Stealth Geese....am I doing this right?

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I have ten almost three week old Toulouse goslings. They are getting feathers. They get 18 and 22 percent (I got a bag of each because 20 percent is best) (??) crumbles. They are now eating six large chick sized trays a day. And drinking three gallons of water. I am gathering large handfuls of young green gress and bringing to them. As they see me with the grass, I call "geese! geese! geese!" and bend down to pet each one as they eat.

We started them out in the chick brooder, which they quickly outgrew (!!) and now they are in the greenhouse. At dusk, I lure them into a large dog carrier with another handful of grass.

The idea is that they become accustomed to the "residents, " including the dog, but they will make lots of noise for strangers.

We plan to build critter proof "safe houses" with double wire floors, and secondary fencing inside our perimeter fence, and to position them at possible entry points around the property.

A) can geese be tamed this way? B) will they get into their house at night like the chickens do? C) should we put barred windows in the house so they can see/hear intruders at night and then make the desired noise? D) are ten too many? are they going to need green grass all year or will they go to grain in the summer (dry here)? E) so far, we haven't let them out, because we have hawks and golden eagles. are they at risk for these raptors?

Please don't laugh at me.....it sounded like such a good idea...on paper! and now the bigger they get, the more they eat and poop, the less I think I know about them!

-- Sarah (mother@goose.com), April 12, 1999

Answers

If you plan to walk in your yard, find some wooden shoes such as the Dutch use in their farmyards. Geese are prolific generators of poop, and refuse potty training. But you know this now.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), April 12, 1999.

Hey Tom,

funny that ... I know a few stealth y2k programmers... :)

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), April 12, 1999.


My adult children still tell stories of the one goose we had that used to chase them...he thought it was a game! they chased him and then he chased them....only problem was the older he got the more ferocious his bite became. Good luck! I hope you have a very large area for them...and a pond of water. Ours was eventually adopted by a family who lived in the country who had a pond. They do drink a lot of water. If it's dry where you are, how do you plan to supply more than three gallons of water per day as they grow, in a senario where the public system may be down?

-- Shelia (shelia@a.com), April 12, 1999.

Shelia,

"If it's dry where you are, how do you plan to supply more than three gallons of water per day as they grow, in a senario where the public system may be down?"

I think we all know the answer to that one :)

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), April 12, 1999.


Sarah...you are brave woman. I was never brave enough for geese. Ducks were a lesson to me. We had one 'mama' duck but our neighbor had a drake who would visit. 'Mama' would hide out until she was ready to show us her dozen or more ducklings. Once she tried to teach them to swim in the pool and they couldn't get out. I found them at the bottom and had to retrieve them. They were too young and got waterlogged and drowned. 'Mama' was upset for a week. Other batches were given away for other peoples' dinners as 'our' kids would not eat 'our' ducks. These days I am not brave enough for ducks. Chickens are as much as I am willing to take on right now. Had my share of calves, hogs, goats, sheep, and ducks. Children are grown and we eat little meat these days. Mostly vegetables and chicken. Two suggestions.....find a good receipe for roast goose and be sure to clip wings now and then. We once had chickens get out of hand and they would roost (and decorate) the old walnut tree at dusk every night. Live and learn...the newest batch of chicks will go into their new (to them) hen house by the end of this coming week. Just finishing the netting over the run so the hawks won't get them. The raccoons can't, I hope, get into the hen house and the recently observed fox better not try..or he is history. Keep us informed on your project. Good luck, Old Gramma

-- Old Gramma (Gotitincalif@webtv.net), April 12, 1999.


I had planned on chickens. Never have raised birds. Read some books and the complexities turned me off to the idea. Hen houses and all looked so complicated and expensive to build. We live in the forest - racoons, fox, raptors - you name it. No free range chickens. I thought maybe turkeys - would they be any easier? Anyone know of a site that gives simple inexpensive suggestions for raising fowl?

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), April 12, 1999.

