Goose Care
There is nothing more magical than a goose. A hand raised gosling can steal your heart and will bond with you follow you everywhere and become your loyal friend. I personally think geese are the most ill represented of all the birds. They seem to have developed a bad reputation, everyone it seems has a negative goose story to tell.
Geese are wonderful maternal creatures and live by a matriarchal social system. The ganders bond for life with there mate keeping a vigil watch over her whilst she is sits for 35 days to hatch her young. Once the young hatch both gander and goose protect and raise them in the most sensitive and protective way. Its heart warming to see.
Don’t be fooled though that you can mix breeds a gander will mate with other females if they are the alpha male but always return to the family group they are in. So separate pen required for different breeds.
Raise goslings on duck/goose starter crumbles (Lauke Mills is good brand). You can add brewers yeast for extra niacin. Geese are primarily grazers. 8 geese are equivalent to 1 sheep! They must have access to fresh clean grass for a long healthy life. They can also have layers pellets or a specialised duck/goose finisher or breeders pellet. They need sand and shell grit for digestion. Like ducks they need a ready supply of water to wash out bills and to play and bath in.
Geese need water to breed. Geese are not as obsessed with water as ducks but they do need a dam or large pond for breeding season. Some of small breeds can use a baby paddle pool but larger breed need a dam.
The goose breeds here at Sacred earth farm are hardy, not smelly, sweet gentle, very entertaining and only show mild protectiveness during peak breeding season. I think they are the most adorable and the most magical of all the water birds.
