Goose ponds in winter?

[Naolove]

Hi guys! I was wondering what people do about geese in winter? Do you still let them access their ponds? Mine sleep in their kiddie pool (in an enclosed run) and I'm not sure if I'll have to introduce them to a building to sleep for winter. I'm in NC usa so we don't get super harsh winters by any means but water does get a little icy at night, not usually solid ice tho other than like 3 nights a year. Just curious!!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi guys! I was wondering what people do about geese in winter? Do you still let them access their ponds? Mine sleep in their kiddie pool (in an enclosed run) and I'm not sure if I'll have to introduce them to a building to sleep for winter. I'm in NC usa so we don't get super harsh winters by any means but water does get a little icy at night, not usually solid ice tho other than like 3 nights a year. Just curious!!

I'm surprised no geese people have jumped in yet, so I'll just tell you what my farmer across the way does as I take care of her animals now and then.

We're in Wisconsin, so she pulls the kiddy pools for the geese and ducks for the winter. She has these giant black rubber bins for each pen she fills with water and puts a big rock in the middle so they don't jump in. She only has like a 3-sided hutch type thing with a roof on it for them, and we get some wild nasty winters here, but they do fine. If the water freezes, it's easy to pull the rock out and tip the bin over to get it out and refill it, but it rarely freezes due to them dabbling all the time, which keeps the water moving.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Hi guys! I was wondering what people do about geese in winter? Do you still let them access their ponds? Mine sleep in their kiddie pool (in an enclosed run) and I'm not sure if I'll have to introduce them to a building to sleep for winter. I'm in NC usa so we don't get super harsh winters by any means but water does get a little icy at night, not usually solid ice tho other than like 3 nights a year. Just curious!!

they sleep in water?

 

[Jenbirdee]

my geese sleep in a small room that’s an addition to my lower level of my house. but i don’t let them swim in there. when it gets too cold for their baby pools outside, I also use those big rectangle shape, black rubber tubs so they can still get in and Bathe even in the winter weather. I am in Maryland. We have a couple weeks of sub, freezing temps and winter if I see their tub freezing over i pour in a kettle of boiling water , i dump the tubs at sunset and use a strechy shrinking kind of hose to fill them every morning, and then I bring the hose inside my house so I don’t get a frozen hose.
late winter / Early spring /spring is their mating season and they mate in water.

 

[Naolove]

they sleep in water?

Mine do! They will pick the kiddie pool every night over anything else we have. Their night time run is about 20' x 40' so they have plenty to choose from lol