Sandra Hender
Hatching
- Dec 17, 2017
- 1
- 1
- 2
View attachment 1211642 HELLO! My name is Sandra Hender. I live in South Buffalo, NY and am desperate for help with a female Domestic Goose that I've named "Betty".
Betty has been coming here for the past 8 years or so and in the Winter always disappeared...until last Winter. I don't know what to do for a shelter for her. I am not able to build anything as I simply don't know HOW. My husband and I both have disabilities, and he has only very basic knowledge when it comes to building a structure. He has no idea of what or how to make something she will likely be inclined to use. What do geese like Betty do in the winter months? I had asked a local pet shop owner and he just laughed and stuck his head under his arm, and said THAT is what they do. I didn't think his response was funny at all. I have looked on Amazon but all I can ever find are rabbit hutches and they don't look to me like they would keep out the cold as they are mostly made out of wire.
Betty used to have a mate; but something must have happened to him because only she comes around now, except in Spring, Summer and Fall when the Canadian geese are here. Then all disappear in the Winter, but Betty stays here, somewhere.
I just went outside awhile ago...there is about a foot of snow on the ground and Betty actually walked up to my back steps. I had not seen her for a few days; and figured she must be hungry so went to the shed and scooped out a container of corn that we buy from Amazon for her. She was very hungry. I give her fresh wheat bread as a treat now and then as I heard that bread as a steady diet is NOT GOOD to feed geese.
I would LOVE to let Betty in my house except I wouldn't know what to do about potty issues. I doubt they can be housebroken, lol. Not only that, we have dogs and they would go berserk as two of them are bird dogs. We also have two cats, three parakeets, two hamsters, a "betta", two gold fish, and a 45 gallon tank of tropical fish.
As you can see, we both love animals. I mainly joined this group as I am desperate for help with Betty. I don't know WHERE to find a shelter that she will use...can anyone tell me what or how to do this? I can't stand seeing her outside in the snow. Last winter, I found an old beat up wooden box but it was too small I think. It is only about 4 feet long by 2 feet high and one side completely open. I had no straw, nor do I know where to buy any. I put an old heavy blanket inside and faced the box so the back was against the wind. She never went in it; I would think it was just too small for her to enter.
Next to our shed outside, there is an old beat up boat that a former friend had obtained from my neighbor and he had nowhere to keep it so we allowed him to keep it on our property. It is far too heavy for either of us to move it; I had thoughts of turning it upside down or even on its side to try to make some sort of crude structure but it sits on that thing that is used to drag boats behind a car, and we cannot move it at all. The guy we let keep it here....we had a severe "falling out" and he refused to get it off our property.
There is a creek or more like a lake that runs behind our house; that must be where all the ducks come from in the summer and Betty is always in the water then. It is actually called "Cazenovia Creek and it turns into, or runs into the "Buffalo River". It is too huge to be called a creek in my opinion. If I could, I would shove that boat down the embankment and let it float away, if it can't be used to shelter Betty. As you can see, I am desperate for ideas to keep her warm in winter.
If anyone can help me, I would really appreciate it.
If it's ok, I will tell you a bit more about my husband and myself. Charlie works at HSBC in the security department. He is a manager on the second shift. I have not worked since 1999 when my MD had me put on permanent DBL. My biggest and most favorite hobbies are writing, sky watching, and pencil/charcoal sketching. I have dabbled in watercolors, acrylics too. I love writing. I mostly write poetry; some of which has been published. I am an animal rights activist; and support several animal charities; mostly dogs and cats though I love ALL animals, domestic as well as wild. I also crochet and sew, sew, and sew! The sewing I do is mostly making the famous Raggedy Ann dolls. The faces on my dolls are all hand embroidered. I also make the long eared bunnies. All of the curtains in our home have been made by me. Curtains are simple to run up on a sewing machine.
That's about it for now; if anyone can help me with Betty, I would really appreciate it. I'd like to show pics of my dogs, but don't know if that is ok to do on this site? I am looking for the guidelines but haven't fount them as of yet.
