My Africans (A close call! 1/05)

[Puddle Foot Farm]

SoccerMom, I'm holding out hope that you'll find them! I lost my three first babies on the same day and was devastated, and then Luna's two friends as well. I really hope they're okay.. This must be so hard. I've lost chickens before which was devastating, but I absolutely cannot imagine losing Luna or any of my chinese, and I don't even spend that much time with them. Good luck! I am rooting for a miracle.

 

[Soccer Mom]

Oh what a couple of weeks it has been! Losing the two girls has seriously upset the flock dynamics. 5 ganders and 3 geese. Those are NOT good numbers. The boys are busy fighting and all trying to love on the girls and everyone is cranky and out of sorts including me.

The regular routines no longer work and nighttime has turned into a huge hassle. All three girls are still sweet, but I believe Wheezie snuck off and laid me and egg. I can't find it though. For a week, she moved like a toddler with a full load in her diaper and was ouchy and full to the touch. Then...voila! Suddenly she's flying out to greet me one night (she's my cuddler). I checked her vent and it was moist. HOUSTON, WE HAVE AN EGG! I searched everywhere, but nothing. Dangit. Her mate is JR and I couldn't be happier. Both are very sweet and they aren't part of the problem.

Schnitzel seems lost without his mate, Bratty Girl. He is very passive and has lost his place in the pecking order. The poor sweetie is being bullied and I hate it.

Panini is a bit...shall we say indiscriminate with her affections. She really just wants to love the one she's with and causes a lot of the fighting.

Baguette is just her own shy self. She doesn't cause a ruckus. I'm not sure which male she favors. I haven't noticed her being bred although I'm sure she is.

Then we get to the rotten threesome of Beauregard, Chowder, and the goose formerly known as Gazpacho. Yes, he's been stripped of his name because you don't name things you're going to eat. I've reached the conclusion that the best remedy for the situation is to remove the ringleader. Gazpacho not only bullies the others, but he is the one who tries to bite. I say tries because he isn't very good in his attacks and has been easily repelled by both myself and my eldest DS (and before anyone worries about a child in with the geese, this kid is in Jr High, plays nose tackle on the football team and has been handling livestock his whole life). Even my son is finally on board with this after he saw the way Gazpacho was beating up on the others.

My hope is that by removing the ringleader it will restore peace, but I know we may have to remove a second gander until we have 3 males to 3 females. It's a tough decision because I really do love these geese, but I know I have to make this decision for the good of the flock. I'm nervous because I've never processed a goose before. Am I right in thinking that removing the obnoxious one will help restore balance or will one of the meeker geese just step into the role of Mr. Rotten?

 

[shelleyd2008]

I really don't know, but it's worth a try.

Do geese mate for life? I believe they do. If so, you'll want to make sure that the other girls haven't taken a mate, or that you take the ganders that are not the chosen ones, or you could have a real mess on your hands.

From my understanding, most geese lay eggs every other day, and I believe they normally lay in early morning like ducks usually do. So if you keep that girl locked up a bit longer in the mornings, she might take the hint and lay in the house, it wouldn't hurt to try. Or get some really big nest eggs to 'train' her with

 

[Soccer Mom]

Quote:
Thanks, I'll try the nest egg thing and keeping her in as soon as thing straighten out. Unfortunately the coop is such a warzone at the moment.

Boy I really hate this. I'm so attached to these guys, even the obnoxious ones. But I just don't have the room or facilities to establish a batchelor pen.


I think choosing a mate is part of the problem. They haven't all settled on a mate yet (They are just about to hit 5 months old) and 3 males are all trying to claim the 2 available females.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

My geese layed every other day or sometimes it was longer. But they layed any time of the day or night. That was so frustrating, because keeping them shut up only in the morning did nothing to encourage them to lay in their night pen. Fixing a very inticing nest might help. One that they can get to any time of the day or night, untill you know what their routine is.

Watch to see if any of the geese separate from the others for a while. That is the only way I could find nests in the pasture. If a goose was off by herself or made a determined move toward a certain spot when the others were doing something else. They sometimes cover their nest so it is very hard to see. I found one nest when I saw a goose leave the flock while they were still eating and go to a spot in the pasture. I found a couple of eggs lightly covered and when I dug down deeper there were about 10 eggs buried in a deep nest. I would have never seen it unless I saw her.

Leaving a "dummy" egg will help keep her from going to another nest spot.

 

[Wifezilla]

 

[Soccer Mom]

Quote:
Thanks for the advice above and hugs. This is the really hard part of being a responsible flock owner. The funny thing is that we raise all sorts of animals for meat on our tiny farm, but geese just have a way of getting to you.

 

[Puddle Foot Farm]

So sorry you didn't find your girls.. I was really hoping you would.

I'm thinking we might have to do some "thinning" too. I need to figure out how to sex my geese, but the chinese are impossible. I'm hoping we don't have 4 ganders. Problem is, we don't eat meat.. And I love my geese. So I understand your frustration.

I hope you figure it all out!

Will you be selling eggs in the spring?

 

[Soccer Mom]

I hope to have eggs to sell in the future. This spring, if I have some fertile ones, I'll be happy to send test eggs for the cost of shipping.

Tonight they refused to come off the pond at all. The Goose Who Shall Not Be Named kept herding them all back into the pond, so there they will have to spend the night.

Poor Schnitzel was forced to swim seperately. He wasn't allowed to swim with the others. I hope they are all right.

 

[Soccer Mom]

Today was better. Last night, DH went out about 11:00 to see if they were willing to come in. They weren't.

But this morning, they all came running. Dh wanted to know if he should feed them now, but I said no. They get fed when they get put in the coop. They hung around their pen all day. Tonight they were eager to go in the coop and settled in quickly with a minimum of fussing. They were too busy chowing down to fight. We'll see if this lesson sticks with them or if we have to repeat it again.