Impulse buy

[docdubz]

I was thinking about getting geese for a while and when I saw that the spring day olds were selling out quick I threw down my wallet and ordered 7 embdens (3 female, 4 straight run). I haven't really seen anything online about keeping them that goes into more detail than "they are great". So I have a couple of questions.

They are coming in april and I'm in central Texas so I'll be brooding them outside with a brinsea heater. Should this be fine or are young geese more delicate than chickens?

I should have plenty for them to forage when they are older but what should I be feeding them when they are still gosling's?

If they are penned in a specific area of the property while they are young will they tend to keep near that area once allowed to free range (I've found that this is true for ducks, wondering if it's true for geese too)?

What should I expect as far as aggression goes? Are they like wild geese in how they will sometimes seek out a confrontation or is it more that if you give them enough space they won't try to attack? Basically do I need to fence them out of where my children play?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Is your heater a heat plate? Geese grow quickly and can quickly outgrow a plate. I used a heat lamp for a very short time with mine. They are very hardy.

I raised mine on Purina flock raiser and increasing amounts of greens and grass.

I personally like mine fenced in. They poop a lot, and it's big. They also fiddle with all kinds of things and I've read they can chew through wires. I don't have any free ranging experience past a few escapes out of them. They share a pasture with my goats. One time during an escape they were at my well trying to chew through the plastic support wire.

Mine didn't show any aggression until breeding season the following year. Than the females got loud, and rowdy. They were also protective over their eggs. I'm soon to find out about gander aggression. This will be my first spring with an adult male.

 

[docdubz]

Is your heater a heat plate? Geese grow quickly and can quickly outgrow a plate. I used a heat lamp for a very short time with mine. They are very hardy.

I raised mine on Purina flock raiser and increasing amounts of greens and grass.

I personally like mine fenced in. They poop a lot, and it's big. They also fiddle with all kinds of things and I've read they can chew through wires. I don't have any free ranging experience past a few escapes out of them. They share a pasture with my goats. One time during an escape they were at my well trying to chew through the plastic support wire.

Mine didn't show any aggression until breeding season the following year. Than the females got loud, and rowdy. They were also protective over their eggs. I'm soon to find out about gander aggression. This will be my first spring with an adult male.

Yea it's the bigger one of the brooder heat plates that brinsea sells. I was going to rig it up to a chain so I can hang it so I can use it for an extra week or two. I really don't like using the lights because I've noticed many differences in health and temperament between the chicks I've brooded under lamps vs without light.

I never heard about them damaging wires thats crazy.

 

[farout75]

I was thinking about getting geese for a while and when I saw that the spring day olds were selling out quick I threw down my wallet and ordered 7 embdens (3 female, 4 straight run). I haven't really seen anything online about keeping them that goes into more detail than "they are great". So I have a couple of questions.

They are coming in april and I'm in central Texas so I'll be brooding them outside with a brinsea heater. Should this be fine or are young geese more delicate than chickens?

I should have plenty for them to forage when they are older but what should I be feeding them when they are still gosling's?

If they are penned in a specific area of the property while they are young will they tend to keep near that area once allowed to free range (I've found that this is true for ducks, wondering if it's true for geese too)?

What should I expect as far as aggression goes? Are they like wild geese in how they will sometimes seek out a confrontation or is it more that if you give them enough space they won't try to attack? Basically do I need to fence them out of where my children play?

Finding Geese is very difficult right now. We live in Missouri, and we called just about every hatchery that sells Pilgrim Geese, but can only be put on a waiting list We finally found a place in CA that had Embdens and ordered 2 hens and one male. So we consider ourselves blessed. (we hope) They are due to be shipped Apri; 19th. I have made an enclosed run 8' x 24' and 6.5' tall. It's been a real hard job making it sturdy and that will last as long as I live.

Now I sure hope that we can trust these geese once grown up to stay close to the run and their house. We tried Guinea hens about 12 years ago and they got in the tree tops and that was the last we saw of them.

I hope your geese do well for you, and you are not alone in this new venture. Good luck.

 

[3xhhheather]

I picked up my goslings mid June last year (in NC) and in under a month they weren’t using the heater. I still left it in there, just in case, but once they started sitting on it/pooping all over it I took it out.

The best quality food would be Mazuri, it’s a bit pricey and other forms of duck/all flock feed can work you’ll just have to make sure you’re supplementing it with things like kelp and B vitamins or you can end up with leg issues.

Other things to keep an eye on are protein levels, you’ll want to taper them as they grow (to avoid leg issues & angel wing), but then can bump back up once they’re adults.

My geese are only let out supervised because they will 100% wander. Strange noise? Must investigate.

Aggression is an individual thing, my gander will occasionally go after me, typically in the mornings or when I’m trying to put him up, but 9/10 he’s sweet and follows me around chattering. He hates my partner and will seek confrontation. I’ve read that the first breeding season is typically the worst (and then before that you have pairing season, so like a preview of what’s to come), and then each year after they mellow out. Not sure if that’s all true though.