Goslings of 2014 Hatch-a-long

[andreacroyle]

Quote: is the boot he is wearing the one that is on his page? or is it a new one? does the vet make it or have it made by a company?


that is sad about your geese. the guy was probably too embarrassed to call you. I have been scared about that too if we ever hatch ducklings I would have a real hard time letting them go to a new home.

Glad it ended happy though!

 

[livininbrazil]

Until I catch the killer cat my ladies will also be put up early. I don't understand why the cat got the duck instead of a chicken, but he did. We don't have any predators besides a bunch of stray cats and dogs. I think the strays keep the coyotes, raccoons, possum, and skunk out of the neighborhood. We see road kill and hear the coyotes but they haven't come into the neighborhood in 20 years since the stray population got out of control. Plus, if a raccoon had gotten into the yard, I would have had more dead and injured birds, not just the 1.

I did catch a tiny female kitten in the trap I baited for tomcat. I contacted a cat rescue group I have worked with in the past, and am fostering her for them. I have decided to call the kitten Ivory to honor Ivory duck's life and because of the timing. Ivory kitty has a vet appointment Wednesday. This is the new Ivory.

Obviously not a feral, then, she´s used to people.

 

[andreacroyle]

Some pics I took today:

LB, I love the way the Pil moms are looking at you in the pic! the normandy mom is soo pretty!

We are very lucky to have you on BYC because with you in the Southern Hemisphere we are able to have a year-round gosling experience.

I agree! The people on this thread have helped me out so much! I am very thankful to have found this thread with the great people that are on it.

Here's my geese today

Nate ,your geese are so cute! I love the pic where they have their neck crossed. It made me think of that other pic you posted of the "pencil necks" . =)

My 1 gander is doing his best to oblige his 7 ladies, however there will be no gozzies in their immediate future, we found Ivory duck dead last night and I believe it was from a large manx tomcat I saw trying to get into the goose coop 5 days ago. I believe the attack happened at dusk as everyone was heading to their coop. Ivory's body was found 5 feet from the coop under the garden shed. Until the ladies nest in the coop I can't risk their safety. I will still order some eggs to hatch next spring, but I will most likely use my incubator to hatch them. I am baiting a trap to try and catch the killer and get rid of him.

That is sad about your duck. I hope you find a way to keep them safe at night and catch the killer. The new kitten looks very nice for a feral. our Florida feral cats could never be touched, they are flat out wild animals. they have colonies around here where groups of people catch them tag them by snipping off a corner of their ear, get them fixed then release them. we have so many predators in my area that if i left my birds out passed dusk they would not make it. I love your dog pics! I wanted to train my dog like that when i was younger but i never gave myself the time. it is a lot of dedication.


@livininbrazil
see the way his neck is? I trained them to run across the yard when i call "OLLIE". so now he will run up to me with this posture and demand food from the jug i am holding! this is about as close as he is allowed to get to her.


this is Ollie and the ducks running across the yard. I turned it into a game and they really enjoyed finding me and running to the food!

Ollie

the girls talking and drinking
FYI. It is weird for me to leave the grass long for the birds. it scares me that snakes will hide in it. but the birds love the grass.

 

[Starfire669]

Obviously not a feral, then, she´s used to people.

She is a born feral. She never had physical contact with people before I caught her. At most she watched a person put food down. She scratched and bite the heck out of me yesterday. She is scared of her food and water dish, plastic bags and lots of other things. But she is young, show her kindness and she will tame down. I spend hours with her wrapped in a towel on my lap just holding and petting her. It will take time but she will settle down and be a great pet for someone.

 

[Starfire669]

@andreacroyle normally the strays stay away from my yard, I have hit the dogs with baseball bats for cornering Patches, my outside mouser in my yard. I found and fixed how the dogs were getting in, and haven't had a problem with them for a long time. The cats usually steer clear of the flock, I set food out on the porch for them and feed them. But people keep dumping more cats and every once in a while a cat is just too aggressive or too starved. I think that this Manx is a bit of both. I saw him fighting Patches for her food, and then a day later he was at the goose coop. I have no choice but to either trap and relocate him or shoot him. Sad that he has to pay for his owners mistakes.