Anyway, thanks for listening and hope to find a solution for my little Betty.
Betty has been coming here for the past 8 years or so and in the Winter always disappeared...until last Winter. I don't know what to do for a shelter for her. I am not able to build anything as I simply don't know HOW. My husband and I both have disabilities, and he has only very basic knowledge when it comes to building a structure. He has no idea of what or how to make something she will likely be inclined to use. What do geese like Betty do in the winter months? I had asked a local pet shop owner and he just laughed and stuck his head under his arm, and said THAT is what they do. I didn't think his response was funny at all. I have looked on Amazon but all I can ever find are rabbit hutches and they don't look to me like they would keep out the cold as they are mostly made out of wire.
Betty used to have a mate; but something must have happened to him because only she comes around now, except in Spring, Summer and Fall when the Canadian geese are here. Then all disappear in the Winter, but Betty stays here, somewhere.
I just went outside awhile ago...there is about a foot of snow on the ground and Betty actually walked up to my back steps. I had not seen her for a few days; and figured she must be hungry so went to the shed and scooped out a container of corn that we buy from Amazon for her. She was very hungry. I give her fresh wheat bread as a treat now and then as I heard that bread as a steady diet is NOT GOOD to feed geese.
I would LOVE to let Betty in my house except I wouldn't know what to do about potty issues. I doubt they can be housebroken, lol. Not only that, we have dogs and they would go berserk as two of them are bird dogs. We also have two cats, three parakeets, two hamsters, a "betta", two gold fish, and a 45 gallon tank of tropical fish.
As you can see, we both love animals. I mainly joined this group as I am desperate for help with Betty. I don't know WHERE to find a shelter that she will use...can anyone tell me what or how to do this? I can't stand seeing her outside in the snow. Last winter, I found an old beat up wooden box but it was too small I think. It is only about 4 feet long by 2 feet high and one side completely open. I had no straw, nor do I know where to buy any. I put an old heavy blanket inside and faced the box so the back was against the wind. She never went in it; I would think it was just too small for her to enter.
Next to our shed outside, there is an old beat up boat that a former friend had obtained from my neighbor and he had nowhere to keep it so we allowed him to keep it on our property. It is far too heavy for either of us to move it; I had thoughts of turning it upside down or even on its side to try to make some sort of crude structure but it sits on that thing that is used to drag boats behind a car, and we cannot move it at all. The guy we let keep it here....we had a severe "falling out" and he refused to get it off our property.
There is a creek or more like a lake that runs behind our house; that must be where all the ducks come from in the summer and Betty is always in the water then. It is actually called "Cazenovia Creek and it turns into, or runs into the "Buffalo River". It is too huge to be called a creek in my opinion. If I could, I would shove that boat down the embankment and let it float away, if it can't be used to shelter Betty. As you can see, I am desperate for ideas to keep her warm in winter.
If anyone can help me, I would really appreciate it.
If it's ok, I will tell you a bit more about my husband and myself. Charlie works at HSBC in the security department. He is a manager on the second shift. I have not worked since 1999 when my MD had me put on permanent DBL. My biggest and most favorite hobbies are writing, sky watching, and pencil/charcoal sketching. I have dabbled in watercolors, acrylics too. I love writing. I mostly write poetry; some of which has been published. I am an animal rights activist; and support several animal charities; mostly dogs and cats though I love ALL animals, domestic as well as wild. I also crochet and sew, sew, and sew! The sewing I do is mostly making the famous Raggedy Ann dolls. The faces on my dolls are all hand embroidered. I also make the long eared bunnies. All of the curtains in our home have been made by me. Curtains are simple to run up on a sewing machine.
That's about it for now; if anyone can help me with Betty, I would really appreciate it. I'd like to show pics of my dogs, but don't know if that is ok to do on this site? I am looking for the guidelines but haven't fount them as of yet.
Anyway, thanks for listening and hope to find a solution for my little Betty.
