goose food

[ticks]

Hey my friend is thinking about raising geese and ducks. He says that he has a lot of minnows in his swamp would this work for food for his waterfowl? thanks

 

[greyfields]

Geese don't eat critters, but ducks do. Geese can live entirely on grass as long as it's healthy and not dormant. I supplement my geese in the winter with a bit of feed (just chicken ration). In the summer I give them all the lettuce culls from the garden, which they go ape over.

Ducks, on the other hand cannot survive on grass/plants alone. They should always have a little bit of food lying around.

 

[MissPrissy]

That is the best peice of advice I have read since I began this journey with geese! We have been cutting grass daily and lining the floor of the brooder for these babies. They love grass but I was worried they would eat too much grass and not eat the chick starter. Thank you, Greyfields!

 

[ticks]

So the ducks would eat the minnows?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Geese probably won't eat the minnows as they are predominantly herbivores. Ducks, on the other hand can be very omnivorous.

Geese love hay and fresh grass, but I feed mine layer pellets. In fact, all my birds, except for the game birds I've had in the past, get layer pellets.

Edited to add:

A diet of all minnows for geese would not be a healthy choice. They would not get the nutrients they need, especially since they are herbivores. It would be like trying to feed a steak to a horse.

 

[greyfields]

Just wait, Missprissy, until the first day you let your goslings onto your lawn. They will instinctively start tearing the grass from the ground. I mean TEARING and pulling and chirping and laughing. It's the best part of spring to see the goslings turned out for the first time.

 

[MissPrissy]

I have put them out! They loved it! They are out now in a corral with a lid for protection from the cat.

 

[greyfields]

Yeah, I've had to put 2 week olds out in a tractor due to brooder space restrictions. They're fine with a heat lamp. They just love to pull at the grass. One of my sub-flocks "The Sopranos" (mixture of Pilgrim, Roman Tufted and one big Emdben who leads them) has taken to protecting the goslings even though they're on the other side of the poultry netting. They herd them back in if they get too close to the edges and make a fuss when I feed them.


It's strange this year, since we're hatcing ourselves we get a new batch every 4/5 weeks. So, they're all different ages. I have no idea who came from what hatch now. I just guess based on size. It's different from getting everything as day olds so the size/space needs are uniform.

 

[MissPrissy]

It is in the 70's here today. The sun is hot. They haven't had a heat lamp all day. They were crowding away from it this morning over in a far corner so I turned it off. As the sun moved around we put them in the yard to play. They have been happy since!

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

geese and ducks will both eat minnows and crayfish. mine eat both. i go down to the creek out back and catch them, then i put them in their pool and they have blast!