I have to post this......

[BeckyBoo]

......because I cannot actually quite believe my eyes. Ok, so the goose weigh in - this is getting REALLY ridiculous. Hatched 17th May at 4oz each. Weighed 30th May - 1lb 4oz. Weighed today (that's 6 days later folks)........2lb 6oz. So a gain of 1lb 2oz each in 6 days - bloody hell, how big are these b*****s going to be??!!

Seeing as how they have a "Mum" albeit she's an Indian Game Bird chicken (and they're nearly as big as her!!) I have to say they are now really getting friendly. All stomach led obviously - they will run up the garden for a spinach leaf although they've yet to learn how to differentiate between fingers and green leaves

We are LOVING our goslings, Glorias foot (she was born with it curled over and walked on her ankle) is completely fixed and the only way to tell them apart is by staring at their toes!! (Like they stay still long enough!!) I'm marginally concerned about the amount they poo - they seem to have an infinite capacity to take a dump EVERYWHERE they go, but still really hoping we can manage to keep them in our back garden. It was hot here yesterday so we had our kids pool up - they had a great time in that!

Although only one of them dives, the other just likes to bob about up top.

Anyway, thanks again for all your advice on here guys, this is a STEEP learning curve

BeckyBoo

 

[trilyn]

Oh...that's cute! Pretty soon you'll be cruising the yard at night with your hose on full, blasting away at the poop piles. I know, I just did that last night! LOL I don't have geese, but I've got several broody hens and man..broody poops...ugh! LOL!! Have fun with your babies!!

 

[larkflying]

How fun . . . I love my geese, but they are so big at 6 weeks. Poor hen with the giant babies to take care of! What did she do when they were in the pool? I think my broody hens would have had panic attacks! We keep our ducks and geese far, far away from our house and anywhere we want to walk. They have a lovely fenced in orchard to live in right now . . . or at least they will when the last four are big enough.

 

[crj]

Since I seem to have a little of everything including a couple of horses a manure rake comes in extremely handy. Yep, I walk around with my wheelbarrow and pick up bird poop around the yard and then put it in the compose. Mind you, I already have horse manure in the wheelbarrow. It mixes well and it's great for any garden. Sometimes I'll pick up the bird poop and just fling it into a garden that I'm near which can make things easy

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Just think how much bigger geese are. They usually produce a pound of poop per day usually spead over a wide area. You haven't seen poop until you see broody goose poop. They usually do it a good distance from the nest though if they can they lnow it attracts preditors.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
I've been directly adding fresh manure in relatively small quantities around perennials, trees, and shrubs, and they love it.

Most of it is composted with the bedding, of course, which is also great.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

Quote:
Sounds like some 50s horror movie....eeewe, goose poop is bad enough without adding to it! I have a granite pea gravel yard for my one goose and 5 ducks and I use 1/4 inch hardware cloth to that I made into a 3 sided box (like a litter scooper) and I rake and scoop the yard for debris and poop every night or morning...All that fun goes into a compost pile for the garden. Stay on top of it if they are in a smaller area...if they are free range, fence off your high traffic areas because that is the LAST thing anybody wants to step in!

Blasting it with a hose didn't work for me because it made potential mud puddles for my fanatic ducks...they could filter mud and make holes all day and night without ceasing.