i got geese!- and they don't know how to swim! **ATTN KAREN**

[bibliophile birds]

thanks to kcsunshine, i've now got 2 beautiful tufted Romans in the backyard! they are wonderful. i had to make myself come in out of the dark cause i've just been sitting out there chatting with them.

ok, so now what? all you experienced SS geese keepers, tell me your secrets. what are some really great treats so i can buy their love? have you had any luck using them to weed gardens/flower beds? anything else i should really know?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

oh h*ll's bell's woman! did you not read about OD!??!

http://adventuresinthegoodland.blogspot.com/2010/01/gettin-my-goose.html

after you're done being terrified.... the trick to having geese is... nothing.

seriously. they are so easy. throw them out in the yard and thats about it. make sure they have a bucket of clean water and show them where the pond is then just stand back and watch the amusement.

in the winter you'll have to make accommodations - make sure they are out of the wind and DRY (change the litter/straw/bedding a lot or just add more to give them a dry place to stand)...but easy-smeasy.

except in the winter we dont even give them bagged food - they are terrific grazers. but unlike chickens and ducks - geese wont eat varmints. just grass. you can use a turkey or duck grower as bagged food along with some corn..but really they will be just fine in the yard.

altho they will stand their ground with dogs, in the end they will lose the fight. we keep our geese locked up tight at night but they roam around at will during the day.

in all seriousness, the ganders can get mean during mating and setting season. OD really did kill at least one hen and has gone after some others.

our Cindy and Junior are both toulouse x romans - i love their little crested heads!

pix! pix!

 

[bibliophile birds]

here they are in Karen's giant chicken tractor before i went and stole them away

and here they are in the trunk* of my dad's car......... how else do you get geese home? and the car needed a good interior hosing anyway.

i'll post some pics of them set up here at the house tomorrow. i was too busy adoring them to remember to take pictures.

OFG, i hadn't read about OD but i'd been hearing rumblings about him. hopefully there won't need to be a second round of gander beat downs- these two haven't given me any trouble yet, not so much as a nibble.

so far, the dogs and cats are confused. Gus is the protector of all small, furry things (except stuffed toys, which must be killed and gutted instantly) and he keeps giving me that "I really want to cuddle them" look. the cats won't go further than the side porch, which is about 50 yards from the pen. they just don't think it's funny at all.

*eta: trunk sounds so bad. but hatchback thingy sounds stupid. whatever, they were IN the car with me, just behind the seats.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

mwhahahahaha!!! another one comes to the dark side!!!!!!!!

seriously - i love my geese (and ducks) more than the chickens! (but shhh don't tell the chooks I said that!)

I have a pair of Roman Tufted's and they are the most gentle of my geese - seriously. He tries to act all manly and tough - like the Sebbie and Embden ganders are - but he just doesn't have the same amount of - uh - man jewels - to have the same meaness. he just doesn't have the ability to put that fear into anyone.

now the Embden - his name is Zeus after the Greek Thunder god, and believe me, there's a reason he earned that name. His wife is Penelope - and right now we can't even get into their enclosure because Zeus has proclaimed war on anyone who dares to venture into Olympus due to the recent hatching of Athena and Hercules.

The Sebbies aren't all named - but the Gander we've been "affectionately" calling Lucifer - you can imagine why. He almost killed me the first week he was here. I have one Sebbie goose setting on a Roman Tufted egg and one Sebbie egg.

My friend Becca incubated some Sebbie eggs for me, and today my first blue sebbie gosling hatched and there's a white one pipped.

anyhoo - the geese are hilarious to watch, are so full of personality, and they're like puppies if you raise them up from young'ins.

it's great!

i love my waterfowl.

 

[Henrietta23]

Wow, they almost don't look real in the first pic! They're so perfect.
Good thing I'm terrified of geese. I'd be tempted!
We call the hatchbacky space the cargo area.... or in my station wagon, the "wayback". That stems from childhood.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

geese in a trunk.. no problem!

we sold a goose out of the back of our truck in the church parking lot last year.

we caused quite the hubbub and all the old ladies wanted to know what was what out there.... by the end of the service we were so overcome with guilt that we confessed to the pastor what we'd done and gave him the $15 as an offering. didnt want to be an money-changer and all
;-)

so now when we come flyin' into church at the last second they all check the back of the truck to see what we got back there. normally we just have straw

;-)

yep, Quail, she's hooked....waterfowl rules! i'd have a whole field of geese if it wasnt for The Big Man (he hates the geese).

 

[big brown horse]

They are beautiful!

 

[kcsunshine]

Sorry bb - I didn't see this link - I posted the pic in your other thread too. You're all over the place. Our back yard is awfully quiet over here. Might be time in a couple of weeks to cash in on our visitation rights.

 

[Henrietta23]

Hey, my rabbit has that same green treat holder with the bell in her condo!

 

[bibliophile birds]

Might be time in a couple of weeks to cash in on our visitation rights.

that sounds perfect. they are settling in nicely and have resumed honking, so i didn't break them! i'm aiming for having our picnic around the first of June and they should be all set up by then and ready for their visit!