The African and Chinese goose thread!!

[mominoz]

Don't need to wet feed, likley to get mold growing that way. Could have ingested shavings, particularily if on them at the feed store. I only use towels or wire the first couple days until they 'know' where the feed bowl is and what is and isn't food. Could be anything, genetic, poison, birds are sensitive to chemicals and fumes....There are a certain percentage of babies that don't make it. Don't blame yourself. Be careful about Game bird feed, I think it is good as a supplement, but the ones I have seen have 36% protein which is too much for ducks and geese as a main source of feed. Chick starter is ok too..... Flockraiser is better if they have it. Higher protein isn't better, Angel wing can be a real big problem, they grow too fast and the wings turn outward, and if not wrapped and food changed it is permanant. They have found that wild geese given too many concentrates develop Angel Wing. I had it show up once , in 3 different breed of ducks, because I didn't change their feed over at the right time. Feed store people mean well, but unless they breed them..... they usually get their info from the 'salesman'.... who may or may not care about your birds, rather his/her sales...therefore the higher priced item is usually suggested....

 

[burdboy]

Gosh I want some brown Chinese Hesse do they get a long well with other ducks chickens and geniues

 

[atmaclean]

Don't need to  wet feed, liekly to  get mold growing that way. Could have ingested shavings, particularily if  on them  at the feed store. I only use towels or wire the  first couple days until they 'know' where the feed bowl is and  what is  and isn't food. Could be anything, genetic, poison, birds are sensitive to  chemicals and  fumes....There are a certain percentage of  babies that don't make it. Don't  blame yourself. Be   careful about  Game bird feed, I think it is  good as a supplement, but  the ones I have seen have 36% protein which is too much for  ducks and  geese as a  main source of  feed. Chick starter is ok  too..... Flockraiser is  better if they have it. Higher protein isn't  better, Angel wing can be a real big  problem, they grow too fast and  the wings turn outward, and if not wrapped and  food changed it  is  permanant. They have found that wild  geese given too many  concentrates develop  Angel Wing. I had it  show up  once , in 3 different breed of  ducks, because I  didn't  change their feed over  at the  right time.  Feed store people  mean well, but unless they  breed them..... they usually get their info from the  'salesman'.... who may or may not care about your birds, rather his/her sales...therefore the  higher priced item is  usually suggested....

I can get the Purina flockraiser if that is better for them. I can pick some up tomorrow. I have the 2 at my kitchen window now so I can watch them. I may take them to work with me tomorrow so I can keep an eye on them. I'm just so worried that something else will happen. I've got cream leg bars on lock down to hatch tomorrow too. Will be a busy day!! Thank you so much for the help and advice!

 

[NathanZee]

Gosh I want some brown Chinese Hesse do they get a long well with other ducks chickens and geniues

I have Brown Africans that are partially chinese, and they do fine with my chickens, but have to be kept separate from the ducks.

 

[Patriciaallison]

I have always heard geese are mean mean mean! I went to a farm and bought pigs and came home with a goose. He is the best thing! He watches my ducklings and is always telling me if anything comes near my coops at night. I am hoping to add female geese to his flock this week I would love to have more of these birds around.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

These are the 3 little goslings that we have. They seem to be doing just fine. I'm still not sure what could have happened to the other yellow gosling. I'm wondering of their might have been something wrong with it when we purchased it.

How long do you leave a heat lamp for the babies? I am thinking these are about a week or 10 days old - what do you think?

Watch how they act. If they hover under the lamp or pile up they are too cold. If they are on the far outer sides of the brooder and inactive, way too hot. I keep different breeds, so I just adjust the heat according to body language. Ideally you drop the temps 5 degrees weekly..

So , I have a baby African, that just hatched yesterday . Seems it is the only African egg that hatched (grandkids accidently pulled the plug twice on the bator for who knows how long, and had 2 power outages that the backup didn't restart....I did get 3 goslings of another breed hatched also. Yesterday I took the eggs from the female who had been setting eggs (only one hatched, the others were duds, probably from the yearling geese). I have 2 gooses that started to set in the last week. One is the African mom, the other a Shetland mom. (haven't candled their eggs yet.) So I put 2 of the babies out yesterday with the mom, who had the one baby and took the bad eggs away. She and her sister and hubbies took to babies and they alll seem ok. The two goslings I have left,hatched a day later and are in incubator to be moved. My dilemia is this: Do I give the African baby to the family with the 3 babies , plus the other Shetland , or do I give it to the Super African parents to raise (there are 4 of them, but the males are only a year old), who have never raised babies? Identity crisis here..... or in a couple weeks switch him to the africans, so he bonds with them too? I already have one African who was raised with Shetlands and trys to get into their pasture sometimes...
But when I look at the size of the Africans....gee , they could squash it pretty easy... Or just put it alone with a mom? It would interupt her setting at one week.... but think I should let her give the eggs a try for a couple weeks.... She set last year, but exploders... no live ones. Or give them to another female in another pen who just started setting. She is older too, but with 7 other geese who are yearlings, except her mate, who is 2.

