Raiseing baby geese! Any tips?

[DUCKGIRL89]

I have 3 pilgrim eggs coming in tomorrow for incubation. Any tips on raiseing gosling?

 

[Oregon Blues]

I've never brooded goslings. I let the goose and gander raise them.

However, just from observation, the goslings are out a lot in very chilly weather and no harm done. If they get chilled, they sit underneath the wings of any adult goose that happens to be in the neighborhood.

So this is my suggestion (untested): use a large brooder with only one corner warm and a lot of room to get away from the heat. I really do not think that goslings need the kind of heat that is always recommended for chickens. They need a place to warm up occasionally. But they do not need constant heat. Set them up so they have a lot of temperature gradations to choose from.

Good luck on your hatch. There is so much excellent hatching advice from Pete, that you should have all the information you need about hatching.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

I've never brooded goslings. I let the goose and gander raise them.

However, just from observation, the goslings are out a lot in very chilly weather and no harm done.  If they get chilled, they sit underneath the wings of any adult goose that happens to be in the neighborhood.

So this is my suggestion (untested): use a large brooder with only one corner warm and a lot of room to get away from the heat. I really do not think that goslings need the kind of heat that is always recommended for chickens.  They need a place to warm up occasionally. But they do not need constant heat.  Set them up so they have a lot of temperature gradations to choose from.

Good luck on your hatch.  There is so much excellent hatching advice from Pete, that you should have all the information you need about hatching.

Thanks blues!

I have ton of hatching buddies whovare gonna help me. so its different then ducklings I assume?

I'm also asumming you got your geese as adults?

 

[Oregon Blues]

Yes, that's right. My first geese were purchased as adults,

I hope to hatch a few in the incubator, so I will be using a brooder this spring. I'm collecting eggs because it is still freezing and I don't want the goose to collect herself a clutch of freeze damaged eggs that won't hatch for her. She can have her nest as soon as the nights warm up a bit. I would prefer to have her raise and train her goslings.

Well actually, I am collecting eggs from both geese, even though I only want to hatch from one goose. I think they are laying in separate nests, but not certain, so I will hatch all and cull.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

What breed are these? Poms? Or americans?

Maybe, you could hatch the eggs for her, and slip the goslings under her at night? Would she still take care of them? Hhhhmmm.....

Are you eating them all, or raiseing and selling? Good luck with your hatch! Let me know how it goes!

 

[Oregon Blues]

They are Poms. I won't give the goslings to the goose, because I want her to hatch and raise a clutch. If I give her a hatch of goslings, she is very unlikely to hatch out another clutch on her own. She can't raise goslings and set on a nest of eggs all at the same time.

I intend to keep all the quality goslings from my older goose this year. Culls always get eaten. I don't sell birds that aren't good enough for me to keep for my own breeding program.

If the yearling goose hatches a clutch, I will sell the best of those and eat the rest.

 

[rivermedic]

I have been brooding some embdens, chinese, and a mess of ducks. I've noted that after a few days they are OK without heat if they can be together as long as there are several of them. They like to be held but ONLY if they are together. They freak out if separated. I was also totally unprepared for how much water they drink. It's staggering. Their water gets brown and messy at the end of the day. I don't think it's from their droppings. I have yet to figure out what causes this. Maybe it has to do with them washing their face. They LOVE finely diced cabbage in water. Have fun : )

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

I will be giving them greens and such. I hear they like them.

Oregon blues: just send me your culls (lol, just kidding) how many do you plan on keeping? Are you still ordering those 2 pairs of goslings from holderreads?

 

[littledear]

Duckgirl, you may want to also feed them gamebird starter and put a packet of chick starter in the water the first day to give them vitamens and enzymes. I did that the last goslings I hatched and boy did they grow fast. After a couple of weeks you can start mixing the starter ration with a gamebird condition feed to wean them off of the starter. This with greens (I start mine with lettuce run through the food processor) and lots of fresh water does the trick. They wash their bills out in the water when they eat so it gets messy quickly and needs to be changed often. You also don't want them to be able to climb in the water until they are older. My geese love all kinds of lettuce but won't touch mustard greens. They will eat spinich too but it isn't their favorite food. Hope that helps you some.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i raised three goslings last year for the first time. Very different than chickens or ducks. Give them lots of room to get away from the heat. They don't need a heat lamp for very long. i think they were done with the lamp at two weeks. They aren't nearly as messy as ducks with their water, but do need a constant supply. i gave them chopped greens right off the bat, along with Flockraiser. And they get very attached to each other. Even now, almost a year later, they are like one goose with six legs.