new to geese

[FogHornLegHornWV]

I'am new to geese and have a couple of question. I'am getting two pair of American Buff goslings from metzer and would purina flock raiser be good to start them on? And how to prevent angel wing? thanks for info.

 

[ThebigE]

Gambird starter I hear is the best then at 2 weeks chicken starter, and then grower, and then corn

 

[GarlicEater]

They love grass. They want grass, grass, and grass. Corn is a seed of grass so it's OK. But wow do they ever like .... grass. You might try doing some whet sprouts, corn sprouts, etc. I think they also depend more than many think on wild bugs, slugs, etc. I actually give mine dry cat food, a little, each day when they're not getting their "snips and snails and puppydog tails" in the wild. The only other plant they have any interest in besides grass is lettuce. There's a wild lettuce that grows here, they love it. They love domestic lettuce. It's the only broadleaf they have *any* interest in and they love it.

It sounds like you're raising young ones. From right out of the egg, they love, and eat, grass. They'll pick the little grass tips and fall on their little butts when it gives way, they are bone fide grass eaters. I'd consider if nothing else getting a kit for wheat-grass sprouting. You can find those everywhere, and wheat's a grass. Or get some lawn mix and sprout that, a few inches high when they're little and fuzzy and then let it grow bigger as they do.

Right about here I should emphasize: These birds love grass.

 

[Olive Hill]

Corn as a sole source of sustenance is not an adequate diet for any livestock, in any stage of life, anywhere, ever.

Gamebird starter can be used but it depends on how much of their diet it will make up. It contains more CP than you really need for geese, but if it makes up only a portion of the diet with the other portion being low in CP the two can balance one another out.

Flock raiser is often a better choice as most people won't / can't provide alternate feed sources -- namely greens -- in the quantities required to cut the gamebird starter.

Whatever you choose remember that all protein is not created equal. You need to provide a balance of essential amino acids, which make up the protein. IOW, the right types of protein.

Geese eat many more plants than grass and lettuce. If someone owns geese who do not it's likely a case of them having been trained to eat those things as goslings, not because geese actually dislike other types of plants. They don't. If you have plants in your yard that you do not want them to eat, keep them away from them. Plain and simple. And if you want them to eat a variety of plants offer a wide variety to them as goslings, right in their brooder. Give them a few times a day, fresh picked and in small enough quantities that they can finish them before they wilt.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Game bird starter has way too much protein for them!

Purina flock raiser is fine. Once they are about 2 weeks old you'll want to mix their feed with corn or another type of grain to reduce the protein levels. If you feed goslings too much protein it can lead to angel wing.

You'll also want to make sure they have plenty of greens, geese are herbivores after all. I usually pull grass and/or clover for mine and cut it up in their baths. During the warmer months my goslings spend the day outside in a pen after about 2 weeks old, then my geese 'raise' them once they are about 3 weeks old

So they get plenty of greens that way.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Quote:
Thanks for asking the question! I plan to get a goose this spring, and I'm researching proper care, feeding and housing first, before I order it, too.

So I'm seeing lots of opinions about what "bagged" food to use, but it sounds like most non-poisonous plant material is fine? Is it only greens? or do they like the fruits too, like cherry tomatoes, and strawberries? I have a big 2500 sq ft lawn in front that I was thinking they it could mow for me on daily "walk abouts", and perhaps I'd set up its swimming pool there, so I can empty it on the lawn, and avoid the mud puddles. But I'd like to house it primarily in the back, where there are weed grasses and clover....and my rose garden. Will a goose destroy my roses? They have been a good choice with the chickens...

 

[shelleyd2008]

I don't know about roses but I know they picked all the leaves off my hydrangeas. They don't bother the Rose of Sharon's though, probably because they are bigger. The hydrangeas are still pretty small.
ETA: Though my azaleas are also small and they don't bother them...Idk, geese are weird.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
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So I'm seeing lots of opinions about what "bagged" food to use, but it sounds like most non-poisonous plant material is fine? Is it only greens? or do they like the fruits too, like cherry tomatoes, and strawberries? I have a big 2500 sq ft lawn in front that I was thinking they it could mow for me on daily "walk abouts", and perhaps I'd set up its swimming pool there, so I can empty it on the lawn, and avoid the mud puddles. But I'd like to house it primarily in the back, where there are weed grasses and clover....and my rose garden. Will a goose destroy my roses? They have been a good choice with the chickens...

Mine loved fruit! you may read posts about 'weeder geese' being used on strawberries but that only works before bloom or after you are finished picking the fruit because they will eat blooms and even green berries. 2500 sq feet is not much lawn for 4 geese. and they can be hard on the grass since they like it young and tender and can pull up the roots if the ground is wet. I used to turn mine out in the lawn in spring when it is growing fast and in mid season when the only thing growing fast was "spikes' like dandelions and other weeds. In spring if they eat too much it will grow back. midyear they seem to target the spikes and wiped out the dandelions in only two years. Mine loved weed grasses and clover but they tend to eat all the clover, I would set my mower high and go over the weed grasses to remove the tough tops that they weren't fond of and they would eat down the clumps as it regrowed they loved those meaty white shoots that would grow out. What kind of roses? Mine used to nest under bush type roses and didn't do any serious harm unless you value the rose hips. Hips are the small fruit that can develope from a fertilized rose bloom and they are "good eats" for geese. I used to have a bunch of mini rose bushes that I would fence the geese out of until they needed to be "dead headed" they would gobble down those blooms if they were past their prime or not and the geese could usually reach the high blooms on a mini bush. so yes they will eat rose blooms if they can reach them, keep that in mind. BTW mine would not eat those bright green (japaness?) bettles like chickens and ducks would. I hope this info is of some help.~gd

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Thanks for the info! No, I'm not getting 4 geese, that may have been the OP. I may have 1 or 2.

Azaleas are poisonous. That's probably why your geese don't eat them! Smart geese!!