Introducing Geese to the Farm Soon

[stevasaurus 22,759]

One of the few Birdies I ever got was with a 5 iron trying to go across a pond on the 2nd hole on a water plagued golf course.  The goose just squawked and funneled my golf ball into the pond.  No geese were hurt in this instance...just my pride.  

[953 nut 55,280]

6 hours ago, Pullstart said:

have a considerable amount of steel.  My thoughts are the base of a Taj Mahal fowl house.

       Have we changed the topic to elephants or are we talking about keepin geese in a contained space?         

[Pullstart 62,905]

2 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

Have we changed the topic to elephants or are we talking about keepin geese in a contained space? 

  Bird math is like  math.  If you plan for 3, you should build for 30.  It won’t be long, and you’ll need space for 40 anyway.  Geese need 6-8 square feet of space per bird to be comfy.  Say 8 square feet to be nice and we plan to start with 6 birds.  Assuming bird math things, let’s just go ahead and double that and go 12x8 and you have 96 square feet for the goose side.  The chicken house now is 8’x8’ and is was ok for 17 birds at one point.  Now we’re at 27 or 28 and though the old ones will be culled at some point, we’ll likely expand to 30-40.  They say in industrial chicken houses, they are allowed 1 cubic foot.  In homesteading, they say 4 sq. feet is more comfortable, but since they have a big run I’ll be fine with 2-3/bird.  40x4 is 160 sq. ft.  We’re at 256 square feet already!  I should really just math the square feet of a school bus and park that… and call it good.    being that I have 12’ and 8’ crossmembers, I’ll probably make it 12’ wide if possible and 6-8’ high with a pitched roof.  Plenty of room for bedding, food, and roost storage all indoor if needed, plus nesting boxes, etc.  Geesh, I sure am glad I don’t have anything else to do! 

[Pullstart 62,905]

   I really thought this 8x8’ that I have now was going to last forever and be way too big!

[ebinmaine 67,553]

30 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

   I really thought this 8x8’ that I have now was going to last forever and be way too big!

Nope.  

[Handy Don 12,233]

37 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

   I really thought this 8x8’ that I have now was going to last forever and be way too big!

And your first tablet had maybe 8 or 16gb and how long did that last?

[Rob J. 1,942]

20 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

🐤🐤🐥🐥🐣🐣

 

🍳 🥚

 

🍖

 

Highly unlikely we would ever have geese here because Trina's mom is ...... not fond of them. 🤔

 

Ducks are a possibility we've talked about multiple times.

 

 

I'll be following along to see how this goes for you.

 

 

They make good property protectors. Mean sumb*tches. 

[ebinmaine 67,553]

8 minutes ago, Rob J. said:

They make good property protectors. Mean sumb*tches. 

Yes sir. Yes sir. But .... That's what Trina's for.

[Rob J. 1,942]

4 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Yes sir. Yes sir. But .... That's what Trina's for.

Two reasons here folks who live on lakes get lawn sprinkler systems. One obviously is to irrigate their lawn with free water and the other is to thwart off herds of geese. They set up motion sensors and it’s pretty effective. Otherwise their lawns become Fowled up land mine fields. Pun intended. They do crap similar to a medium size dog. 😉😜😂😬🤮

[Pullstart 62,905]

The “Embden” Geese arrived!  They are huge already!

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,553]

Good gravy those are adorable

[Pullstart 62,905]

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

4 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Good gravy those are adorable

So dang fluffy!

[Pullstart 62,905]

 

[953 nut 55,280]

3 hours ago, Pullstart said:

They are huge already

            Look at the size of the eggs they came from compared to a chicken egg.        

[Pullstart 62,905]

Day two of being a goose farmer.

 

We had a tough time getting them to eat any feed crumbles.  I had an idea to make them kind of a soggy mash.  They are getting after it, so long as there is available water.  They are not the smartest, and prefer to stand in the food while they eat it.  It appears that I’ll be able to sex them in a few weeks, to see if we’ll be able to reproduce.  Not to be of any offense, I’ve dubbed them all “Cousin Eddie” as they are slightly odd, slow and bigger than most birds I’ve seen.

 

As long as they eat and drink, I guess I don’t care how they get it down the hatch.  Beats a hungry animal!

 

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/sexing-ducklings-and-goslings/
 

 

[ebinmaine 67,553]

1 hour ago, Pullstart said:

Not to be of any offense, I’ve dubbed them all “Cousin EB” as they are slightly odd, slow and bigger than..... 

Hey! HEY!!

 

I resemble that remark!!!!

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

One week old, and the poop cannons are in near full force @squonk!

 

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

I stuck them outside in a makeshift pen today.  They ended up basking in the outdoor sun for a few hours before returning to the basement.
 

 

 

[953 nut 55,280]

On 4/21/2023 at 11:48 AM, Pullstart said:

As long as they eat and drink, I guess I don’t care how they get it down the hatch.  Beats a hungry animal

The are natural bug and worm eaters. Try adding some mealworm bird food and watch them devour it. After they are a couple months old they will get enough bugs and worms outside to make them happy.

On 4/21/2023 at 12:31 PM, Pullstart said:

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/sexing-ducklings-and-goslings/
 

 

                 Lets keep it clean here, this is a family friendly site!                    

[Pullstart 62,905]

12 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

The are natural bug and worm eaters. Try adding some mealworm bird food and watch them devour it. After they are a couple months old they will get enough bugs and worms outside to make them happy.

They got the taste for the food, and are now eating it dry.  I’m glad for that.  They sure have enjoyed the fresh grass, and will be great foragers as soon as they can tolerate the mid spring winter we’re enduring!  30 last night.  The 126 outdoor meat chicks have 1,000 watts of light on them at night time!  There are 2 chicks left inside with the goslings, keeping our current bird count at 160 on the farm.  

[Pullstart 62,905]

They grow so fast!

 

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

Unreal how big they are already!

 

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

We have moved the geese into the new Goosehenge pen.  It’s attached to the layer coop/run and I’m working on a 7x8’ addition for the geese mainly.  The water will likely move into that pen to force the chickens to mingle along with the automatic door.  I have a 12v 300 lb actuator that I’ll stick on a full size door.  I’m not positive the expanded metal ramp will become permanent or not.