hello, my geese arrived at last just over a week ago.
I had 5 hatch out of 8. one partially hatched, got it's head free then decided never to complete her hatching process, she died sitting in her shell just looking out of the hole she made.
another hatched and lived a week then died for no apparent reason. he did look quite weak, was the smallest of the group and struggled to get to grips with walking. he did go outside for a while and got to have a swim, so although his life was short he did do some goosey stuff.
so to the three I have left, I have Ronnie (the only girl) who is sleek sweet and very petite. she is pretty quiet but very active.
then there is Reggie, a huge ball of fur who is fairly placid right now.
last of all is the biggest Mr Nebbercracker. he is huge, already too big to fit in one hand. the boys are very inquisitive and will bump chests at times. they have done since a day old, but moments later will snuggle up with each other.
bathing is fun, they swim under water quite a lot, I started them off in warm water, now their fur seems waterproof I am getting them used to cooler water slowly.
they mix with our chicken, her name is bully and she lives up to her name quite well. she is often remonstrating with the geese, however Mr Nebbercracker does like to pull on her feathers; which she takes in her stride. if she considers them to be misbehaving she gives them a little peck, I guess just to show them who is boss. she is not very old herself, having hatched easter time.
the only critical point I could make about these lovely little goosey morsels is that they are so **** messy! I really had no idea how much fertiliser these little beasts would produce.
they eat loads, drink loads and get rid of it just as quickly.
I have a stream running through my land, I sunk a pond into the waterway so that it has continuous flow through it but gives them a fairly deep pool to play in. I have not introduced them to it yet, I figured that can wait until they have feathers, the bath tub will suffice until then.
