New parents of 3 African Geese

[curleygirl24]

Yesterday, my son Austin (7) and I visited our local feed store and admired the lil chicks, ducks, geese and turkeys and after all the begging, we decided to buy 3 The geese hatched Wednesday (April 2) and as of today are 4 days old. They are awfully cute and my son and I just love 'em. We're named them Small, Medium and Large Stewart for now and we are just in awe as to how fast they are growing. We live in the mountains of New Mexico and seriously, we can experience all 4 seasons in one day - it'll snow, melt and warm up, blow like crazy, rain and all of a sudden turn into a beautiful day! We bought the 3 babes my son fell in love with along with Purina Medicated Start and Grow along with regular Chic Starter Food. We also bought the geese a fairly big cage with a plastic bottom (so their little feet don't fall through) and of course we just lined the bottom of the cage with newspaper that we'll change daily along with their food and water. Because the babes are so young and our weather is incredibly unpredictable - we're keeping 'em in my bathroom so they don't keep everyone up at night. Last night was our first night with 'em and seriously, we were getting up every 30 minutes to check on them and a couple times they were sleeping so soundly I got scared and thought they were dying so I shook the cage and woke 'em up Amazingly, they were really good last night and didn't really cause a ruckus - I know that'll change as they grow - hopefully by then the weather will be warmer and we'll built them a goose coop to keep them safe and warm. I'm so worried about them and so is my son - so any pointers, advice or info you can give - I would totally love and appreciate it.

 

[RURU]

Congrats on the 3 new goslings but I am going to jump in here real quick about the feed. Geese need waterfowl crumble not chick food. Medicated feed you do not feed to goslings. Also gosling need niacin in their feed to keep strong legs. Since you are new at this you need some advice.
Also the newspaper is not a good idea because their little legs can slip and slide on it and cause legs problems. Get some pine shaving and put that in there or get puppy pads and put them in there. That way they can walk and not slide with the puppy pads. Then you can just take them out and throw away like newspaper but not have the ink or slipping of legs!!!!
You do not need the pine shaving if you use the puppy pads.
So make sure to get the waterfowl or game bird crumbles for the goslings. Also gosling need to have grass lots of it because they are grass eater's. Plus dandelion leaves are super good for the goslings. Then you give on the side chick grit to help digest the greens. Hope this helps you...

 

[curleygirl24]

We'll definitely get the feed and puppy pads you're talking about. I noticed the slipping and sliding yesterday while they were on my kitchen floor, not so much in their cage. It's a big cage, but not huge - they just walk around and every now and then they'll run in a circle. Still, I'll do what you mentioned. This might sound silly but niacin, grass and dandelion leaves - where do I get this stuff? I definitely want to do this right and keep their best interest at heart. So thank you for the reply and keep me informed. I had no idea!

 

[RURU]

Niacin is in the waterfowl or game bird crumbles that is why I suggested it to you where chick feed does not. Just go outside and cut grass and chop it up fine for the goslings. Or get some romaine lettuce and chop it up for babies. Plus go pick dandelion leaves and cut them up for the babies. But make sure no pesticide or fertilizer are on them.
Chick grit you get from a feed dealer. Good luck.