Geese anyone ????

[Nicos]

OH came home yesterday saying that he's said he'll have a couple of goslings from a neighbour when they've hatched

..darn- where on earth does he get these silly ideas from??

So.....I thought we'd better do a bit of groundwork ( yup- you know how much I enjoy researching!!!!)
At this stage we'd be thinking about keeping them for eating only.
So - how many peeps have geese?
Am I right in thinking they don't have to have a pond?
What about housing at night?
How well do they get on with chooks,cockerels baby chick???

Any advice is welcome! Thanks

[TEB]

A neighbour had geese - they were almost lynched because of the god awful racket they made (the geese not the neighbours), they didn't last long.

[Nicos]

Ahh...noise?

OK- we have neighbours

...maybe we can bring one on for them for Xmas too???

[Glutton4...]

They can be a bit vocal, but it's not constant. They will let you know when anyone's around. I've had mine since may last year, and I love 'em. They were too old to eat when I got them, so I still have them. They live on grass, but I have been advised you need to corn feed them if you want them tasty and tender, and don't give them too much space to wander.

They will eat just about anything; gates, fences, old bits of any rubbish laying around too. Mine have chewed all the lichen off a wooden five-barred gate, which has given it a 'frilly' look!

My Dad keeps saying they should go in the pot, despite the fact that they will probably be tough as shoe-leather. But as yet he hasn't got round to doing the 'deed' so I think he's all talk.

[Snadger]

A goose is a cross between a guard dog and a lawn mower!

[RichmondHens]

I want to keep geese too. Have friends who have them. They don't need a pond but do need to be able to immerse their heads in water (a large bucket is apparently ok). Having eaten older geese I would certainly make sure they are killed nice and young as old goose meat is chewy as hell! I am entertaining the thought of trying to hatch my own under a broody (a large hen will cover two goose eggs) but it's not got further than the thought stage at the moment. Let me know how you get on.

Oh, and if you think chickens poo a lot, geese poo even more .............

[Nicos]

What age is D-day then???

[petal]

We have 4 goose eggs in the incubator(velociraptor eggs my daughter calls them) they are destined for a delicious roast, I'm afraid!

[Jeanied]

Just googled your question Nicos - here it is from Katie Thear

Heavy breeds, if they have been fed regularly on concentrates, can be killed at 8 - 10 weeks. They can weigh up to 4.5kg (10 lb). To maximise growth at this age, you need to reduce their amount of exercise and bring them inside overnight. They are ready as soon as they are fully feathered.

Beyond 12 weeks, food conversion declines as they grow much more slowly and they can moult which makes for lots of pin feathers. This can make plucking a nightmare. If you continue to feed grower or finisher rations during the summer period when there is plenty of good grass, you are incurring extra expense and your geese will finish early, perhaps as early as 13-14 weeks. This is a bad time for plucking so it is better to feed less concentrates at this time. If you use the pasture fully and restrict or stop supplementary feeding altogether, the geese will not grow as rapidly during this period, but this will not have any effect on future growth.

[BUFFS]

the geese make fantastic guards,throw a dog some meat, and he is happy,not so easy to get past geese,and there is always the fact that they taste good,all you need is the room to accomodate them..

[walldanzig]

I have two geese they honk a lot when I let them out hiss a bit when I go near them but I think they are great they have just gone into lay(ones a gander) they have 3 buckets of water about the place and they seem very happy with that. They occasionaly chase the chickens around but only over food. They stay in a shed overnight I go up to close them in as the fox is about and as big as they are I reckon foxie would have them. they are no fuss and a pleasure to have

[petal]

Yes, when i was a lass, my dad lost a goose to a fox,(in broad daylight!) I tracked it on my horse(feather trail!) and found its den, let the cumbrian hunt know (foot hunt - a very efficient tradition in cumbria) as we had a smallholding at time, so we knew the fox would be back. It wasn't, I can tell you! Much as I love animals, i do sympathise with farmers.

[Glutton4...]

Goose poo starts off very dark and wet. Within a couple of days (dry weather) it starts to dry out and go paler. Within a couple of weeks or so, it pales to fawn then straw colour and disintegrates into the ground. I've had mine since May last year, and only ever had to clean poo up off the doorstep if (when) they get into the garden. They gravitate to where the food provider happens to be, clever huh!

As for water - any water-filled container they can actually get in will please them immensely. Ever seen a fully grown Gander trying to mate with an orange B&Q bucket? It's hilarious!

[its hilly]

G4 coffee- -screen

Have had mine nearly a year, bought as young adults. They are a pair of white chinese x (probably emden as they quite big) They have a wooden home-built shed at night cos of foxes, and as adults they eat approx one and a bit 500g marge tubs of mixed corn per day between them. They wont touch pellets sadly as they obviously hadnt been fed them when thay were young. But love the cooked veg mixtures that the chooks get as treats. They are allowed free range but dont go far,and have a kiddies plastic paddling pool to splash in, as its next to their shed on concrete it doesnt get too full of muck, but they also have a couple of small buckets of clean water too.
They are intelligent and normally very good company, but at the mo my goose is coming into lay, and Sid the gander is getting very protective. Ive got some serious bruises off him when hes caught me unawares. Though he backs off if I speak firmly to him. He doesnt normally like Al my oh, but has actually drawn blood a couple of times recently, Al is not impressed

[Nicos]

I'm not quite sure which breed they will be- there are several free ranging together- and some of themm are already cross bred.
Most however are Normandy Geese- bso they may look like this!

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/G...KNormandy.html