Goslings of 2014 Hatch-a-long

[livininbrazil]

Serv, your pictures are wonderful!! I love seeing your huge flock of gorgeous geese!!

It´s the setting too, isn´t it? Ireland, natural home, just so rustic and lovely. Can almost hear an Irish flute there.......

 

[andreacroyle]

. I have 8 Sebright Bantam chicks that are 2 days old

I almost bought them! They are beautiful! I know this is a gosie thread but I would like to watch them grow up. Maybe there is a sebright thread you can link me too?

We keep waiting and hoping for storms, and nothing comes.

We have had nothing but rain all year. Record breaking rain fall. The mosquitoes are so bad that you can walk outside without being attacked! There have been three West Nile virus cases in my city this month. I am frightened for my birds.

Not even 1/3 the size of a regular chick.

Are they smaller than Old English Bantams?

->diminutive. I didn´t keep mine, as the busy little cockbird used to chase off my bigger cock to breed with the bigger hens!

You always use words or phrases that my me feel uneducated! LOL ! I had to look up the word "diminutive"=)
Did I tell you that the silkie rooster that stays part time in my house because I cant have him crowing in my neighborhood>? He is the mean one that I keep going back and fourth about getting rid of. He is super mean to the birds and super super nice and personable to us.

Happy to hear Elsa is doing good. do you keep her legs taped when you put her with her mama?

I wondered that too. glad you asked.

Was bringing the flock home and the weather was very nice and sunny so that means pics!

I also LOVE your pics!! and agree that it was the way you shot into the sun that gave it the antique look.

I am wondering what it actually means "to bring home the birds" and how you manage that with such a huge space? I have trouble with my tiny fenced in back yard and 9 birds. They just run circles around the trampoline. I use the bamboo sticks (held out like long arms) which help a lot! I am envious that you have so much space for your animals.

It is, I'd like it better if serv was in it.walking behind with the shepherds staff.

It would be .

Here´s Elsa in a little 'pool' (actually a cooking tin), with mom and aunt and cousin. Mum´s the pied, nearest the camera. Dad´s outside the fence looking in. I keep the ganders out as they eat all the babies´ feed. During the afternoon I let aunt and cousin go off with dad for a walk-about, and the pied stayed in there with her little Elsa.

awww thanks for naming her Elsa. I will say that my son's generation would know exactly what character I am talking about. =) She does look cute with her body guards around her. Glad her legs started working right.
I like this little pool. this would work great for my yard with all the sand. (we are 1/2 mile from ocean, there is nothing but sand here) I wll have to start looking for this type of pool. The imprinted babies gt so big! That goose in this pic all the way in the back left is one of my favorites. is that a pilgrim? i like the uneven patch of white around her beak.

I am from Australia they are now 1 month old here is a photo of them

Thanks for sharing! This is my favorite pic because it really shows the personality of goslings! They are adorable. Please add weekly pics so we can see them grow up!

So this year I´ve now lost

How many have you hatched that are doing good? and how many have you hatched with help? I think you have done an awesome job even though you have lost a few. You mentioned banning them so you can tell them apart, I dont know how you do it now! I would be very overwhelmed.

A miracle. if only I'd helped. makes me sad.

I agree that Elsa is a miracle and I also feel the same way about the one egg that I tried to hatch. I learned my lesson the hard way. If I ever let my duck eggs turn into ducklings, I am going to buy a incubator and make a brooder.




I know this is a gosling thread but I want to ask (will post on another thread as well). How many of you has had a duck with different colored eyes? The newest muscovy I just bought has one bright blue eye and one very dark brown eye. I realized it yesterday.

 

[livininbrazil]

@andreacroyle ,
'diminutive'...I teach English, I can´t help it!

Silkie... so will you keep him in his own little penthouse?
The paddling pool is just thick PVC and comes with poles that you push through to give it form. This one just doesn´t have the legs to make it stand up, I just let it fall into the hole in the dirt.
the goose with the face face is a Pilgrim-type, yes. Around here they´re referred to as common geese.
The imprinted babies are as big as the older ones. I think it´s because they had such a good start, me being a bit protective with them, and that they were with younger ones so they got extra attention!
The others, of course, were reared by the parents, so they grow a little slower.
18 that I have now are doing good. There´s just one little Pilgrim female that´s a bit behind the others, so she´s in a pen on her own (with mirror, of course), so she can get plenty of feed and niacin. Just a few were hatched indoors.
I´ve had one duck with different coloured eyes, in accord with the different coloured feathering on its head.

 

[servpolice]

Brazil i love the way you made your pond and ibet it would be easy to clean by rhe looks which is key to me
I see that you need rain babdly in 1st pic.

 

[jtn42248]

Are they smaller than Old English Bantams?

They are the second smallest of all Bantams. Only Serama's are smaller. There are a number of Bantam threads here on BYC you might want to check out.

 

[servpolice]

andrea when i saod home i meant herding the flock home to their sleeping area near my my house
They were actually out a bit too far (5 fields away from their home field so they were bold it is heading towards winter so they can't go beyond the 3rd field.
In summer at the start when they have babies they usually stay in 1st and 2nd field but in middle of summer when the babies are bigger they go to the further fields which is 7 fields away and a long walk if flock is slow.the 5th field is 15 acres and long and that is when my fliers (crosses of geese and pure greylags) run and gain speed for flying and they fly high and land home and never had lost one.They only fly coz they are too lazy to walk .Then i am stuck with the fat breeds and the chinese embden and crosses coz they will never fly

 

[livininbrazil]

Brazil i love the way you made your pond and ibet it would be easy to clean by rhe looks which is key to me

I see that you need rain babdly in 1st pic.

It´s easy. I have to get a bucket to take out half the water, then tip... But hubby can just lift it........and away goes the dirty water, a few buckets or a hose to fill it again....
I like it this way because there are no difficulties for them getting in and out.

 

[livininbrazil]

Looky what I got!!!!!!




PIEDS!!!! I decided to let them hatch indoors, rather than risk it with the geese. So, that´s two out of the four eggs and the other two eggs are rocking well. One´s externally pipped, hence the damp paper towel over it. These two have more of a saddle on them than the two that I lost, so I´d love one or two that have a little less marking on them, but if they come out alive and well, that´ll be just great. These will stay with me in the house during the night, and I´ll take them down for visits with their moms once they´re strong on their legs. I don´t want to risk losing any more.

 

[jtn42248]

Looky what I got!!!!!!




PIEDS!!!! I decided to let them hatch indoors, rather than risk it with the geese. So, that´s two out of the four eggs and the other two eggs are rocking well. One´s externally pipped, hence the damp paper towel over it. These two have more of a saddle on them than the two that I lost, so I´d love one or two that have a little less marking on them, but if they come out alive and well, that´ll be just great. These will stay with me in the house during the night, and I´ll take them down for visits with their moms once they´re strong on their legs. I don´t want to risk losing any more.

OMG!!! Livin pulls off another miracle. If you really don't like their markings just let me know and I will come get them and make Texans out of them in a heart beat.

 

[Miss Lydia]

OMG!!! Livin pulls off another miracle. If you really don't like their markings just let me know and I will come get them and make Texans out of them in a heart beat.

It would be a nice trip. yes she is very good at hatching goslings.