Hi! I have four American buff goslings that I am brooding with six ducklings. They are two weeks old and they are my first geese. They seem pretty healthy and are growing. The problem is that the ducklings look all nice and fluffy but the goslings look awful. I think that they stick their heads all in the mash and put it all over themselves or something. Also if they get water on them, the ducklings dry in about a minute and the little geese take forever! I had to give them a couple of warm baths because if being covered with food and it took me a long time to dry them. Their bedding changed at least twice a day. Someone recommended taking away the food and water at night so they had a chance to dry off, which makes sense except I thought you were never supposed to leave waterfowl without water. Plus, if I wanted them to be dry AND clean all night I would have to bathe and dry them before bed! It seems a bit ridiculous, but I guess I may have to do just that. I am worried about their skin having problems or something! Has anyone had a problem like his with their brooder goslings? Can they go all night without food and or water?
Do you give them open water - in a bowl? I never let mine have open water till they were 6 or 7 weeks old -- it was colder here then, but I would think that would help. I ended up getting a 5 gallon chicken waterer because the ducks would play in the water so much and then the water lasted longer. When they were little I gave the a ceramic dish with a glass bowl overturned inside it, so they could drink but not swim. I would think you could at least not give them food at night -- they need water as babies especially. I also expanded their brooder area when they were about 2 weeks old, because they looked crowded and that helped a lot with the mess. If you have enough space you could also separate the ducks and goslings with a wire puppy fence or something, and that might help with the mess. The ducklings that I brooded my geese with always seemed like they made most of the mess. I also scraped up chunks of grass and gave the geese that -- oh, they loved that grass. That would give them something to do besides play in the water and food : )
Have you tried not feeding them mash? I've never fed mash but it sounds really messy. Mine just eat crumbles the first two weeks or so then I switch to a waterfowl pellet. Sounds like the mess is from the wet food they are eating.
I think the trick is too give them lots of floor space. My six shared a horse stall with 25 chicks and three ducklings. Granted the area around the water got messy but otherwise everyone stayed clean and dry. As soon as the chicks were fully feathered they moved out to the coop. the now two month old goslings and ducks still spend the night inside and it stays dry-except around the water. I think the secret is lots of space-more than you would even expect to need. I never fed mash either. Just dry crumbles.
