Scratch/grit alternatives?

[vikkicatz]

I have a gosling that is around week old, no more than 1 1/2 weeks, by my estimation. S/he's doing great, eating well & happy. I know scratch & grit is needed for geese of a certain age, but i'm not sure exactly when to start, but this little thing has proven to be something of a picky eater (not a fan of romaine lettuce or berries, loved celery, tolerated mushrooms because they were chopped like the chick starter that s/he goes nuts for), so my thinking is if she has it before she needs it, she'll probably just ignore it. But i want to make sure she gets it if she needs to.

Problem is, where I live is perfect for a goose: lots of water (we live on a river) and lots of land with good grass, shade etc. but i do not exactly live in "farm country". After acquiring this guy, I spent hours driving around to find a store that sells anything designed for birds beyond sparrows or cardinals. Now that I know where a feed store is, its about an hour away and if there's something to substitute for commercial grit, that would be helpful. I remember seeing grit there but getting out there is such a pain in the buttt for this suburbanite.

I read i can give it sand, like the untreated kind one would put in a very young child's sandbox (since little kids would also put it in their mouths!). But I do not want to take any chances: if I have to i'll drive back to the tractor supply store. Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly welcome, especially with the price of gas!!!!
Thanks!!

 

[DuckDuckDuckGoose]

Quote:
Vikki=save the gas, simple sand is grit. give it a tsp. of fine sand and mix it in with the food it will eat it by instinct, their bodies need it to digest food in the crop. Also scratch is not needed, but when he is older and outside on his own go for it!
Thanks,
T.

 

[goosedragon]

The roads in the country here are mostly tar and gravel. they spray on the tar and add fine gravel over the top. The gravel not held by the tar makes great goose grit! I usually scoop up about a guart and let the goslings pick their own best size.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would not use the fine play sand. It is ground too smooth and will pass right through their system. If you can find coarse sand with bigger grains, that works great. I've gathered sand and small pebbles from a gravel road or driveway. Construction sand works well too.

 

[TDM]

Quote:
Hi goosedragon, sounds like you are new to raising geese. Welcome!!! It is best that you do not let your geese ingest asphalt tainted rocks due to health reasons. That would also be bad for any humans ingesting the eggs or meat. If you would like to learn more about geese, please feel free to PM me.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Hi goosedragon, sounds like you are new to raising geese. Welcome!!! It is best that you do not let your geese ingest asphalt tainted rocks due to health reasons. That would also be bad for any humans ingesting the eggs or meat. If you would like to learn more about geese, please feel free to PM me.

Well do you often try to teach your grandmother how to suck eggs? I only have about 50 years with waterfowl and 15 with geese. Might I suggest that you don't jump to assume that someone you disagree with is new to the game. Sure a lot of the old timely stuff is wrong. Have you ever tried to keep free ranging flying geese from eating what ever they want? You just assume I collect the tary gravel and feed that to my goslings? true I never said I go through it first thats because I assume people have some common sense! I will be keeping an eye on TDM. 2083 vs 9