I had geese, both African and Toulous, and they were like having town criers, or an emergency alarm system on the premises, which suited me fine. It's too late for my first advice, which would be to find out everything you can about geese, or any other livestrock, before buying them. They have certain requirements for healthy living just like people. I got mine for the joy of having them and for bug control, as Y2K hadn't become an issue at that time.

We had 8, and 4 were killed by predators. We built a predator proof house, with windows that could be opened in summer for fresh air. In addition to the screen wire we nailed another heavy, predator proof wire over that. Next we had a large area, including a pond, fenced in with tall chain link fence so they couldn't wander into the woods. One side of the goose house was for their food, which we kept in 55 gallon barrels. In winter we fed them grain. It sounds like your plan for their housing is good, but you really need a pond, or the water situation will be a chore.

Getting them off the pond in the eveing and into their house was a chore. But I really loved them, and that was the only way to keep them safe at night as we were surrounded by woods. But you may have an easier time as you've raised them from babies; mine were grown when I got them.

They were entertaining and the best parents I've ever seen. If all men were as protective and good to their offspring, as our gander, there would be no unwanted children in the world. The only time they tried to bite us was when they perceived us a threat to their babies. They got along fine with our dog, although he soon learned they wouldn't put up with his teasing.

I'm afraid you've taken on quite a project and if you don't have a subscription to Countryside magazine, I'd get one. Their web address is www.countrysidemag.com. It's a great source for everything you want to know about small livestock and living self-sufficiently. Also, for the balance of the year, they focus on Y2K and are an excellent source for information as well as products. Good luck!

-- gilda jessie (jess@listbot.com), April 12, 1999.


Hi Sarah,

Sounds like you've done an excellent job so far raising your baby geese. I'll try to answer your questions the best I can from memory, having had these critters when I was younger.

A) can geese be tamed this way?

Yes, the geese have imprinted on you and now you're the alpha member of their clan. One thing we humans have a tendency to do is to impose human views and values on animals. The geese don't look at you as a people, they perceive you as a different looking/acting goose. (g)

B) will they get into their house at night like the chickens do?

Good possiblity, animals develop habits and sometimes they supercede their instincts. You'll just have to wait and see, but if not you've trained them to follow you at that particular time of day so you may just have to add it to your daily chore list.

C) should we put barred windows in the house so they can see/hear intruders at night and then make the desired noise?

Make the openings as predator proof as possible while allowing fresh air into their shelter

D) are ten too many? are they going to need green grass all year or will they go to grain in the summer (dry here)?

When raising young animals, usually all don't live to maturity, if they do you've been very successful, but you still can loose adults for other reasons so you may not end up with as many. Only you will know whether 10's to many or not. In the summer they will find much more food on their own such as bugs, snails and other crawly/flying insects. If you don't have a pond, provide them with a cattle watering tank....this can be sunk into the ground; it would be convenient if possible to put it next to a faucet for easy filling.

E) so far, we haven't let them out, because we have hawks and golden eagles. are they at risk for these raptors?

They are at risk until they are larger, as all small animals are too those predators at certain sizes.

Hope this helps.

-- Cary Mc from Tx (Caretha@compuserve.com), April 12, 1999.


Are you interested in enlisting these creatures in the FRL?

-- Christine A Newbie (vaganti01@aol.com), April 12, 1999.

A word of advice to anyone raising anything for food. Do not make "pets" out of them or allow your children to. Learned the hard way many years ago that they then just turn into more mouths to feed!

When we went back to the land in the seventies we were able to turn a farmette into a petting zoo! Not very profitable. The rallying cry became "Mom,we can't possibly eat Charlie or Josephine or whatever"

Of course, a survival situation will be a bit different.

-- sue (deco100@aol.com), April 12, 1999.



Sarah

My geese always went to the nearest night light and camped out there all night long. If they are a bit hungry they will pull grass and such out of strawberries and eat it - too hungry and they will tend to eat everything. They will certainly make a fuss for intruders - I never had any trouble with the old story about the geese that saved Rome.

