sonshine15
Songster
- Jun 20, 2015
- 464
- 59
- 146
Hi!
I've had a time getting my geese to go into their shelter at night, bad weather (hail) etc. I do lock them up in a secure pen at night, safe from predators. Winter is approaching quickly. I do not want them in with my chickens. Too much mess and they are great watchdogs by the house. (I also like them closer by)
I came across an article (sorry, I cannot find it now) that said geese like houses that look like their natural environment. I have pallets, and some ideas came together. DH is helping me put it all together. It's simple, doesn't take a lot of $, in fact, I paid $2.00 each for the lawnmower wheels and the pallets would have been free with the exception of my not checking out our feed store for pallets sooner.......all the materials we are using could be obtained for next to nothing or free with the exception of the wheels.
I'm not done with the shelter yet.......I'll post more as we go. It isn't fancy, it works for my purpose.....*fingers crossed on them going in* .......... I'm making it with the idea of adding only one or two sides of "cover" at a time so they can see out and get used to going into the shelter.
I have 4 African Geese and they are so spoiled they want in the house to see the people........they'll stand out the doors and honk until the cows come home.....
(I'm not online here often but, wanted to post this in case anyone else is having issues with them going in, and/or financial issues. The basic idea can be turned into any type of enclosure easily)
Due to the weight, I'll be attaching either a rope on the bottom so it will pull easily, or a handle close to the top
The wheels are set a bit lower on the back to make it easier to pull and clean..we put a block of wood on each side, inside to stabilize it.
Just a pic of the planks to cover the top. We pulled them off another pallet.
View from the back
The above photo is "Stonecoated Steel." It goes on the sides. It's similar to tile for roofs only it's steel and stronger. If you call roofing companies, they or their salesmen will have these samples everywhere. Usually the dumpster. We are using them on the sides. They're lighter in weight than shingles. (still pretty heavy though)
Roofing companies will also have "PVC" roofing scraps. We put a cover on the top of the enclosure yesterday using using PVC. It's a thick rubber that will hold up under hail, snow etc. It's used on roofs so will certainly hold up under bad weather.
I've had a time getting my geese to go into their shelter at night, bad weather (hail) etc. I do lock them up in a secure pen at night, safe from predators. Winter is approaching quickly. I do not want them in with my chickens. Too much mess and they are great watchdogs by the house. (I also like them closer by)
I came across an article (sorry, I cannot find it now) that said geese like houses that look like their natural environment. I have pallets, and some ideas came together. DH is helping me put it all together. It's simple, doesn't take a lot of $, in fact, I paid $2.00 each for the lawnmower wheels and the pallets would have been free with the exception of my not checking out our feed store for pallets sooner.......all the materials we are using could be obtained for next to nothing or free with the exception of the wheels.
I'm not done with the shelter yet.......I'll post more as we go. It isn't fancy, it works for my purpose.....*fingers crossed on them going in* .......... I'm making it with the idea of adding only one or two sides of "cover" at a time so they can see out and get used to going into the shelter.
I have 4 African Geese and they are so spoiled they want in the house to see the people........they'll stand out the doors and honk until the cows come home.....
(I'm not online here often but, wanted to post this in case anyone else is having issues with them going in, and/or financial issues. The basic idea can be turned into any type of enclosure easily)
Due to the weight, I'll be attaching either a rope on the bottom so it will pull easily, or a handle close to the top
The wheels are set a bit lower on the back to make it easier to pull and clean..we put a block of wood on each side, inside to stabilize it.
Just a pic of the planks to cover the top. We pulled them off another pallet.
View from the back
The above photo is "Stonecoated Steel." It goes on the sides. It's similar to tile for roofs only it's steel and stronger. If you call roofing companies, they or their salesmen will have these samples everywhere. Usually the dumpster. We are using them on the sides. They're lighter in weight than shingles. (still pretty heavy though)
Roofing companies will also have "PVC" roofing scraps. We put a cover on the top of the enclosure yesterday using using PVC. It's a thick rubber that will hold up under hail, snow etc. It's used on roofs so will certainly hold up under bad weather.
