GOOSE BREEDING THREAD - for breeding, incubating, hatching and rearing.

[Miss Lydia]

They are very nice. My cousins greyhound looked like a deer, solid blonde color. Always well behaved until a rabbit would hop into the garden, ears would prick forward, eyes go wide and me screaming 'Run Bunny Runnnnnn!' It was always too late. He would always catch them that's why he was retired so young he caught the bunny on the track.

aww poor bunny.

 

[8GeeseALaying]

aww poor bunny.

That was the only thing i hated about him, he was a bunny killer.

 

[RiverGoddess]

RG i am thinking of searching for some local emu eggs, im pretty sure that the guy i bought my geese from has them. He has all kinds of unusual birds. If not im just going to run an ad, i know there are a few farms with them in other counties.
Are your emus still nice? Once they got older?

My kids could go in there & pet em'
You just have to spend every day with them doing something... Either just a quick pet/scratch. It is so funny when you scratch them behind them between the wings by their tail bone they drop like a rock ! Every time. They do spook easily ~ So you have to have them where there is no commotion. Otherwise huge talons & prehistoric legs! But if you spend time with them they are very sweet, also needs a companion animal (very important)
I loved hatching them. But you cannot candle their eggs & you have to sit around waiting for them to hatch... FOREVER

 

[8GeeseALaying]

My kids could go in there & pet em' You just have to spend every day with them doing something... Either just a quick pet/scratch. It is so funny when you scratch them behind them between the wings by their tail bone they drop like a rock ! Every time. They do spook easily ~ So you have to have them where there is no commotion. Otherwise huge talons & prehistoric legs! But if you spend time with them they are very sweet, also needs a companion animal (very important) I loved hatching them. But you cannot candle their eggs & you have to sit around waiting for them to hatch... FOREVER

Doesnt it take 60 days to hatch them? I had heard that they were alot easier to keep tame than ostrich, thats why i wanted some otherwise id be looking for an ostrich. Are they loud? My neighbors hate the noise of the geese, thats why im adding a donkey lol they are city people living in farm country because they got busted for drugs and they had to move. Ive been on a mission to bring obnoxious animals back on the farm lol but the real reason is i just love huge birds and those eggs are gorgeous. Id be happy picking up those eggs lol i think i used to be an easter bunny in a past life cause thats the best part of my day.

 

[livininbrazil]

They are very nice. My cousins greyhound looked like a deer, solid blonde color. Always well behaved until a rabbit would hop into the garden, ears would prick forward, eyes go wide and me screaming 'Run Bunny Runnnnnn!' It was always too late. He would always catch them that's why he was retired so young he caught the bunny on the track.

 

[livininbrazil]

I'd like to see this one crossed with a spring. sounds interesting

Well to look at her she doesn´t look much different to her bro, who doesn´t have much bounce. They look like tall, skinny pit-bull types. I´ll try to get a pic of the spring and her bro.
Well we have a 5´ tall solid gate and when people come to visit...BOING!.....BOING... they suddenly see this dog looking straight back at them, eye-level. She´s sweet, just full of beans, but it can take people back a bit...not a bad thing, eh?

 

[livininbrazil]

My kids could go in there & pet em'
You just have to spend every day with them doing something... Either just a quick pet/scratch. It is so funny when you scratch them behind them between the wings by their tail bone they drop like a rock ! Every time. They do spook easily ~ So you have to have them where there is no commotion. Otherwise huge talons & prehistoric legs! But if you spend time with them they are very sweet, also needs a companion animal (very important)
I loved hatching them. But you cannot candle their eggs & you have to sit around waiting for them to hatch... FOREVER

Lovely!! What a funny little character. And what beautiful eggs they have too.

 

[RiverGoddess]

Doesnt it take 60 days to hatch them? I had heard that they were alot easier to keep tame than ostrich, thats why i wanted some otherwise id be looking for an ostrich. Are they loud?
i just love huge birds and those eggs are gorgeous. Id be happy picking up those eggs lol i think i used to be an easter bunny in a past life cause thats the best part of my day.

Yes it takes 52-64 days ~ Depending on your bator & the temp you use. So it feels like 80

Not being able to candle drove me nuts. I did however buy 2 Rhea eggs & they are white so I could watch the development. But they quit on me half way through

I wanted to switch to the Rhea because 1 male can pollinate up to 5 girls ~ and Emus 1 male one female. Rheas are about the same size, and they lay alot more eggs. Their meat is also the same (I heard) as an Emu.

So I want to hatch some this year if I can find some local eggs. But their eggs are definately not as pretty as those emerald eggs!

When one did not hatch people told me to drill a hole and blow them out...

I am like NO WAY they have been incubating for almost 2 months..... and what if they did start to develop

I never had the courage to crack the eggs when they did not hatch. Those are big eggs with big chicks in them ! I did buy a stethoscope so I could hear the babies heart, & scratching & peeping inside the egg! That was really cool !

The males make a handsome whistle & we would whistle back and forth all the time. Always greeted me whenever I was outside, and was very curious. Could not wear anything sparkly, buttons, zippers, strings(hoodies) nail polish, toe polish or open toed shoes (they would go straight for my piggies

~ Would want to "eat them" not to be mean or anything but I have to admit when they are full grown that "taste" nip does start to hurt! And when I turned my back they always seemed to nip my butt (the back pockets) ! OUCH! But it was still sweet none the less. Females make a "Boom Boom" like a big drum in their chest.

When you are in there area and they get "spooked" I do my best to get the "hell" outta there !!!!! I would scale a fence !! They are pretty intimidating and VERY VERY strong, fast, and can jump like a kangaroo & have widdle widdle brains. God had a sense of humor when creating them

They are EXTREMELY accident prone (due to their high intelligence) and the survival rate of chicks is low. But once you get the chicks past the baby phase they are very hardy health wise but not accident wise.

I kept my chickens & geese with them. If you want to have ANY type of animals around them you have to raise them with them from babies!!!!! Otherwise they will STOMP them to death. So any unfamiliar animal ~ small & big Dogs/cats/livestock/poultry etc. But I could however bring any company/any age people in with them and would greet them the same way as me. But when they got full size my kids would no longer go in there by themselves ~

Oh and once they are established they do NOT like change ! They have water/runny poo also which I thought was weird
TMI right

All in all I am glad I had the experience

 

[RURU]

My my that is one big baby bird! But glad you had the experience of raising one.

Peacocks would be another great bird to yell HELP and when they yell it echoes!

 

[RiverGoddess]

My my that is one big baby bird! But glad you had the experience of raising one.

Peacocks would be another great bird to yell HELP and when they yell it echoes!

I love peacocks & really love there call. Brings me back to a time when I worked at the Zoo.