How Do You House Your Geese?

[The Dim Side]

A problem with mine is that he hates change. I do too, so I don't judge him too harshly, but it makes growing housing with him a challenge. He is really too big for his tote now, but I tried moving him to a roomier crate and he freaked. He'll actually run down the hall into "his room" and try to jump in his tote because he wants it over something else. I have finally gotten him adjusted to a play pen but having a 5'x5' pen in the middle of the room is not always convenient. I would prefer to just have him loose but our efforts with the diapers have NOT gone well.

Yeah! Now that our chicks are outside in their coop, we just moved the goslings from one room to the mud room in the back (they were all sharing a spare room). It's the same pen and same toys and bowls of water and food, but they are not at all happy, lol. They're crying a lot right now and calm down when I'm in there holding them, so hopefully they figure out that it's okay. I wanted to do diapers before, too, but when I tried when the first one was smaller using some homemade stuff, it just kept slipping off and stuff.

 

[The Dim Side]

View attachment 2652901
This is what my husband built for our geese. Movable hoop coop. Ideally we want to put wheels under it at some point so it's easier to move, but right now we just pin up the hardware cloth that's on the sides and drag it.

That's awesome! Thank you for the photo! We've been talking about potentially having a mobile goose coop to go with our chicken one, but we're still not sure yet. Since the geese are currently easier to herd, we were thinking we could just lead them to a permanent place at bedtime. Honestly, if it were up to me where I didn't need to co-decide with my boyfriend, I'd just keep them in the pen in our mud room, lol. We just moved them to that room though, so they're freaking out quite a bit right now.

 

[BrandySC]

View attachment 2652901
This is what my husband built for our geese. Movable hoop coop. Ideally we want to put wheels under it at some point so it's easier to move, but right now we just pin up the hardware cloth that's on the sides and drag it.

That's lovely!

 

[The Dim Side]

Mine are tucked away in a secure wood coop with hardware cloth covering the floor and the windows that are towards the top for ventilation. If I could go back I would put linoleum on the flooring. I then do a layer of barn lime, horse pellets, and then large flake pine shavings. The window coverings are taken off in the summer and there are windows on the back. They hop right in at night...well my gander needs a push on the bum, but before he became all hormonal he went right in.

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Hi, again! I had a question about your coop now that we're in the process of building a new one (they actually have just been living in the mudroom this whole time, lol). Since you have the windows covered when it's not summer, is ventilation an issue? We have an A-frame since we were just using the wood we already have (it's so expensive right now!) but aren't sure how much ventilation to put in there for them. Right now, it just has it at the tops of the A's on the two sides, and I worry that it isn't enough. So we're also considering just making one A side all hardware cloth but aren't sure if that'd be too drafty, haha.

 

[3xhhheather]

Hi, again! I had a question about your coop now that we're in the process of building a new one (they actually have just been living in the mudroom this whole time, lol). Since you have the windows covered when it's not summer, is ventilation an issue? We have an A-frame since we were just using the wood we already have (it's so expensive right now!) but aren't sure how much ventilation to put in there for them. Right now, it just has it at the tops of the A's on the two sides, and I worry that it isn't enough. So we're also considering just making one A side all hardware cloth but aren't sure if that'd be too drafty, haha.

They're not totally covered, I used old beehive trays for it so it's like a smaller rectangle inside a larger one (the window) lol just enough to block the cold winds but allow for ventilation.

If you go the route of all hardware cloth on one side, I would have some boards that provide visual protection, something for them to nuzzle up against. In the winter you could always put thick plastic over most of that side and leave the very top open for ventilation.

 

[The Dim Side]

They're not totally covered, I used old beehive trays for it so it's like a smaller rectangle inside a larger one (the window) lol just enough to block the cold winds but allow for ventilation.

If you go the route of all hardware cloth on one side, I would have some boards that provide visual protection, something for them to nuzzle up against. In the winter you could always put thick plastic over most of that side and leave the very top open for ventilation.

Thank you! So I think we'll have the upper parts that will be hardware cloth with the lower half being wood for more protection. And roofing panel that will stick out enough to hopefully keep out some rain. I just want to make sure we don't suffocate them, haha. I think BF also wants to make one edge of the floor hardware cloth for ease of cleaning out the poop. Easier to sweep it out, lol. And the rest linoleum with straw or hay for bedding, I think. It'll be raised a few inches off the ground on wheels, too.