Quote:
I meant rescue
I meant rescue
Please help me understand
- Thread starter Ellie
- Start date
When we had our geese (and the plan was to show, breed, sell and eat just like our other poultry) they were never mean to us. The big geese used to sit in my then five year old daughter's lap and get petted until they went to sleep. The problem was that when breeding season started they attacked my turkeys and around here turkeys reign supreme so the waterfowl had to go. I miss them, I really do. They were great fun to watch and wonderful, wonderful watchdogs.
- Thread starter
- #23
Wonder if a person just got a few females if that would that curb that agressiveness during certain seasons...
I think geese are awesome even though my uncle's goose was MEAN!!! On more than one occasion we would be trapped in the car and have to honk for Uncle Kenny to come save us from the goose. I never blamed all geese for the bad behavior of Kenny's goose. I just thought Kenny's goose was over protective.
I went chick shopping last spring and ended up with ducks and geese too. I didn't expect to like the geese, all I've ever heard were the horror stories, but I absolutely will not be without them again as long as I draw breath. I got them as goslings, didn't even know if I had male/female or ?????. I played with them all the time as they were growing until they were fully fledged. Then they and the ducks got swimming lessons. I have a big old jacuzzi bathtub that is perfect for teaching ducks and geese to swim in. They loved the water and the JETS, I couldn't believe that, but after one startle when I hit the button by accident they started playing in the bubbles. After letting them swim and bathe and clean themselves, I'd pull them out one at a time and dry them off with a big old spa towel and then blow them mostly dry with my hair dryer. I was amazed that they seem to like the warm air from the dryer. Then back into the brooder pen under the warm lights for the night. It was still snowing here in April so they didn't get out until they were pretty well grown. By then swim time in the tub involved a pretty huge mess in the bathroom, but we all loved it, so it was ok. Kept the bathroom floor clean.....LOL
I discovered that I had made a HUGE mistake when teaching them to swim. I used lovely WARM water and those geese and ducks didn't want any part of cold water until mid-July! I thought I had raised the only spa fowl in the whole world. Once it got hot enough I got my husband to take them swimming in the stock pond and he showed them how much fun it was to go swimming in the BIG pond. To see those geese and ducks marching down to the pond of an afternoon was hilarious. I could practically SEE their little robes and towels draped over their 'arms', little life preservers on around their waists...toddling down for their afternoon constitutional dip. Funny doesn't even begin to cover those birds.
The gander became my 'special' friend, would wait until I sat down with one of the barn cats in my lap and he'd slap, slap, slap his way over to me and stare at the cat. The cat made the mistake of swatting AT him, never connected, one time. That cat got to see just how impressive a furious goose can be. He swelled up, hissed at that cat and when the cat didn't move, he spread his wings, hissed again and then BAM, pecked that cat right on his bum and made him jump right out of my lap. I was laughing so hard the tears were rolling down my face. From then on, all he had to do was come up and look at the cat and the cat moved. Up into my lap hops the gander and sits for hours getting petted and 'arm wrestling' with me. The gander nibbles, not bites, when we play and my arms are frequently all bruised from his beak. Funny thing is, half the time I don't even feel the nibble, so I guess I just turn purple when he looks at me.
The female goose has always been a little shyer than the gander, probably because from early on he made sure he was the one that got the attention. Same for the ducks, they're hilarious but I'm not as attached to them as I am the goose. He's pretty big and demanding, so when he comes up for attention, he gets it.
The geese are awesome watch birds, I've seen them march the local deputy back to his car, quick time and chase my friends around theirs when they've come to visit. They love to play. One of their favorite pastimes is to grab my purse strap and have me spin them around in circles while they are latched on to the purse. Guess they like to feel like they're flying and they'll try to get me to spin until I'm so dizzy I can barely stand. The female lays a few eggs, huge & delicious. They both trim the lawn and pull weeds, and as mentioned they fertilize everrything. The porch, the chairs, the sidewalks, the driveway.........oh and even a little on the lawn....
. My water bill in summer gets pretty high with washing things off 2 or 3 times a day. I've learned a new appreciation for the expression, "Slicker than goose poop.", it really is!
I discovered that I had made a HUGE mistake when teaching them to swim. I used lovely WARM water and those geese and ducks didn't want any part of cold water until mid-July! I thought I had raised the only spa fowl in the whole world. Once it got hot enough I got my husband to take them swimming in the stock pond and he showed them how much fun it was to go swimming in the BIG pond. To see those geese and ducks marching down to the pond of an afternoon was hilarious. I could practically SEE their little robes and towels draped over their 'arms', little life preservers on around their waists...toddling down for their afternoon constitutional dip. Funny doesn't even begin to cover those birds.
The gander became my 'special' friend, would wait until I sat down with one of the barn cats in my lap and he'd slap, slap, slap his way over to me and stare at the cat. The cat made the mistake of swatting AT him, never connected, one time. That cat got to see just how impressive a furious goose can be. He swelled up, hissed at that cat and when the cat didn't move, he spread his wings, hissed again and then BAM, pecked that cat right on his bum and made him jump right out of my lap. I was laughing so hard the tears were rolling down my face. From then on, all he had to do was come up and look at the cat and the cat moved. Up into my lap hops the gander and sits for hours getting petted and 'arm wrestling' with me. The gander nibbles, not bites, when we play and my arms are frequently all bruised from his beak. Funny thing is, half the time I don't even feel the nibble, so I guess I just turn purple when he looks at me.
The female goose has always been a little shyer than the gander, probably because from early on he made sure he was the one that got the attention. Same for the ducks, they're hilarious but I'm not as attached to them as I am the goose. He's pretty big and demanding, so when he comes up for attention, he gets it.
The geese are awesome watch birds, I've seen them march the local deputy back to his car, quick time and chase my friends around theirs when they've come to visit. They love to play. One of their favorite pastimes is to grab my purse strap and have me spin them around in circles while they are latched on to the purse. Guess they like to feel like they're flying and they'll try to get me to spin until I'm so dizzy I can barely stand. The female lays a few eggs, huge & delicious. They both trim the lawn and pull weeds, and as mentioned they fertilize everrything. The porch, the chairs, the sidewalks, the driveway.........oh and even a little on the lawn....
Quote:
The reason why you're not supposed to keep turkeys and chickens together is because the chickens can carry a parasite, Histomonas meleagridis, which can cause the deadly Blackhead Disease in turkeys. Turkeys are very sensitive to the parasite.
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histomonas_meleagridis
The reason why you're not supposed to keep turkeys and chickens together is because the chickens can carry a parasite, Histomonas meleagridis, which can cause the deadly Blackhead Disease in turkeys. Turkeys are very sensitive to the parasite.
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histomonas_meleagridis
I like our geese. They really imprint easily and if any of them start acting bossy on me, I just act like an airplane flapping my wings and they scatter away. The eggs are huge and great for eating and hatching and baking. We sell the goose eggs and baby geese and full grown geese along with all our other poultry....Here's a pic of our geese We have a few white chinese geese, but not very many , these are brown chinese geese. Ours are mainly for weed control and natural manure for our chemicalfree garden. Have a blessed day. Nancy
- Thread starter
- #28
STop, stop, yer killin me here...
More pictures like that and I will be sold! Those are really pretty and they look so smart looking into the camer. I am nearly there, but the fruit trees... I have 30 of them and that is a lot to put wire around.
Gosh, all the pictures have been so neat.
Gosh, all the pictures have been so neat.
some of mine in the shade of the peach trees last summer
- Thread starter
- #30
Those too are beauties. What kind are they? Do they eat the peaches off the tree or the fallen ones?
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