First Geese

[LoneStarHen]

I picked up two african goslings early this year on a whim at the feed store. I thought my turkeys were my favorite... But oh the geese! I LOVE these birds!

They are fully feathered and started actually honking (instead of squeaking) this weekend. They follow us around the yard like big dogs and they are so much fun. One of them will come and sit by you if you sit on the ground. My kiddo things that is awesome. I sure hope I have a pair... maybe I got lucky!

When they get really excited, they run with their wings out - like they want to take off. Are these guys going to fly? Do I need to go ahead and clip wings? They don't seem very interested in going far from the house. Occasionally I see them hanging out in the front pasture grazing.

I have Roen ducks that are not interested in flying, nor have they ever discovered the bayou at the back of our property. I would really like it if the geese do the same!

Also, the only thing they seem to want to eat is whole corn. They pick it out of anything that I feed them and leave the rest. Since they've grown I've transitioned them to a game bird mix, but all they want is the corn.

 

[The goose girl]

Congratulations on your lovely geese! Where are the pics?

If you keep feeding them only corn, they'll soon be too fat to even run. Corn is like dessert for geese - if they don't eat anything else, they'll get malnourished. When they leave the rest of their feed, they're just not hungry enough.

I'm not sure game bird feed is optimal for geese - maybe someone else knows that? I seem to remember something about the protein content being to high, but I'm not sure.

Most domestic geese are way too heavy to fly much. They may lift off for a few yards, but Africans are a large breed, and if they haven't started flying yet, they probably can't do it. Same with the Rouen ducks - they're too heavy to fly for fun.

 

[LoneStarHen]

My Rouen girls can fly a few feet, but they are mostly interested in eating and playing in the pool. The African Geese are still not fully grown. They were trying to fly this weekend, but they do not get far. They just run around with their wings out.

Are there any major differences between the males and females? I have one that has orange pigment around the eyes, like it has orange eyeliner. The area where the bill meets the face also has the same orange liner around it. That one is smaller. The bigger one does not have this orange pigment at all. I was wondering if this might just happen to be a gender trait.

They are mostly foraging and eating grass, and they get some of the chicken mix once a day. In the evening they are still getting a handful of corn because they love it!

 

[livininbrazil]

My Rouen girls can fly a few feet, but they are mostly interested in eating and playing in the pool. The African Geese are still not fully grown. They were trying to fly this weekend, but they do not get far. They just run around with their wings out.

Are there any major differences between the males and females? I have one that has orange pigment around the eyes, like it has orange eyeliner. The area where the bill meets the face also has the same orange liner around it. That one is smaller. The bigger one does not have this orange pigment at all. I was wondering if this might just happen to be a gender trait.

They are mostly foraging and eating grass, and they get some of the chicken mix once a day. In the evening they are still getting a handful of corn because they love it!

I have small geese, they can all fly. They run with their wings out, too, and they can lift off the ground, going straight up. If they want to fly, they just fly......
Africans are big, not likely to do this. I also give mine a little corn in the morning, and a little corn in the evening. It´s their treat, and it´s gone in about 30 seconds, so they obviously don´t get a lot. Their main food is grass. they graze most of the day in between resting in the shade.

As regards the orange eye-ring, I´m not aware that Africans have this, but then I don´t keep them, so i could be wrong. The European-type geese have that.

 

[LoneStarHen]

Here is the one with the yellow around the eyes. This one is VERY friendly. When I go out into the yard she (I assume it is a she) follows me and sits down next to me. She seems to like to be close to people and to be petted. The other one does not have this eyeliner, and is bigger than this one.





Here is a shot of her from above. The feed store did not know what kind of geese they had, but I have assumed from the beginning that they are African.

 

[livininbrazil]

They´re lovely. You could post their pic on the African thread to see what they think on there......