One minor warning about geese - they are very sensitive to some drugs that are fine for chickens and such. Never give them medicated chicken feed or drugs meant for chickens - if the label does not say it is for geese don't use it. I have seen a goose die in less than 5 minutes from getting into the wrong medicine. BTW - if you get any leg crippled hatchlings - just kill them and go on. Nothing to be done as far as I know.

Guineas will also fuss at intruders - as will peacocks. Peacocks seem the best able to fend for themselves re predators IMHO - but all barnyard fowl have trouble with foxes and such. A good night light is a great help against both foxes and human intruders.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), April 12, 1999.


My Mom has had geese for years. She lets them out of the barn in the morning and every evening they troop by themselves into the barn for the night. They are susceptable to predators if not kept safe at night. Geese are grazers by nature and as adults they will graze on your lawn like sheep. Mom supplements their grazing with feed especially in the winter. I don't remember if they like ornamentals or not but it's best not to give them the opportunity to graze in your flower or vegetable garden. The posters are right about the poop. Mom hoses down the areas that they frequent to blend the poop into the lawn (fertilizer). Make sure your housing is large enough, geese get quite tall, about 28 to 36 inches or so. When they are old enough they may begin to lay eggs. Check for eggs daily if one begins to lay eggs. They are fine to eat. Good luck.

-- Ramp Rat (Aviation_R_us@noname.nocity), April 12, 1999.

Goose poop is a good thing. It can be turned into methane gas. You might run out of wood, coal and so on but as long as you don't eat the geese, you shouldn't run out of gas. Shovel the stuff into a barrel that can be sealed. It should have a valve and a tube attached so the gas can be taken off as needed. If you heat the barrel to 80 degrees or more, which can be done by the sun if nothing else, methane comes out of the tube. Once it was started, a barrel, built into an insulated inclosure, could probably provide enough methane to keep itself heated along with the normal uses for the gas.

There may be some caution needed about how much pressure builds up in the barrel. You need some pressure to make the gas effective but you might want to shut off production when you're done it by cooling the barrel. It probably isn't a good idea to leave it sealed and sitting in the sun. :-)

Its possible you might also be able to store excess pressure in inner tubes to use when you can't heat the barrel up.

This is a bit of my newly gained "y2k" knowledge. Maybe I've learned just enough to be dangerous but hopefully others will fill in additional details where needed.

-- Floyd Baker (fbaker@wzrd.com), April 12, 1999.


Thank you all for your advice. To respond to a few comments, we have a well and 2.5 acres, but the unwatered grass dies in summer. And I am a long time subscriber to Countryside...but none of the questions I asked are covered in any of the poultry books (which are mostly older) I read. I really appreciate the tip about the chicken medicine..that has not been mentioned anywhere. And the methane gas...chicken manure is also good for that. The material I read suggested collecting it by newspapers in the bedding. My husband has concerns about the pressure problem also. I had not considered that I was the head animal...but you are right, they are herd creatures. I am the alpha in the pack as far as the dogs go, but I had not thought about the geese.

Peacocks yell all night long...mostly in response to other peacocks in the area.. The peahens made very little noise. We used to put a sock over his head at night...and that worked.

They will have a kiddie wading pool when they are older,

I know the part about not giving anything you are going to eat a name....in fact, I will repay you for all your kind advice by telling you a story:

About 20 years ago, we had three little kids, a hutch full of various bunnies, and a pregnant liver (solid brown) shorthaired pointer. We had taught the kids that the bunnies that were white were for food, although they were never around when we did the deed, but that the bunnies that were colored differently were for pets and they could name them.

So then the dog had puppies. She had eight solid liver and one spotted. Yup! The youngest announced: Well, so we can keep this one and eat the others!

Not!

Thanks again.

-- Sarah (mother@goose.com), April 12, 1999.


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