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Mike, your geese will make their own nests. Sebbies will even share their nests with each other. Also, you don't really have to separate them if you don't want to. Personally, I separate mine for a couple of reasons: (1) I don't want my males to be fiercely fighting each other. I've spent way to much money on them to have them hurt or kill each other. Like roosters, the ganders will sometimes fight to the death over a female. (2) I sometimes want to breed for certain traits and don't want other ganders to interfere with the mating. For example: if I'm wanting to breed for buff saddlebacks I don't want my white ganders interfering. With regard to the nest boxes, last year I used a couple of medium sized dog houses that I had around. That worked great! One of my geese had made her nest on the ground so I simply put her nest in the doghouse and she seemed to appreciate that and used it ever since. Because of their curly feathers, Sebbies do actually get cold, therefore, I think it's a good idea to give the females some protection from the elements while they're laying.
Yes Mike, they will make their own nests. The problem is that with young geese, you will be really surprised at what they deem to be appropriate nesting areas!
Mine layed all over their pen for the first few weeks until I convinced them to use a proper nest. They then decided that they should share the nest, so I had no clue who layed what!
I just try to find a corner of the barn, an old dog house, or a plastic drum that I bed down with hay. I was going to try to separate my geese into pairs this year, but I decided just to let them stay as a flock for breeding season (unless someone decides to be ugly and needs separating). My geese are all white, blue, or gray in varying patterns. I expect a really nice mix of white, splash, saddleback, and solid blue/gray.
There is nothing better than a bunch of goslings following you around the yard!
