Leraje
Chirping
- Jun 4, 2020
- 43
- 54
- 59
Hello all,
if you've seen my intro post: since about 5 weeks we've been the adoptive parents of 2 goslings. Things are going great so far (though unfortunately once they can fly they need to leave us, since we don't have the space for geese in our small backyard ). So far, this site and forum has been pretty helpful in answering my questions!
I've got one today though that I hope I can find some answers for. The goslings are now about 6 weeks and they're pretty thoroughly feathered already: chest is completely in, wings are growing at an amazing speed, etc. Pretty much only part of the neck, and a bit of the back are still just down. I'll attach a recent picture that'll hopefully give you an idea.
Now the weather the past couple of weeks has been amazing here; mostly above 20 degrees C (70 Fahrentheit) during the day. So they've been out very regularly since the start, and they've been out full days for weeks already, becoming less and less dependent on our presence in the garden. They've been sleeping inside (in the house) since the beginning, but last week they really outgrew their box and so they've moved into the shed since this weekend.
So that's all fine, however, today the weather has turned. It's not really cold yet (around 16 degrees Celsius, which a converter tells me is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit), but we've got rain off and on.
The goslings have got a dry place in the garden (on the grass though, not a coup or something, just a roof and two walls), but I haven't seen them use it yet. They haven't seen rain until today, and they spent a while just staring up at the sky going 'huhhhhh?' I'm not sure if they realise they can stay dry if they want to. I'm not sure if they want to, either.
So basically I'm not sure if I should just let them be outside, or put them in the shed, where they're dry - but that's their night time sleeping place; they can't browse or eat or drink there or anything, we've got no space for that.
Any ideas/tips? They're used to swimming, they don't sink, and they've spent a lot of time in the water up until now, more and more since they're feathers have started growing in - but obviously, it's been warm.
I'd love to hear from more experienced goose keepers!
if you've seen my intro post: since about 5 weeks we've been the adoptive parents of 2 goslings. Things are going great so far (though unfortunately once they can fly they need to leave us, since we don't have the space for geese in our small backyard ). So far, this site and forum has been pretty helpful in answering my questions!
I've got one today though that I hope I can find some answers for. The goslings are now about 6 weeks and they're pretty thoroughly feathered already: chest is completely in, wings are growing at an amazing speed, etc. Pretty much only part of the neck, and a bit of the back are still just down. I'll attach a recent picture that'll hopefully give you an idea.
Now the weather the past couple of weeks has been amazing here; mostly above 20 degrees C (70 Fahrentheit) during the day. So they've been out very regularly since the start, and they've been out full days for weeks already, becoming less and less dependent on our presence in the garden. They've been sleeping inside (in the house) since the beginning, but last week they really outgrew their box and so they've moved into the shed since this weekend.
So that's all fine, however, today the weather has turned. It's not really cold yet (around 16 degrees Celsius, which a converter tells me is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit), but we've got rain off and on.
The goslings have got a dry place in the garden (on the grass though, not a coup or something, just a roof and two walls), but I haven't seen them use it yet. They haven't seen rain until today, and they spent a while just staring up at the sky going 'huhhhhh?' I'm not sure if they realise they can stay dry if they want to. I'm not sure if they want to, either.
So basically I'm not sure if I should just let them be outside, or put them in the shed, where they're dry - but that's their night time sleeping place; they can't browse or eat or drink there or anything, we've got no space for that.
Any ideas/tips? They're used to swimming, they don't sink, and they've spent a lot of time in the water up until now, more and more since they're feathers have started growing in - but obviously, it's been warm.
I'd love to hear from more experienced goose keepers!