Pilgrim Geese thread

[RoboDuck]

Apparently I need to supplement mine with something, I'm just not sure what. Why didn't anyone warn me that Pilgrim Geese are worse than goats? I would never have dreamed that while I kept a close eye on the goats and put them in their pens when no one was around that it was actually the flippin geese that would be the culprits. Those dang things chew on EVERYTHING!!! Then ate the wiring underneath my camper. Not just chewed it up a little, ATE IT! We found pieces on the ground and now I will have to rewire that part. I have caught them chewing on the anything that dangles, hangs, or just looks interesting. Boat trailer wires, galvanized trash can handles, plastic garbage bags, cardboard boxes... the list goes on. And today they actually surrounded our John Deere Gator and all 8 of them were chewing on various parts. Also today I had to chase one down to get a piece of duct tape away from him. I though it was just stuck to his bill but OH NO!!!, genius had swallowed about 4 inches of it. I pulled it back up out of his throat when I got a hold of the part sticking out. I don't even know where he got it. As far as I know there's nothing duct taped inside the fence. Thank God they don't have teeth or they'd chew their way through the fence and escape! LOL! Gotta love them, though.

 

[livininbrazil]

Apparently I need to supplement mine with something, I'm just not sure what. Why didn't anyone warn me that Pilgrim Geese are worse than goats? I would never have dreamed that while I kept a close eye on the goats and put them in their pens when no one was around that it was actually the flippin geese that would be the culprits. Those dang things chew on EVERYTHING!!! Then ate the wiring underneath my camper. Not just chewed it up a little, ATE IT! We found pieces on the ground and now I will have to rewire that part. I have caught them chewing on the anything that dangles, hangs, or just looks interesting. Boat trailer wires, galvanized trash can handles, plastic garbage bags, cardboard boxes... the list goes on. And today they actually surrounded our John Deere Gator and all 8 of them were chewing on various parts. Also today I had to chase one down to get a piece of duct tape away from him. I though it was just stuck to his bill but OH NO!!!, genius had swallowed about 4 inches of it. I pulled it back up out of his throat when I got a hold of the part sticking out. I don't even know where he got it. As far as I know there's nothing duct taped inside the fence. Thank God they don't have teeth or they'd chew their way through the fence and escape! LOL! Gotta love them, though.

And it´s not just Pilgrims! Everyone will have fun with a suspended cabbage or lettuce (cabbage lasts longer), but geese in general are terrors, worse in the first year, just inquisitive I suppose. We have all our young saplings fenced, too.

 

[GAMarans]

And it´s not just Pilgrims! Everyone will have fun with a suspended cabbage or lettuce (cabbage lasts longer), but geese in general are terrors, worse in the first year, just inquisitive I suppose. We have all our young saplings fenced, too.

Interesting ... We'll have to try that ... suspended cabbage. Inexpensive, good for them, entertaining.

 

[SilkieSensation]

 
   And it´s not just Pilgrims!  Everyone will have fun with a suspended cabbage or lettuce (cabbage lasts longer), but geese in general are terrors, worse in the first year, just inquisitive I suppose.  We have all our young saplings fenced, too. 

Interesting ... We'll have to try that ... suspended cabbage.  Inexpensive, good for them, entertaining.  

Geese are also the worst culprits at feather nipping. They are the worst at 1-2 months old & will yank every bit of fuzz off of a duckling in minutes if they get a chance. Found this out the hard way last year when there were gozzies in my waterfowl grow out pen. Now I just toss 3-4 week old gozzies straight in with the adult ducks since they are almost as big as the adult ducks by then (bigger than my calls but smaller than my anconas). I just have to keep ducklings away from them until they begin to feather well.

 

[livininbrazil]

Geese are also the worst culprits at feather nipping. They are the worst at 1-2 months old & will yank every bit of fuzz off of a duckling in minutes if they get a chance. Found this out the hard way last year when there were gozzies in my waterfowl grow out pen. Now I just toss 3-4 week old gozzies straight in with the adult ducks since they are almost as big as the adult ducks by then (bigger than my calls but smaller than my anconas). I just have to keep ducklings away from them until they begin to feather well.

Well, some do, obviously, but I´ve never had it happen with mine...yet. They have a lot of grazing, so maybe that helps.

 

[GAMarans]

Geese are also the worst culprits at feather nipping. They are the worst at 1-2 months old & will yank every bit of fuzz off of a duckling in minutes if they get a chance. Found this out the hard way last year when there were gozzies in my waterfowl grow out pen. Now I just toss 3-4 week old gozzies straight in with the adult ducks since they are almost as big as the adult ducks by then (bigger than my calls but smaller than my anconas). I just have to keep ducklings away from them until they begin to feather well.

We've already found that when they are penned up for too long or in too small of an area they get so very bad about that. The worst for us was during a bad weather spell and they weren't getting out of their pen to wander and browse. They ended up almost killing one of the smaller geese in the group. Poor little guy. The kids ended up naming him boo-boo. lol

 

[SilkieSensation]

Mine can't free range, so that's a major contributor to the feather nipping issues. When they are within sight of each other 24/7 it makes the little ones easy targets for the big ones.

 

[ChrisGR]

Hello my name is Chris and I am from Greece and I am a happy new member of this community!

Around July I became owner of 2 pilgrim goslings (male-female) that were little younger than one month and till now everything goes fine.

Although I have some questions about them!
1) Should I expect eggs from the goose this season or it is too early? If yes, when is she going to be ready for laying?
2) Will they mate this season?
3) When does the goose sits for the first time?
4) Should I let her sit or take her eggs?

Thanks in advance

 

[livininbrazil]

Hello my name is Chris and I am from Greece and I am a happy new member of this community!

Around July I became owner of 2 pilgrim goslings (male-female) that were little younger than one month and till now everything goes fine.

Although I have some questions about them!
1) Should I expect eggs from the goose this season or it is too early? If yes, when is she going to be ready for laying?
2) Will they mate this season?
3) When does the goose sits for the first time?
4) Should I let her sit or take her eggs?

Thanks in advance

Hi Chris. Do you still live in Greece? In the northern hemisphere geese start to breed from late December through the spring.
Your geese are likely to breed in 2015, you may or may not get success, but Pilgrims are very good breeders, so you may get goslings. I always take away the first eggs as they´re usually very small, but when she lays a reasonably-sized egg, you could let her keep some and see how she goes. I left 2 eggs with one of my year-olds, and she´s done ok. Two other year-olds have produced nothing...infertile, dead-in-shell, etc. Usually the second year is much better, and the third year they do well.
But, as I said, Pilgrims are good breeders anyway. Have fun!

 

[RoboDuck]

So The Livestock Conservancy quarterly news letter has a list of different animals that are in the critical breed category. Each species has listed its use, size, temperment, experience level needed to keep them, etc. It alsoincludes the Breed Association if there is one. All the listed mammals have breed associations but not the fowls. Why come? The Pilgrims have an estimated global population of under 1,000. What does it take to start anassociation for them?