Mods- please move to "Geese"?- Growing Goslings!

[chickenlisa]

Thank you Omni...
I'm going to print out your info. I wish I had known about calm babies not being normal yesterday morning. We thought it just had a more docile personality. We loved it especially because of its sweet face and smaller size. The others all have that too though, but are spazolas...I may have to pick S names for them because 1 of them is especially spazzy! We'll see. I sure hope they didn't send me 4 boys and 1 girl. Can a hatchery do that by mistake? Will they fix it somehow if that's what happened? How long until I know for sure?I wrote to Ideal about it and we are having an ongoing dialogue by email. Thanks.
Lisa

 

[Omniskies]

It's really hard to tell. From the picture you have a fantastic looking little girl with the nice dark, dark bill and deep dark legs. The other three could go either way (if they were from a breeder I'd peg them as all males). I bought Pilgrims from a hatchery once and was really unimpressed with what I was sent. The males were yellow and the females were "kinda grey." One of the ones I thought was a female turned out to be a male with a _lot_ of grey feathers on his wings when he became older.

With that being said, every single one of them was happy, healthy and bouncy. None of them had any deformities or weird, crazy things wrong. It's just that Pilgrims are a critically rare breed, which makes finding them difficult and finding good quality ones even harder. McMurray Hatchery recently offered Pilgrims and openly state that they have noticed that within their flock there's a lower fertility rate than with other breeds (not a normal trait in Pilgrims - just in their flock).

As time goes on, it's becoming harder and harder to tell males from females when they hatch - that's an extremely important trait (to me, anyway) in Pilgrims and something I think should be required to call a Pilgrim a Pilgrim.

I've been all over the middle bits of the country trying to find good Pilgrims, and even now I'm still having to cull out babies that are born that just aren't dark or light enough.

You have pictures of the babies. Just tell Ideal that you're going to wait a couple of weeks and see who darkens up. By a month old you'll be 100% sure (if you're not sure earlier) who is who. I've ordered from Ideal before and they are extremely nice about fixing any problems you may have with the order. Their website says they ship five _million_ chicks every year. There's bound to be accidents and they willingly take a loss to make things right.

 

[chickenlisa]

Thanks so much. You are so helpful. I will wait. I have emailed Mikayla (sp?) at Ideal and asked if she wanted pics of them. She did say they can refund me, but not ship 1 gosling alone, to make up the difference. I love them all, but knowing about male to female ratios, really hope that I've got 1:3 M:F...I'll definitely want more females if I've only got 1. And I'll need home for the extra males...later though.
Thanks again.
Lisa

 

[chickenlisa]

I got an email today from Ideal saying the pics I sent her don't look right for what I ordered. So they'll reship April 8th. I replied asking for what exactly to expect in that shipment. I haven't heard back. She did ask me what my original order was and why there were only 4 babies in the pic. I reminded her that the 1 had died Friday night.
So

that I get my female Pilgrim goslings for sure then.
Lisa

 

[Omniskies]

Wait a week or two before having them reship out. You may just have light colored females. I don't recommend breeding those, but they're fine for a pet flock.

I had a new little girl hatch out earlier. I'll get her under the camera once she has had a nap and show you a comparison. I also have a couple extra Pilgrim males I can take pictures of that are a week old.

They deserve a lot of thanks for trying to fix the problem.

Good luck with your little guys

 

[chickenlisa]

Yes, I agree. By April 8th (or 10th) I should have a much better idea of who I have. I've already thanked her for her communication and now this offer to honor my original order. They do seem to be wonderful at each.
Will update this once I know more. I"ll look for your pics too. Thank you so much!

 

[chickenlisa]

just a fun note for now...

this morning when I went down to the brooder boxes to check on everyone, I greeted them so they'd know I was there before I startled them. The little goslings all started running around and flapping their tiny wings, and then when I reached into the box, they all ran towards me stretching their short little necks out and cheeping (do they cheep, or chirp or what?

) They were so happy (I think) when I picked up each one in turn. They kept talking and letting me pet them. So Cute! What precious little personalities already!
I'm in love!

 

[Warped]

Quote:
awww i'm jealous.

 

[DuckyBoys]

Quote:
My daughter calls them the "Reet Reets!" Is IS a cute sound and they do get so excited to see you. If you think you love them now just wait! It gets better as their butts get fluffier!

 

[crazedguinea]

hi, chickenlisa! i'm sorry you lost one the siblings are doing well up here in pa- the names are deuce, debbie, and dumpling (was going to be dezi but my aunt changed it.) debbie by far is my most energetic and outgoing maybe a bit "odder" one, dumpling is my quieter and calmer one but she is healthy she's just more subdued than debbie is, and deuce is somewhere in the middle. i too love their personalities, little noises (beeps??? no i think dudkyboys' daughter's "reets" sums it up) and mine are very eager to see me when visiting them. i am having a great time too!!! how many females is ideal sending you??? i love their fuzzy silky velcro feel too, their fluff is thick! from your updated photos, you likely have 3 boys and 1 girl, i agree with the others-my debbie and dumpling have grey beaks and grey legs like your one does, my deuce has the pinker bill and legs like your 3 do.

mine are growing like weeds too, i bet yours are also....so are my rir packing peanuts though too. i also like when they wiggle/shake their tails-how cute is that?!!!