Do not give the baby to a mother midway through brooding. She may abandon her eggs, or ignore the gosling and let it starve. Introduce and monitor closely to the active mother at wee hours of the morning...stick the baby under her is my only thought. A random daytime gosling is likely doing to be rejected and injured unless she is an exceptional hen. If it was my choice that baby is going in a brooder if its small, and hopefully added to a broody hen thats hatching later.

Thanks so much "mominoz". I have moved the goslings to my back porch in a wire bottom cage with a towel at one end (opposite their food/water). I had another gosling go to sleep and not wake up today. It was fine this morning and was out walking around and watching us do chores. Absolutely no clue what could have happened. They have heat lamps, plenty of food and fresh, clean water. I read somewhere that they will eat shavings, so I wonder if maybe they ingested some of the sand from the floor. I just can't imagine what happened. I never dreamed they would be this fragile. I put the baby chicks in the same indoor/outdoor pen and they are doing fine. I am also using a Southern States brand wild game starter feed for the geese (non-medicated!). It is what the feed store recommended when I purchased them.

Somewhere else I read that I should wet their feed?? I have their dry food and water right next to each other so they can go back and forth with just a turn of the head.

Can you tell from the pictures what breed they are? They are "hatchery choice" so they thought African.

I dont wet the feed, but I do make sure once they are stable and walking they can dunk into the water enough to clear the nasal passages.
I will go back and look for your pictures. Hatchery usually means chinese if they say african, likely a mix. Super african are often a hatchery version of true African.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Gosh I want some brown Chinese Hesse do they get a long well with other ducks chickens and geniues

I comingle from day 1, so mine all do fine. Drakes may try to breed the young geese hens, and cause the ganders to go after them! Main thing is to limit drakes or confine them away from other species.

Quote:
Thats an Ideal choice for feed, or nonmedicated 24% chick starter. Good luck with your Legbar hatch, very attractive breed!

 

[Sarkchick]

Can anyone tell me how old the geese are when they start getting the knob??
I have 2 goslings which are 7 weeks old. Their mom is a
Toulouse/Brown Chinese mix, dad is either Brown Chinese or African.
And I know it's asking ALOT - but can anyone tell their sex??
Pictures at a couple days old and 7 weeks

Thanks. Linda

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I have always heard geese are mean mean mean! I went to a farm and bought pigs and came home with a goose. He is the best thing! He watches my ducklings and is always telling me if anything comes near my coops at night. I am hoping to add female geese to his flock this week I would love to have more of these birds around.

First, welcome to BYC!
I grew up with them, and adore them so much. We keep a lot of different species. Geese are my pets, and I adore them. Just need human socializing like any other animal you plan to keep. Its the geese that have not had human love and interaction that can become a problem. Even those geese can be taught "whats ok" from you as the flock leader.
One good example.. my oldest gander at 4, Gee was a total stinker as a teenager. He now insists he walks me through all my daily chores, talking to me the whole time. I have 3 ganders, and all 3 know the rules and respect me. Of course i give him a rub to the chest and a handful of chick feed too. He has fathered a few hundred goslings, many not his. Gee is social and just a good guy. So many folks are missing out because of wrong information. Geese are a very productive affectionate species IF raised properly, like any other living being. They are not guardians but will deter hawks, and warn your other birds if there is a threat also.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Can anyone tell me how old the geese are when they start getting the knob??
I have 2 goslings which are 7 weeks old. Their mom is a
Toulouse/Brown Chinese mix, dad is either Brown Chinese or African.
And I know it's asking ALOT - but can anyone tell their sex??
Pictures at a couple days old and 7 weeks






Thanks. Linda

Do not count on a knob for judging sexes. They are so beautiful! Gander will have longer thicker necks, bigger, longer legs. Voices will be more of a higher pitch in gander as they mature. a bit young to tell, but the last pic is a goose for sure.