Toulouse Goslings: wanting more info PLEASE?

[erijn5]

I'm am looking for anyone who can give me a good website or bundles of info on Toulouse Goslings. We have 3 that we hatched out, I am pretty chicken smart, but I want to know more about my 3 babies.

Like when do they start getting there feathers? Should they be on chick starter or wild game poultry? Besides all the others stuff we give them. They free range all day, and get lettuce and carrots and starter at night. They are imprinted on us so they think they are human...so cute, but not good for a predator situation.

Anyway any info would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[Shelbycobra]

Hi,
I would recommend non medicated Turkey or game fowl food. It has more protien. Ducks and geese need more niacin so I add 1# of brewers yeast to every 10# of food. Green leafy veggies will help this as well. I have found a wealth of information on the computer about geese.
Good Luck

 

[chseeads]

They take longer to get feathers than chickens/turkeys etc. I don't know just how long though....so I'm not that much help...lol

 

[jessi]

They will start to get their feathers at about six weeks. I feed my geese Poulous 17 Percent, a feed for waterfowl and poultry. I mix this with cracked corn, and they get to free-range on my lawn all day. An adult goose eats about a small yogurt container of this feed a day, if it gets free-grazing. Babies, on the other hand, have no bottom. Just feed them as much as they will eat! I leave feed out several hours a day. I don't know if they'd get as much as they need if you only give it at night. That would work for adults, but babies seem to be ravenous. I have 5 pet geese. The oldest I rescued 15 years ago. They are a treasure, and they are so entertaining. I turn off the TV and watch my geese. Good luck with your cuties!

 

[jessi]

P.S. Goslings are goslings, and geese are pretty much geese. Proper care is pretty across the board for all the breeds. Make sure they are in at dusk and keep them in until full light to protect against predators. And their housing must have a floor in it that a predator can't dig into, or they can be attacked in the night. I have a solid wood floor, and cover it with straw, which I layer each morning in the places where they pooped. Before that, I kept them at night in a place with a dirt floor, but I dug down six inches, laid out one-inch chicken wire, stapled it all around to the walls, then added the dirt back in to fill it up. This kept out predators, because when they tried to dig under the shed, their toenails contacted the chicken wire. I've never lost a goose in 15 years, while my neighbors have routinely lost chickens and ducks at night. If you're careful about your night housing and keep them safe during the day, you will have your babies for many many years. Don't crowd them into a pen, or they will be very unhappy.

 

[erijn5]

They are getting their tail feathers and a few wing feathers it just seems to be taking so long! LOL They are so cute! They do get to free range all day and we pen them up every night!

We did loose one yesterday though, I was freaking out, we were looking high and low for it.... I had been outside and the doberman was outside also so I figured nothing had came in the yard to kidnap it. So upon my search and anxiety I found it, with all the rain we have had it had fell in a 3ft sink hole!!!!!!!!

I was freaking out I got done on my hands and knees and got it out and took it over to the pool and it rebathed itself....I was so happy. If it would have been a free gosling there is no way the parents could have gotten it out... I was glad it was here..