Thanks, we got started in agility because my Siberian Huskies needed more exercise than just a walk, my house was in danger of being torn apart. That turned into obedience work first as agility is done off leash and they must obey. We are still beginners, sometimes the dogs just get the zoomies, where they run as fast as they an and hurdle each other. But Dawn can do all obstacles off leash at a slow trot, it's when she runs that her brain shuts off, lol. Sasha is better at faster speeds, but is unsure of the bigger obstacles. It definitely takes time, and lots of it. I have some basic jumps I made for practice here at home. Eventually my pup Phantom will join Dawn and Sasha as agility demo dogs on the team, and Rascal, my Belgian Malinois, may end up doing high level obedience work. Only time will tell. Sasha and Dawn have another demo today, it's a charity for homeless animals.

 

[andreacroyle]

@andreacroyle normally the strays stay away from my yard, I have hit the dogs with baseball bats for cornering Patches, my outside mouser in my yard. I found and fixed how the dogs were getting in, and haven't had a problem with them for a long time. The cats usually steer clear of the flock, I set food out on the porch for them and feed them. But people keep dumping more cats and every once in a while a cat is just too aggressive or too starved. I think that this Manx is a bit of both. I saw him fighting Patches for her food, and then a day later he was at the goose coop. I have no choice but to either trap and relocate him or shoot him. Sad that he has to pay for his owners mistakes.

Thanks, we got started in agility because my Siberian Huskies needed more exercise than just a walk, my house was in danger of being torn apart. That turned into obedience work first as agility is done off leash and they must obey. We are still beginners, sometimes the dogs just get the zoomies, where they run as fast as they an and hurdle each other. But Dawn can do all obstacles off leash at a slow trot, it's when she runs that her brain shuts off, lol. Sasha is better at faster speeds, but is unsure of the bigger obstacles. It definitely takes time, and lots of it. I have some basic jumps I made for practice here at home. Eventually my pup Phantom will join Dawn and Sasha as agility demo dogs on the team, and Rascal, my Belgian Malinois, may end up doing high level obedience work. Only time will tell. Sasha and Dawn have another demo today, it's a charity for homeless animals.

Why would you shoot him when your not even sure it was him? i dont know where you live , but there are programs in my start for spay/neuter and trapping of ferals. so with some digging you can probably find resources for those cats as well.
its really cool what your dogs can do.

 

[nate1the1great1]

LB, I love the way the Pil moms are looking at you in the pic! the normandy mom is soo pretty! I agree! The people on this thread have helped me out so much! I am very thankful to have found this thread with the great people that are on it. Nate ,your geese are so cute! I love the pic where they have their neck crossed. It made me think of that other pic you posted of the "pencil necks" . =) That is sad about your duck. I hope you find a way to keep them safe at night and catch the killer. The new kitten looks very nice for a feral. our Florida feral cats could never be touched, they are flat out wild animals. they have colonies around here where groups of people catch them tag them by snipping off a corner of their ear, get them fixed then release them. we have so many predators in my area that if i left my birds out passed dusk they would not make it. I love your dog pics! I wanted to train my dog like that when i was younger but i never gave myself the time. it is a lot of dedication. @livininbrazil see the way his neck is? I trained them to run across the yard when i call "OLLIE". so now he will run up to me with this posture and demand food from the jug i am holding! this is about as close as he is allowed to get to her. this is Ollie and the ducks running across the yard. I turned it into a game and they really enjoyed finding me and running to the food! Ollie the girls talking and drinking FYI. It is weird for me to leave the grass long for the birds. it scares me that snakes will hide in it. but the birds love the grass.

