Gosling questoins on feeding

[epona4]

Hi all,

I've been searching and can't seem to find the answers I'm looking for.

My goslings are a week and a half old. Is it OK to start them on grass? (I know this is what they eat in the wild. But I want to cover my bases) If so, how do I give them grit? Just sprinkle it on the grass?

Do I need to chop up the grass and dandelions?

How old should they be before I let them out for play time? (today would be too cold I think. Only 70 for the high.)

I just love these guys. They are so sweet and have so much personality. And good lord do they STINK! I have to change their bedding 3x a day! Can't wait till they are old enough to be out in the barn!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Hi there! I believe that paper that I gave you with them said they can have grass/greens at any time. You can chop it and put it in their food, or you can let them graze outside. I would put the grit in a small bowl, just so you know that they can find it. They can go out to play at anytime, just be sure to watch them to see if they are getting cold.

The other day when I had them outside they were pretty scared, so they didn't do much 'playing'. You might want to try having something solid for the sides of their 'pen', just so they aren't overwhelmed by the big, bad world.

I had also tried to give them a bath, but that freaked them out too. But a bath would work for play, plus they would stay warm. You could also chop the greens and float them on the water.

If you noticed, I was using the pellet bedding for them (even though it didn't look like pellets when you were here!). If you have something for their water that they can't spill it will make their bedding less stinky.

Give them a hug for me!!

 

[epona4]

I feel like a total dork! I didn't even think to read that paper for that. I just was looking at the leg band info. (of course it's also really light and small font on that paper, so maybe I was trying to ignore the fact that I should be getting my eyes checked and probably need glasses!)

Today I am moving my chicks to the dog crate and then cleaning out the rabbit cage for the goslings. That will give them a wire floor and I'll put the bedding in the tray.

For their water, I'm using an old gallon milk carton with a hole cut out. They can get their heads in, but can't "play" in it. Not that it seems to make a huge difference!

After it stops pouring rain, I'll run outside and get them some grass and dandelions and chop them up and give them a tray with grit.

Thanks shelley!
b

 

[shelleyd2008]

You saw the bowl that I had for them to drink from, didn't you? They did pretty good with that, except when I would first fill it. I would go in there a few minutes later and everyone looked like they had just gotten out of the shower

Which is when I got the idea to give them a bath, didn't work!

Just be careful with a wire floored bottom, it can hurt their feet. Maybe have part of the wire covered with something so they can get off the wire if need be? I think shelf liner would work just fine, that's what I use for the buttons in the top cage. Then you can just swap it out and wash the dirty one.

And sorry about the paper, the original was not all that dark either, and when I copied it it got even lighter. Of course now I have realized that my ink is just about out on my printer, and that would have probably helped!

If you have any dark green veggies in your fridge you can give them some of that. I know you can feed peas to ducks, I don't see why you couldn't with geese.

I only have a week till my goose eggs are due to hatch

Let's hope I haven't killed them both!

I miss having those sweet babies here!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

I have the original paper, and it IS light too - and yeah, I need glasses to read at my age, also

- I just got a pair of the 8 dollar reading glasses at Dollar General - they work fine.

Ahh, the joys of growing older, eh?

I gave mine some grass yesterday and they loved it - they played with more than they ate, but I took scissors and cut it up into maybe 3/4 inch to 1 inch pieces (and put some grit in there, on top of their other food, and some mixed in with the grass.)

I got the Starter Grit - it is more finely ground for babies. Not so fine as Parakeet grit, though.

I haven't had mine out on grass outside yet - I figured I'd wait til they were a couple weeks old to try that (plus I've been so busy trying to get ready for my sister coming down to visit).

I have mine in a big (3 foot square) cage, but I put puppy pads on the cage floor, so their feet are protected - I put a couple layers of it, so it is cushy (until they poop on it

)

I do have to say, though, that they are not nearly as messy as the baby ducks I have in the house.

meri

 

[shelleyd2008]

Another thing you could do to protect their feet (either of you) is to pick a few towels to use just for them. Give them one to sleep on, then once it gets too dirty, swap it with the other one while the first is in the wash. Saves on shavings that way too.