Why do my pair of geese do this? (Pictures)

[natyvidal]

Hi everyone! First there was Gladstone! Beautiful African goose gander! But a lonely heart. He was even defending the hens from the roosters! I think he was getting an identity crisis? So for almost two years I looked for a female! Second: here is Daisy! What forms! Already laying eggs and hatched one clutch. They immediately bonded. And started to lay eggs in the chicken coop, with the hens but Gladstone was acting as he was supposed to do as a mating partner and disrupting the layers!
Third: So we build them a home. Not big, it’s only for sleeping and laying eggs, and eating their special food. (The chickens were eating their food before.). And To keep them safe from possible predators. They free range all day as well as the rest of the flock and are supposed to return to their new home an sunset. (Today is the first day after a week of being enclosed that I let them out.)
Fourth: why do they make such a big mess everyday with their water? Holes big enough that a predator can squeeze in under the board? They weren’t doing that before when living in the chicken coop? And enclosed run? Are they looking for minerals in the dirt? At night I clean their container and add water for them to drink. In the morning most of the water is gone and I have a mound of dirt two to three inches deep?
Any help and information in geese psychology and behavior is greatly appreciated. I already found info about breeding behavior. Thank you.

 

[sourland]

Geese and ducks just love to mess in mud and water. They may be searching for earthworms, but mostly it's just what they do.

 

[chickenmama929]

those are beautiful geese! I have 4 ducks and I have always wanted a goose

 

[Goosebaby]

You can fill in the holes with some gravel, it won’t stop them from mucking around and making puddles but it will help, you can help keep them less messy by adding some bedding, like wood shavings and straw. Geese love playing in water and puddles so that won’t really change.