How do I take care of geese while I am away on vacation???

[tikirawker]

Hi, I live in a warmer climate but the grass still goes dormant in the winter.
What is the best way to take care of my geese for the week I am away?
I do not have anyone that I can count on while I am away - especially if the gander decides to establish dominance on some poor unsuspecting caretaker.
I think fresh water would be the most important as fatty could easily miss a meal and be ok.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

I would consider automatic feeders so you can fill it to what you would need for a week and an automatic waterer. As long as they can clean they're beaks and nostrils out and get clean water, they should be fine. They don't have to be able to swim in the water. I'd suggest something like one or two 55 gallon drums made into automatic waterers, depending on how many geese you have. I feel you on not having someone to watch them. I'd just make sure they are in a secure area and have a good shelter before leaving them. I'm not sure where you live so predators could be a problem, that's why I mentioned having the area secure as well.

 

[Leader Bee]

I have a similar question, but i think my choices would be much more limited given that I live in a very urban area with a small 300 square foot garden - I have found people on a pet goose group on facebook who i could take my boys to but maybe someone with more land, like yourself i'm presuming, could just fill up lots of water and lots of food and they'd be ok for a couple of days in a large enclosure?

not a chance with my boys.

 

[tikirawker]

I have a similar question, but i think my choices would be much more limited given that I live in a very urban area with a small 300 square foot garden - I have found people on a pet goose group on facebook who i could take my boys to but maybe someone with more land, like yourself i'm presuming, could just fill up lots of water and lots of food and they'd be ok for a couple of days in a large enclosure?

not a chance with my boys.

I live in a suburban neighborhood on a standard quarter acre lot. Right now my best idea is using a garden hose to an irrigation valve that I can put on a timer. I only have the two embdens and my yard is fenced.

 

[Goosebaby]

Definitly make sure they have access to food, it’s surprising how much weight they can lose, they can lose half their weight after just a few days of not eating.

 

[Iain Utah]

I posted a question on our local facebook community page, seeking a pet-sitter to feed our birds, pigs, etc. while we went on vacation last week, since my best friend, who usually house-sits for us, was unavailable. I was very surprised by the large amount of responses and options we had. The person we hired did a great job, and we had a wonderful trip.

As for water.... when we travel, we leave a spot sprinkler on in the yard, and never worry about water. For trips longer than 3 days, I'd probably set up an automatic timer for sprinkler.

 

[Leader Bee]

See i would be quite happy to leave them in their outdoor run with extra food and water for a day.. maybe two, except for the neighbors; Only at the beginning of the month did i have him pounding on my door shouting that he couldn't sleep because of them and that he would kill them....and today his wife was shouting out of their garden that "nobody wants to hear that and im a selfish man" So there's no chance id leave them outside, especially since theyd be out there overnight whereas they'd usually be brought in for the evening..either have to get someone who doesnt mind messy indoor birds or find aomeone who can foster them for a few days or weeks depending where id be going. Love my boys to bits but geese sure are more trouble than a pet dog would be!

 

[Ganspaar]

You have terrible neighbours!

 

[Leader Bee]

You have terrible neighbours!

You don't say!! I haven't heard from the council since February at least.

 

[Isadora]

You don't say!! I haven't heard from the council since February at least.

Glad I live rural enough that my geese noises don't bother anybody. They were fairly quiet until I hatched a couple babies this spring. Those babies, 5omths now, are very talkative. I feel like they're louder than my guineas, which is saying a lot.