Sebastopol Geese Thread !!!!!!!!!! SHOW YOUR PICS !!!!!!!!!!

[Finny]

Thanks so much for your answers! They are very encouraging!

 

[SilkieSensation]

I did have a little trouble with feather nipping in my juvenile pen this past summer. I originally thought it was the geese, but it turned out to be the anconas & khakis...little brats!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I heard Sebastopols were calm geese so they probably would not pluck the ducks like the american buffs right?

I wanna show off my sebastopols! Here's Rex and Rosie. They are my 1 1/2 year old breeding pair that I lucked into then almost sold, but now I'm glad I didnt!

Rex and Rosie are lovely!

Yes, the Sebastopols are very calm and easy going in temperament.

Blessings -

~ Aspen

 

[ashandvine]

More snow here... again. No eggs. Unhappy geese.

 

[RURU]

We had rain, sleet then snow today. My husband found another egg on the outside of he pens. Because of such cold frozen weather the poo has frozen so badly he took a pick axe to it and could not break through. The geese went into the kennels we have for nest and crapped them all up and the frozen poo can not be removed until we get a few warm days. This has been a total mess to not be able to get to the poo because it is frozen so hard with single digit and below 0 degrees here. What a mess this is gong to be to clean up.

My girls have been laying eggs and they have frozen before we could get them so just throw them into the woods...I will not let them waste their heat sitting on frozen eggs! Plus I am not ready for setting eggs plus it is too cold for the girls to start sitting....

 

[ashandvine]

Yes, a foot of snow Friday and more snow today. More coming again on Tuesday.

I am so completely finished with all this but it is the storm before the Spring I guess. I have no eggs here. Still. Maybe its just cuz they are young, well a few of them. I hope to find the eggs and blow them out before they freeze so we can try decorating a few. Its the only hope I have for eggs right now. The incubator is out and clean. I have yet to get it started. I have yet to put brooding areas together in the house. Which reminds me:
How do you brood all your goslings? In what?

 

[RURU]

Ash you may not like to do what I do for brooders... I have the incubators in my big bathroom and hatch goslings in there. Plus the ones I sell right away go fast. But the ones I want to keep we put in the garage in a big horse troft with a light on the side aiming on one section so they can choose heat or not.

 

[LTygress]

In the past, I used rubber maid bins for the first few weeks, then dog playpens for the next few.

This time around, it will be an old rabbit cage for a while. The rabbit cage is almost 5 feet long, and about 24 inches front to back, and 18 inches high. The heat lamp sits on top of one corner. After that is another dog playpen.

 

[RURU]

I also use plastic containers in my bathroom for my goslings... That way I can check on them a lot!

 

[ashandvine]

Thank you. What do you mean... "horse trough?" I have totes here I use for the chickens and honestly I do find them pretty easy to clean and stack and store or use for something else if I need to. I find they aren't big enough for more than a couple geese once things get going. I tell myself that as long as they are out and running around in fenced areas on warm days its just like a crib- small but only for bed time anyway. I am a little afraid I am going to go hog wild on goslings and wonder what the heck I was thinking when I run out of room. I do want them somewhere I can see them often and they can hear us and interact with us. Last year I was a real nut. I would let Verbena out on the floor and just walk around behind her for a bit pinching up the drops. They were few and far between. I felt her exercise and play time was important. This year... well, I hope spring warmth comes early so I can take these little gaggles outside to graze and walk. I can't imagine how I am going to feed them all since I gather dandelions and grass and chop it all by hand and mix with the germ and oats. Oh boy!