever the gander says. The gander is very protective of them.

The smaller enclosure they are in had about 10 bales of hay strewn around and the goats would sit in it and pee and poop but most of it seemed to sink and like compost it generates heat from the organic material decaying- I have read where people do this to keep animals warm. So I wasn’t worried about the goats and initially the ducks and geese never went near it but once they started making friends I guess they decided it was fine.

I have read about the bloom. Does it make it impervious to bacteria entering from the outside? Or just somewhat antibacterial? I think I can candle them as early as 4 days right? Should I just remove the ones that are not fertile? I read to mark them so I would know how old the are so I will go do that tonight- I so excited! we are in the panhandle of Florida and had a crazy storm blow thru last night but everybody is good today!
Thanks so much for listening! Im sure my posts will get shorter shortly-LOL
Shannon

 

[luv geese]

Nao57,
Oh and we don’t really have neighbors atleast none you can see but you can hear them from time to time. So yes the geese do honk but not overly so. And it’s generally for a reason; like at the dogs or us getting too close. And once they have been here a little longer I will let them out and see how they are about guarding. The female goose who has no name yet flew the coop and into the pond on days 3-6 which of course sent me into a tizzy as there were gators in the pond and if she laid eggs I wouldn’t find them so we clipped her wings and she has stayed put since and is now laying and I can find her eggs!Yay!! Still no duck eggs tho
P.S. my son is a bibliophile also seriously you literally never see him without a book in his hand

Shannon

 

[nao57]

Nao57,
Oh and we don’t really have neighbors atleast none you can see but you can hear them from time to time. So yes the geese do honk but not overly so. And it’s generally for a reason; like at the dogs or us getting too close. And once they have been here a little longer I will let them out and see how they are about guarding. The female goose who has no name yet flew the coop and into the pond on days 3-6 which of course sent me into a tizzy as there were gators in the pond and if she laid eggs I wouldn’t find them so we clipped her wings and she has stayed put since and is now laying and I can find her eggs!Yay!! Still no duck eggs tho☹
P.S. my son is a bibliophile also seriously you literally never see him without a book in his hand

Shannon

Very cool.

So are you saying the geese get used to you and don't get as loud around you? They are very interesting. I'm not entirely sure if their guard dog trait has to be cultivated or triggered, or if it will just come naturally on its own.

Did you notice how their teeth look? Other fowl don't have teeth but geese do. And they look quite interesting to look at.

 

[luv geese]

Very cool.

So are you saying the geese get used to you and don't get as loud around you? They are very interesting. I'm not entirely sure if their guard dog trait has to be cultivated or triggered, or if it will just come naturally on its own.

Did you notice how their teeth look? Other fowl don't have teeth but geese do. And they look quite interesting to look at.

I haven’t looked at their teeth I thought they didn’t have any m pretty sure they would have no part o that. Although clipping her wings was not terrible. They don’t really honk that much. They come towards you at dinner time. The only time that they really honk is when they are upset. Or like when the female flewthe coop and stayed in the pond she would honk every so often to check in it seemed with the flock. The male has never attempted to escape or to take a run at the fence or anything that I have seen. So our little dog just went into their pen and the male started honking until he left but that’s about it. Even with all 11 ducks and geese honking and quacking at one time like they were last night when we were herding them into their pen in anticipation of the storm, it’s really not that loud. And they stop immediately as soon as the threat is over. Im pretty happy with them overall. Now, if they would just start laying eggs......

 

[Isaac 0]

Very cool.

So are you saying the geese get used to you and don't get as loud around you? They are very interesting. I'm not entirely sure if their guard dog trait has to be cultivated or triggered, or if it will just come naturally on its own.

Did you notice how their teeth look? Other fowl don't have teeth but geese do. And they look quite interesting to look at.

Actually, Its serrations used to cut grass when they forage, it looks quite like teeth though.

 

[nao57]

Actually, Its serrations used to cut grass when they forage, it looks quite like teeth though.

I use calcium serrations to cut my dinner also.

Are their serrations calcium or tissue fiber?