New Goose House

[Kalsti]

Miss Lydia I need to see a pic or something of your setup interior for your geese. Should I lay wood over the chickenwire and then cover with vinyl floor covering? So is there litter 6" on top of the vinyl and then hay or straw or shavings on top of the litter?
The person who built this for me had raised geese and said this was the way to do it......but I get misinformation at times.
I really need to keep her safe~ we have raccoons here although we are in a small city.
Please advise~
Thanks!

 

[livininbrazil]

The floor set-up you explained is usual for keeping birds like chickens, especially turkeys. Now, here if I don´t want the geese to go somewhere, like close to the mini-weir, I put down wire netting because I know they won´t try to walk over it...shows me that they don´t actually like it. They tend to like solid ground under them. Can you take the wire netting away and put in a wooden floor? planks perhaps if there are no splinters, then you could cover that to make it easy to clean.

 

[livininbrazil]

Interesting! Yes, she has long nails and a worn bill that is rough. Wish I could know how old she is though.... Ok, so I think I probably need to get an older female goose.....I don't know of any "rescue" places here for geese though. Need to do some research I guess. Thanks!!!!

Actually, any age goose will be fine, but if you prefer an older one, there maybe someone in your area who breeds geese and has an older gal due to retire. Ask in animal food supply stores, perhaps.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Miss Lydia I need to see a pic or something of your setup interior for your geese. Should I lay wood over the chickenwire and then cover with vinyl floor covering? So is there litter 6" on top of the vinyl and then hay or straw or shavings on top of the litter?
The person who built this for me had raised geese and said this was the way to do it......but I get misinformation at times.
I really need to keep her safe~ we have raccoons here although we are in a small city.
Please advise~
Thanks!

I'll take some pics when my dh gets home with the camera he's in DC visiting all the Memorials there. But really all I am saying is either planks like LB is talking about or plywood then you buy cheap vinyl and cut to size place down on the floor and I used staples the kind in the large staple guns not the indoor kind and went all around the edges to hold it down.
I feel very sorry for this mans geese if they have to walk on the wire he put down in your coop. Like RURU said it can cut their feet and cause a staff infection to set in which is called Bumble foot. Also I don't use straw or hay as bedding just my preference shavings to me help soak up the poop which usually lays on top I go in scoop it out and turn bedding over several times good as new. Here is a link about deep litter it's written about chickens but I have used it for my ducks and geese for years.
http://www.plamondon.com/faq_deep_litter.html

 

[Kalsti]

Thank you RURU and Lydia~ I read about the Deep Litter method--and I honestly don't think this is something I can do. I don't mind going in each morning and removing the dirty hay, raking the floor under the roost area, and hosing it all down. (I use vinegar on the floor about once a week.) I kind of enjoy this daily routine, and it feels like she has a clean area.
Was wondering how about if I lay some planks in the areas on top of the chickenwire where she rarely walks.....she sits on the hay in the same spot every day, and seems to poop in the same area also. I would leave the spot where she sits just covered with hay and no planking. Do you think that would work? Or do you have any other ideas?
Thanks so much again for this info!
K

 

[RURU]

I am telling you that the wire is just not good for the geese feet. They need solid ground under their feet. The reason the goose set down there is she is not feeling the ground and the wire might have already cut her feet. But if this is the way you want it all we can do is advise you not to use chicken wire or hardware cloth under their feet in pens.
If you end up with bumble foot it takes a long time to medicate and gets hard puss in it that does not just squeeze out! You have to open the scab and use sterile instruments to go in and pull the core of hard pus! This is called surgery on the foot! Takes anywhere from 3-8 weeks to clear up properly.

 

[Kalsti]

RURU thanks I do understand about the chicken wire. I am going tomorrow to find some shower board and lay that over the framed 2X4's so that it is a firm base and safer on her feet. I was simply saying that I don't think I will be able to do the 6" litter as described in the article~ I appreciate all the input and advice~ thanks again!

 

[RURU]

Right now I have been battling bumble foot on one of my ganders. He cut it on either all the rocks around on this property or the nut shells the squirrels leave all over the place! We have nuts everywhere. Even I have a hard time walking on the nuts and all the rocks!!!
I have been treating Spicie for going on 3 weeks this week and we still have a long way to go on him. Then my one curly white female Vanessa started limping and I caught hers a lot sooner and she just has a small scab that I am treating now. Just started her this week.

 

[Kalsti]

Gosh sorry to hear about your sweet Spicie and Vanessa.....sounds like you hopefully have it under control though. Those Sebastopols are beautiful with all the ruffled feathers~

 

[livininbrazil]

RURU thanks I do understand about the chicken wire. I am going tomorrow to find some shower board and lay that over the framed 2X4's so that it is a firm base and safer on her feet. I was simply saying that I don't think I will be able to do the 6" litter as described in the article~ I appreciate all the input and advice~ thanks again!

Sounds good Kalsti, firm is good. The litter thing isn´t as important, especially if they can get out to graze a lot, it just helps to keep them clean when they poop so much, and stops the floor from becoming slippery. For example, lots of poop where they sleep at night. Mine sleep out at night where they like....usually next to the stream. They´re on a grassy bank. I always know where they´ve slept because there´s a huge pile of poop to clean up, which I do nearly everyday. That´s so as not to spoil the grazing, but moreso to help avoid worms, etc. Clean means healthy, firm ground means happy. Mostly!!

Enjoy your geese!