All 69 of my birds go outside into our field and eat and its a hay field so during the summer its 1 to 2 feet tall and they love it probably bc there is ALOT of tarantulas out in our fiels and yard but they have a 10 acre hay field and 2 more acres of shade and dirt lol

and thanks about my geese i FINALLY got them to hand feed its fun but hey eat more fingers and skin then the feed they just chow down a gallon of feed lol since i free range mine they dont get a whole lot but when they do OMG

BUT MINE all come to me when i call HEY CHICKS!!

 

[Starfire669]

Why would you shoot him when your not even sure it was him?  i dont know where you live , but there are programs in my start for spay/neuter and trapping of ferals. so with some digging you can probably find resources for those cats as well. 
its really cool what  your dogs can do.  

I saw the Manx tomcat trying to break into the coop, and he was beating up my cat Patches for her food. He is just too mean to stay, I am looking for a new home for him. I do trap, neuter, and release cats, but some are just too aggressive.

 

[Iain Utah]

J thank goodness dh saw that ad and you got them back. as for all the others well what can we say you all just have the special touch glad they have all recovered.

Thanks, P!

I remember you mentioning them some time back. Glad you got them back ok. Sounds like they were neglected rather than badly treated, so that´s something. Well done to hubby! Sounds like mine. These sneaking suspicions have to be taken notice of, eh?
So, would grabbing a chicken by the neck and trying to throttle it be a subtle difference you´re thinking of?

I have noticed, too, that the bonds the males make are very strong. I have 2 pairs of males that share one female! Sometimes the males mount each other, which ends in a little altercation, but never anything serious. so funny. Sometimes they´re so busy out-stepping, out-gliding, out-'look-at-me-how-elegant-can-you-get"ing each other, that the female gets neglected!
Good news on the other birds too, especially Spirit.

And my little goose has now adopted the imprinted goslings too, although they´re still getting used to her, but I put them out there with her and the 3 tinies this morning, and I´ve hardly ehard a peep, so they must be fine with her. Tongiht I´ll see if they go to her for warmth. If so, then we´re sorted.

She´s going to be a very useful goose.

Thanks, LB. My hubby is simply wonderful!

As for grabbing chicken by the neck.... I don't know if that is what I meant, especially since I have a female dewlap that cannot be trusted near babies. If you recall, it was a female that injured my scovy duckling a couple of weeks ago. I mean more that the ganders will stick closer to the girls, will more readily share the kiddy pool with them, and seem more gentle with them.

Congrats on the successful adoption of the goslings! It makes life much easier when the geese/ducks raise the babies instead of us humans.

First one hatched some time yesterday... and it looks like it might be a boy!!!

I really need some boys as by gander to goose ratio is way off!

Congrats!!

is the boot he is wearing the one that is on his page? or is it a new one? does the vet make it or have it made by a company?


that is sad about your geese. the guy was probably too embarrassed to call you. I have been scared about that too if we ever hatch ducklings I would have a real hard time letting them go to a new home.

Glad it ended happy though!

Not sure if I have a picture of his boot. My vet made it with a type of casting mold material that gets heated up to make it ply-able, then pressed against foot to get an exact mold. Once cooled, it turns quite solid. Then the center was cut out to relieve pressure off center of foot. It gets attached with vet wrap.

The main downside to the boot is it feels very heavy, like a paperweight. So, I have been wanting to try to fabricate a shoe from a hiking boot. One of these days I'll have the time to work on that and will let you know how it turns out.

 

[livininbrazil]

Thanks, P!


Thanks, LB. My hubby is simply wonderful!

As for grabbing chicken by the neck.... I don't know if that is what I meant, especially since I have a female dewlap that cannot be trusted near babies. If you recall, it was a female that injured my scovy duckling a couple of weeks ago. I mean more that the ganders will stick closer to the girls, will more readily share the kiddy pool with them, and seem more gentle with them.

Congrats on the successful adoption of the goslings! It makes life much easier when the geese/ducks raise the babies instead of us humans.

Haha, the refrence to the chicken was because of what MLyd said...I´ll try to find her post, then you´ll see what I meant.

...about one of her goslings getting a chicken....