Normal eating behaviors

[Kalsti]

HI again all!
Is it normal for an older goose (our "Joey The Goose") to cut back on her volume of the amount she is eating from her corn/wildfowl pellet mix? The last few days she is eating less-- BUT she is loving the greens in the water! I thought it was perhaps because she didn't like the grit that was sprinkled onto the dry food......? She is kinda put out of shape right now-- I have to build her a taller day pen so she can't get hurt in plowing through the shorter fence I had for her. Until the new day pen can be made -- about Wed. of next week-- she is cooped up literally in her little shed with straw, food, water, etc. I check on her a few times a day....We are having a storm here so can't get to the new pen until Wed. or so. Any advice?

 

[Miss Lydia]

HI again all!
Is it normal for an older goose (our "Joey The Goose") to cut back on her volume of the amount she is eating from her corn/wildfowl pellet mix? The last few days she is eating less-- BUT she is loving the greens in the water! I thought it was perhaps because she didn't like the grit that was sprinkled onto the dry food......? She is kinda put out of shape right now-- I have to build her a taller day pen so she can't get hurt in plowing through the shorter fence I had for her. Until the new day pen can be made -- about Wed. of next week-- she is cooped up literally in her little shed with straw, food, water, etc. I check on her a few times a day....We are having a storm here so can't get to the new pen until Wed. or so. Any advice?

Geese are grazers so it's not uncommon for them to eat more greens than their feed, As long as she is acting normal [other than being put out about not being out like normal] then most likely she is okay, You can get Poultry Vitamins to add to her drinking water just to give her some added nutrients. I usually put them into my flocks water a couple times a week especially when molting which a lot of mine are doing right now. I use Poultry Nutri Drench but there are other good ones too.

 

[RURU]

As Miss Lydia says geese are grazers and it is for mainly grass. They eat other grass or weed types but my Sebastopol's are choosy on their grasses If there is not the grasses out like come winter then we have to help them out with greens. Romaine, kale turnip greens, apples, cut tomatoes, peaches, red grape cut in half, green grapes, the list can go on. They love greens and fruits.... I tried pumpkin with mine and they looked at it like it was going to attack them.

 

[Kalsti]

Oh this is great! I didn't know that! And so funny about the reaction to the pumpkin. HaHa! Love it....

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have a cut pumpkin out for my flock now and I don't think the geese or ducks have touched it only the chickens.

 

[Clodhoppers]

about the pumpkin or any other roundish object...

I put balls wherever the geese are not to be at. Found this out by surprise. With good intentions, I bought a play ball for the geese. Now that did not go over well. Didn't know geese can hiss and posture that severely. Was almost comical, so much fuss over a ball!

I'd definitely cut up the pumpkin into different shapes for the geese. My chickens don't mind at all the rounds and are happy to hollow out any half rounds I put out for them.

Funny critters...

Oh and for general gnawing on, I give the geese a few tree branches. Leaves and bark are usually gone in a few hours.

 

[RURU]

I bought a very small pumpkin and cut it up so it was not round at all. The geese looked at it like a kid with spinach, YUK, and I am afraid of it....
The Dane went out and picked it up and played with it.

 

[Kalsti]

What kind of tree branches and bark do you put out for their gnawing? We have conifers, camelia TREES, rhododendron, lilac on the property.....
(BTW, I am so HAPPY! Today I fed her a huge bowl of lettuce, blueberries and tomatoes in water and she gobbled it up! -- except the tomatoes. Loved it. She is eating some more today of the dry food so that's good.)
Thanks all for the good input!

 

[Miss Lydia]

What kind of tree branches and bark do you put out for their gnawing? We have conifers, camelia TREES, rhododendron, lilac on the property.....
(BTW, I am so HAPPY! Today I fed her a huge bowl of lettuce, blueberries and tomatoes in water and she gobbled it up! -- except the tomatoes. Loved it. She is eating some more today of the dry food so that's good.)
Thanks all for the good input!

Good news for sure. My goose Missy love to chew on stuff, firewood, trees planted in the ground,

She chewed all the way around my forsythia bushes this past winter killed one. So anything you don't want her to chew on needs to have protection. I have wrapped my younger trees like dogwoods and red buds with that same plastic fencing I showed you I use for fencing. keeps her from eating the bark off. Never had this problem with my gander but he thought he was an over sized duck for 6 yrs. they don't gnaw on trees. I believe Rhododendron is poisonous I know it is to dogs not sure about other animals.

 

[Clodhoppers]

You could check for toxicity of the different types of wood. I have lots of alder saplings and branches. The wind also knocked down some douglas fir branches. I'll have to take a closer look to see if the geese strip off the bark and eat it or spit it out.

We had tons of plums this year. I watched the geese eating even the small plums (the size of a cherry) and leaving behind the tiny pits, amazing. And... the geese will strip those annoying suckers popping up from the ground close to the tree's stem. Good job!

Great your goose is eating again. For treats, I give them wedges of cabbages.