Gosling eating a lot!

[Rose Mary]

My husband and I purchased a gosling one week ago. We were told that she (?) was one day old. After receiving instructions and purchasing the non medicated chick feed and water supplements we brought her home. A few things have been happening that really contradict what we were told about her age and needs.
Very soon the temperature under the light in the cage seemed to be too warm for her even though the thermometer read 95. We moved the light farther away.
I can feel sharpness under her down. I think feathers are coming in.
We were told not to let her swim but, she has so much energy that we put her in the bath tub (supervised) and she loves it! She gets a bath twice a day now.
I started taking her outside three times a day as the temp has risen up to 91 this week. Her pen is fast becoming to small for her. She loves to graze and graze and graze on grass, dandy lions and dirt. She used to follow us non-stop but, last night and today she was happy to plump down in the grass and munch unless she found that we were out of her site.
I am wondering if she is older than what we were told, if she is eating what she needs or too much. We also have a duck that is behaving about the same but, doesn't eat nearly as much. Four chicks complete our team and they are happy with the grass and fresh organic lettuce. While everyone seems healthy and happy, I want to make sure we are raising them right. Seems like we've broken some rules.

 

[The goose girl]

Don't worry about letting her swim when it's 91 degrees outside. Actually I'm thinking that overheating might get to be a problem - goslings are not good at adjusting their body temperature. As long as she's not left wet in drafty surroundings, she'll be fine. If she lies down panting, she's probably too hot.

Goslings do eat almost all the time, and they grow so fast you can almost register the difference in size from day to day. Their digestive system works fast, as I'm sure you've noticed, and not very effectively, so they need to eat a lot to grow right. As long as she's fed starter food and grass/greens, it's very unlikely for her to overeat. Starvation might be an issue if you only let her eat grass and greens - they really need a lot of nutrition.

I enclosed some pictures for age comparison.
This is my gosling at 8 days:


And at 15 days:


Almost 3 weeks:


3 1/2 weeks:


5 weeks old:

 

[CorinneP]

Goose Girl I got a great smile out of your Pics Thanks for Sharing !!

 

[Rose Mary]

Thank you. That helped a lot. I'm pretty sure she is almost 3 weeks old. And yes, I can tell the difference from day to day. One day she fit in a large pocket and the next day "no way".