What to feed my geese

[buggymuffin]

We are the proud new owners of a pair of Pilgrim goslings and I am wondering what we should be feeding them as they get older. We have a small established flock of ducks (3 Khaki & 3 Cayuga hens) and we decided to add some geese. They are about 3 weeks old right now and we are going to be transitioning them to grower feed this week. We also let them forage in the yard for an hour or two on warmer days. My question is, what do we feed them when we integrate them with the rest of the flock? We feed the ducks layer pellet and they have a large pen to forage in. Is this okay for the geese as well? We will be letting them out of the pen regularly and giving them the run of the couple of acres we have as often as possible, but should we be feeding them different feed? I have done some searching, but I am seeing a lot of mixed information. I am most concerned about winter when there is snow on the ground and foraging is not possible. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[jtn42248]

We are the proud new owners of a pair of Pilgrim goslings and I am wondering what we should be feeding them as they get older. We have a small established flock of ducks (3 Khaki & 3 Cayuga hens) and we decided to add some geese. They are about 3 weeks old right now and we are going to be transitioning them to grower feed this week. We also let them forage in the yard for an hour or two on warmer days. My question is, what do we feed them when we integrate them with the rest of the flock? We feed the ducks layer pellet and they have a large pen to forage in. Is this okay for the geese as well? We will be letting them out of the pen regularly and giving them the run of the couple of acres we have as often as possible, but should we be feeding them different feed? I have done some searching, but I am seeing a lot of mixed information. I am most concerned about winter when there is snow on the ground and foraging is not possible. Any advice is appreciated.

Something formulated for a mixed flock, including waterfowl, such as Purina Flock Raiser or a similar product will be fine. I would be cautious about feeding a layer feed simply because of the extra calcium which geese do not need in an elavated amount year around. Geese are grazers so the more time you can allow them to graze the happier they will be. You can supplement with the Flock Raiser, some occasional cracked corn, they love things like Romaine Lettuce and mine love watermelon and fresh corn on the cob.

 

[jlmissouri]

Until a gosling is older I feed them gamebird starter, high protein feed. When they are off to a good start they go out to the brooder tractor where they have access to grass. When fully feathered they are allowed to join the flock which is free range. The geese are completely self sufficient through the growing season. There are a few months with no green grass and they are given my regular mix of chicken feed and hay.

Geese are very self sufficient. They can easily live off good pasture with no additional feed needed. They are also a lot less likely to have problems with predators. I only give my geese feed during the breeding season when they are locked up so I can collect eggs, and in the depth of winter.

 

[Elevage]

We start our goslings on turkey/game bird starter crumbles. After several weeks when they are large enough they are fed turkey grower pellets. When they start to push their primaries we drop the protein level by offering scratch feed to lessen the risk of angel wing, though by this time they are already on pasture and only getting enough grain as a reward for going back to barn peacefully at night. If geese have pasture they will not need grain and in your setup will be more than happy to help cleanup from other birds. A mixed flock feed in unnecessary and layer pellets are more than sufficient. During winter months your geese will forage through snow just fine with a minimum feed given to supplement, and again in your situation they will glean off what you are already feeding. Geese are quite self-sufficient and do not need much other than clean water.

 

[Skyfire]

Jupiter was eating grass from 3 days old, with Mazuri waterfowl starter feed provided around the clock. She eats feed only at night now. I give her a small dish of thawed peas three times a day. She is small for her breed, weighing in at 9.4 lbs at 9 1/2 weeks old. I read pasture fed geese tend to be smaller than those raised on primarily feed.