Geese eating dead wood

[Xatra]

I have three Africans, two ganders one goose, almost 5 months old. They're being kept with a flock of Dark Cornish chickens, all getting along very well. They have a nice house/coop with a fenced pen around it, with all that within an additionally fenced acre of land. For a few hours a day in late afternoon/early evening I let the whole flock free range the acre which has a wide variety of plants and trees including some old dead fallen tree limbs (can't let them free range full time because my dogs have to be confined inside to let poultry out). There are also two pools, one in the poultry pen and one outside it.

I give the flock free choice organic layer pellets, they always have grass hay too, various kitchen scraps, fresh grass, clover and other plants I get from surrounding land since they've eaten most of it from this acre and most days I toss 2-3 cups or so of scratch on the ground, partly as reward/encouragement for cooperatively returning to their pen when I direct them to.

I'm concerned the geese might be missing something in their diet because they're eating dead wood, like lots of it! All three spend a lot of time chewing up and eating fallen tree limbs. I had some old particle board laying outside and they were eating that until I burned it to prevent them from eating any more of it. They chewed up the wood around my garden hose hookup, wood on my deck, etc. Also they root through ashes of my fire pit, where wood and trash gets burned, seemingly getting something from the ashes.

Is this normal goose behavior or do I need to add something to their diet or what? I haven't found anything online about geese eating wood.

 

[Callender Girl]

I'm no goose expert, but my two American Buffs also like to eat wood. They've been doing it for years and with no apparent after-effects.

Unfortunately, their consumption has included the painted wood trim on my house and a stained wooden settee on the deck. On the other hand, they've never shown any interest in eating the dead apple tree stump by the deck.

I think, that like you, I would have removed the particle board. I try to remove anything that I think might harm them, but they are far better at finding potential dangers (small pieces of glass!) than I am at preventing any.

 

[AGeese]

I wish mine would take to more of the wood I've got laying around here over my garden hoses, garage door weather stripping, tire valve stem caps, and whatever else suits their fancy at the moment.

Edit: oh yeah I've caught them pulling out, chewing, eating? old foam insulation from my siding... which I now have garden fenced off.

 

[Xatra]

Thank you both! It's good to know this behavior is apparently normal for geese.

One of the pools has a black rubber drain plug in the bottom and they used to keep pulling that out, inadvertently emptying their own pool. Now I keep a brick over the drain to prevent that.

Such entertaining birds, much more so than chickens to me and I love how they never flee in panic because I moved like my chickens do daily, and will even come up to me and eat out of my hands.

 

[AGeese]

It's all part of the entertainment, oh and I forgot to mention electrical wires, thankfully they were low voltage

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Late to the game, but mine also chew on pretty much anything they can get their bills on. They really enjoy sawing through the twine on hay bales, sometimes dragging the cut twine around and leaving it in random places (like a pool). Definitely big chewers!