INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Look at this! I wasn't expecting anything until spring! My muscovies are just now 6 months. @Nyla

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Awesomeness! I had a very early layer the 3rd year I had Muscovy, the weather was mild that year. March hatches were laying in September!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Awesomeness! I had a very early layer the 3rd year I had Muscovy, the weather was mild that year. March hatches were laying in September!

Do you think all 3 will lay?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Do you think all 3 will lay?

Its very possible! We had a mild late winter, early spring this year.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

If anyone is considering "guard geese" next spring, I am going to be purchasing goslings as soon as they are available. I attempted to this year but Meyer had a shortage on the last hatches, cancelled my order. I think they begin offering them in March. All but 1 of my hens no longer lay, so its time I add new birds. Geese help keep your flocks safe by warding off areal predators, owl and hawk. My Vet buys all my goslings and uses them in his organic poultry operations. He raises a few thousand pastured poultry and waterfowl for farmers market (turkey, chicken and duck) and keeps the geese year around. They are behind electric netting and have a huge pond included in the pasture rotation.. His only loss issue was hawks and owls prior, now its near zero loss the last 4 years.
Let me be clear, geese are no match for a coyote, large dog or other large predators. Birds of prey do not mess with them because they flog, bite and twist and can be pretty aggressive. I have yet to lose a goose to a skunk, raccoon or other small predator species. A fox will take a young unattended gosling.
I keep Brown Chinese. They are a smaller breed goose, still quite tall and a large wingspan.. Also know as weeder geese, they free range and turn their bill away from feed in the spring thru fall. And most prolific layer, very talkative and more social than some other goose breeds are. Most folks only keep 2 or 3 at most, and I know I will fill the minimum shipping limit of 8 myself. This will be a chance for you to add a pair or more without the shipping fees. Gosling prices start around $15 each, they can live up to 20 years. My oldest fella Gee will be 7 in March. Dad had 2 hens over 20 years old.

 

[JanetMarie]

My Chinese goose eats mostly grain, and now quite a bit of dirt, as in soil. I think she's not well. My Cotton Patch gander is very good at grazing.

I would like to find a female Cotton Patch. I had a female Cotton Patch gosling reserved (on a waiting list) from a breeder in Michigan, but haven't heard anything from them, and they haven't responded to my e-mail.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000
Could you give us some "Goose 101"?

-Do they coop with the chickens or need separate housing?
-If they can house with the chickens, do they roost? If not, where do they sleep?
-Do they eat the same feed as the chickens?
-Can you have just one with a flock of chickens...or do you need to have at least 2?

 

[JanetMarie]

Heard from the Cotton Patch breeder, because I e-mailed again. They didn't have a good year. The wait may be a long time. Has to be a female, so I think hatching eggs are out.

Goose hatching eggs are almost always damaged during shipping though, and it doesn't matter how good they are packaged. It's the size of the egg, with everything sloshing around inside during shipment.

 

[JanetMarie]

Here's Wilbur napping beside his wheelbarrow. He stays by it a good majority of the time.

@jchny2000 Do any of your geese get attached to things?

 

[Leahs Mom]

@JanetMarie
You can answer the goose 101 questions too

 

[Faraday40]

Here's Wilbur napping beside his wheelbarrow. He stays by it a good majority of the time.

@jchny2000 Do any of your geese get attached to things?
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I've had incubator chicks spend too much time by their thermometer mother, but never an adult bird.
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Let me correct myself to say that I do have Orpingtons. They are very attached to their red food bowl.