Hi everyone,
I am new to Back Yard Chickens and I would like to say hi and let you all know that I joined because I ended up with geese that I hatched out for my daughter. So now I have four geese that I know very little about taking care of. I guess I have had beginners luck because my four geese (three girls and a guy) are now a year old. I found out today that one of my females is laying; in fact has been laying for some time. I found her nest with 17 eggs in it today. Unfortunately we had temps in the lower 20's last night so I don't think any of these eggs will hatch? I took today's egg out of the nest and marked it as I have an incubator. I placed the other 16 eggs in water and they all sank indicating that they are not spoiled. I then cracked one egg open and sure enough a part of it had frozen to the shell. Can these eggs be eaten? Other than the small amount frozen to the shell it smelled and looked fine.
I live just a few miles north of Little Rock, Arkansas and we have had a very mild winter so far. Is it normal for my geese to lay this early? At this time I am feeding wheat seed and lettuce that our local market is culling from the produce because of the date of sale being out of date. I have built a small eight foot by five foot by five foot tall plywood structure that I painted and placed siding on top of to protect my geese and I have a light inside that I can turn on for warmth. I have put straw down on the dirt floor and I have two wading pools full of water for them to get into as well as clean five gallon buckets for them to drink from outside. I also give them clean water inside my small structure at night. This home that I have for them is inside my four foot high chain link fenced yard. I did this because I live in the country and we have many stray dogs roaming around and I am afraid that these dogs will get to them and that the one gander is not capable of fighting them off. Any advice on if I need to be concerned about strays if I let them free range?
My daughter is attached to her geese and refuses to eat any of their eggs because she thinks of the eggs as babies. Any ideas on how I get her past this? Sense I am feeding and all I would like to be able to eat a goose or an egg once in a while, and if I can't do that what do I do with the geese or the eggs that come from the four pets? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks soooo much!
Littledear
I am new to Back Yard Chickens and I would like to say hi and let you all know that I joined because I ended up with geese that I hatched out for my daughter. So now I have four geese that I know very little about taking care of. I guess I have had beginners luck because my four geese (three girls and a guy) are now a year old. I found out today that one of my females is laying; in fact has been laying for some time. I found her nest with 17 eggs in it today. Unfortunately we had temps in the lower 20's last night so I don't think any of these eggs will hatch? I took today's egg out of the nest and marked it as I have an incubator. I placed the other 16 eggs in water and they all sank indicating that they are not spoiled. I then cracked one egg open and sure enough a part of it had frozen to the shell. Can these eggs be eaten? Other than the small amount frozen to the shell it smelled and looked fine.
I live just a few miles north of Little Rock, Arkansas and we have had a very mild winter so far. Is it normal for my geese to lay this early? At this time I am feeding wheat seed and lettuce that our local market is culling from the produce because of the date of sale being out of date. I have built a small eight foot by five foot by five foot tall plywood structure that I painted and placed siding on top of to protect my geese and I have a light inside that I can turn on for warmth. I have put straw down on the dirt floor and I have two wading pools full of water for them to get into as well as clean five gallon buckets for them to drink from outside. I also give them clean water inside my small structure at night. This home that I have for them is inside my four foot high chain link fenced yard. I did this because I live in the country and we have many stray dogs roaming around and I am afraid that these dogs will get to them and that the one gander is not capable of fighting them off. Any advice on if I need to be concerned about strays if I let them free range?
My daughter is attached to her geese and refuses to eat any of their eggs because she thinks of the eggs as babies. Any ideas on how I get her past this? Sense I am feeding and all I would like to be able to eat a goose or an egg once in a while, and if I can't do that what do I do with the geese or the eggs that come from the four pets? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks soooo much!
Littledear
