How long can geese survive without grass?

[Leader Bee]

I ask because I will be getting a pair of day old Toulouse in April and in the meantime I have been preparing the garden for a new lawn - It is currently covered in gravel with bare soil underneath which I will need to rotovate, plant seed on and then let grow (which i'm hoping I can manage in just over a month). Ideally The lawn will have sprouted within this timeframe but i've read that a lawn might not be fully established for potentially 3-4 months.

The goslings will be brooding inside with starter crumb for approximately 2 weeks which should give me roughly one and a half months to get some kind of lawn for them in place but I know that putting them straight onto a newly establishing lawn isn't going to do it any favours while it's still trying to grow properly. I'd like to be able to offer them grass as soon as practicable but I also want the lawn to be strong enough to support them grazing it too so they don't ruin it and run out.

Is it possible for me to keep geese off of grass for any length of time?

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

My geese have been off grass\ snow all winter. I feed them a regular all flock feed.

 

[Isaac 0]

Yes, They should be fine.

As a substitute, you could grow fodder for them inside the house. During the winter i give my geese ryegrass in a standard nursery flat. It will definitely depend on the weather/soil conditions to determine the rate the grass will establish, I would tug the tip of the grass every few weeks and if the roots don't come out with it it's ready for grazing.

 

[Leader Bee]

Yes, They should be fine.

Thank you,

I was concerned because all the literature i've been reading says at least 80% of their diet is grass and while I know I can feed them on a maintenance diet for a while I wasn't sure how healthy they'd be without getting grass at some point.

 

[DiYMama540]

X2 on both those answers! You will need to offer them the all flock pellet, with or without grass, so they will just consume more of that than usual while they're waiting on their yard to establish.
Ideally you'll want to keep them off the new grass completely until it is thick enough to be mowed. Their grazing, stomping, and pooping will ruin your chances of success otherwise.
Good luck!!

 

[DiYMama540]

I'm sure your neighbors wouldn't mind you mowing and bagging for them There's always that option to give them some greens! Or store bought goodies are appreciated as well.

 

[Leader Bee]

Ideally you'll want to keep them off the new grass completely until it is thick enough to be mowed. Their grazing, stomping, and pooping will ruin your chances of success otherwise.
Good luck!!
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I'm sure your neighbors wouldn't mind you mowing and bagging for them There's always that option to give them some greens! Or store bought goodies are appreciated as well.

Exactly what I was thinking @DiYMama540, although I did have the feeling that the poop would be a good fertilizer i kinda knew the stomping about would make it hard work to grow a lawn. As far as mowing the neighbours lawns, I had actually thought about asking for the cuttings (next door neighbour has a gardener) but I wasn't sure if i'd be left with huge amounts of dying grass they wouldn't eat?

 

[DiYMama540]

Possibly they wouldn't eat it all, just start with small amounts and see how it goes. Grass clippings get moldy pretty quickly
Another thing to keep in mind is the lawn should be untreated if you're feeding clippings...no weed or bug killer used on it.

 

[Leader Bee]

Ahh, I never thought of that, i'll ask the neighbour about any chemicals.

 

[Isaac 0]

Sorry, Should have added if you're lawn is fairly small you might want to let it get pretty thick or it will look like a herd of water buffalo passed through.