Post a reply

Image
Aug 8, 2013 3:34 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Lee Anne Stark
Brockville, Ontario, Canada (Zone 5a)
Perpetually happy!
Keeps Goats Forum moderator Frogs and Toads Tip Photographer Keeper of Poultry I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Critters Allowed Cottage Gardener Charter ATP Member Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Region: Canadian
What do you feed them over the winter?
I'm being told hay, goose pellets, chicken scratch....do they need all that?

Thumb of 2013-08-08/threegardeners/695b1c Thumb of 2013-08-08/threegardeners/545a18
Image
Aug 8, 2013 4:10 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Do you have just the two of them?

The only Geese around here are the Canada Geese that no longer migrate and have set up to living in the local parks and by the grassy sides of highways.
Image
Aug 8, 2013 4:12 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Lee Anne Stark
Brockville, Ontario, Canada (Zone 5a)
Perpetually happy!
Keeps Goats Forum moderator Frogs and Toads Tip Photographer Keeper of Poultry I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Critters Allowed Cottage Gardener Charter ATP Member Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Region: Canadian
I have those two and three Embdens.
Thumb of 2013-08-08/threegardeners/893bdd
Image
Aug 8, 2013 4:13 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Nice! Sorry, I am no help about advice on keeping them.
Avatar for porkpal
Aug 8, 2013 4:26 PM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
I've always wanted geese - supposedly as guards for my chicken flock. But I don't need any more animals here! Most feed companies make some sort of all-purpose poultry feed which should be adequate. If they are laying, a layer formula would be better. I'm sure they would appreciate the hay, but chicken scratch is not a complete feed - more of a treat. If they habitually free-range, they will probably hunt down most of their own food. I hope someone with actual experience can be more helpful.
Image
Aug 8, 2013 4:29 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Lee Anne Stark
Brockville, Ontario, Canada (Zone 5a)
Perpetually happy!
Keeps Goats Forum moderator Frogs and Toads Tip Photographer Keeper of Poultry I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Critters Allowed Cottage Gardener Charter ATP Member Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Region: Canadian
They do free range...but I'm in Canada...come December there's 3 feet of snow out there and nothing to free range Big Grin gonna have to come up with a formula to get them through 'til Spring.

I love the geese....they keep half of my lawn mowed beautifully and create quite the ruckus when anything strange comes into the yard. The two fluffy ones are very tame and friendly, the 3 white ones are a tad wild.
Image
Aug 8, 2013 6:58 PM CST
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Geese are good foragers in the summer, but when there's snow on the ground they need a dry place to sleep, and you will have to feed them some grain. I haven't had geese for a while. I used to feed them cracked corn, and alfalfa pellets in the winter (The kind they feed to rabits). Plus they used to pick up what scraps of grain the horses left. If you can find some really nice leafy alfalfa hay, they will pic the leaves off, but there's a lot of waste with hay. They will clean up the pelleted alfalfa, and nothing goes to waste. Good luck.
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Sep 6, 2013 9:31 AM CST
Name: Jeff
Perry Iowa (Zone 5a)
This is my first year with over wintering geese but I have duck's, chickens, Guineas that I have overwintered for 4 years. I have combined them all in the past to make it easier to feed and water but this year I will separate the ducks and geese they slosh the water so much it makes a big mess.
I feed oats early on and when above freezing and supplement with high protein feed or corn once a week. When it gets below freezing I cut the oats out and feed ground corn 18% hog feed far cheaper than poultry feed and will feed poultry feed at least couple days a month to make sure they are getting all needed nutrients
Image
Sep 6, 2013 10:27 AM CST
So Cal (Zone 10b)
Cat Lover Forum moderator Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Level 1
Welcome! to ATP. I have geese as well as ducks and chickens, too, but live in a much warmer zone (10) with no "real" winter.. In the past, I have allowed mine to be out foraging but my current situation forces me to keep them penned now (plus they are geriatric geese). Are your geese penned, pastured, or ?

Again, Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! to ATP!
"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." -Abraham Lincoln
Image
Sep 6, 2013 10:31 AM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Welcome! Jeff, welcome to ATP. Welcome!
Image
Sep 7, 2013 12:45 PM CST
Name: Joy Hall
Hempstead, TX (Zone 8b)
Lonesome Pine Farm
Dog Lover Farmer Keeps Goats Hummingbirder Region: Texas
How fabulous to see Sebastopol geese, and blues at that! We have a flock of Sebastopols, mostly lavenders and blues, they free range our farm all year. We are, of course, a lot warmer than you in the winter, but I will give you what advice I can. I would assume you will have a shelter that is water tight and warm. They do not need water to bathe or swim in, we have had great success using a horse automatic waterer. The one with the bowl. It will get dirty but since it only holds a small amount of water is easy to dump and clean. I then dilut the spent water and use it on plants.

They really need dry bedding since their feathers don't have a spine. It inhibits their ability to hold warmth and in your climate that would be a must. We feed whole corn and lay pellets to our combined birds. Since there is no egg laying going on, we don't worry about supplements. There have been many times during our horrendous drought that they have had nothing green to eat and do fine. I have a couple that will eat lettuce but the majority could care less. Some of my birds will eat bread as well, we hand feed when we have company, but again not all. My guys show no interest in scratch but have cleaned up extra sheep feed or oats from troughs. I know that show birds are confined and apparently do quite well.


Thumb of 2013-09-07/rouxcrew/79ec1d


Thumb of 2013-09-07/rouxcrew/81d488
People, like sheep, tend to follow a leader - occasionally in the right direction. Alexander Chase
Image
Sep 7, 2013 12:47 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to ATP Joy! Your Geese are beautiful. Thumbs up
You must first create a username and login before you can reply to this thread.
Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by Zoia and is called "Snow White, Deep Green"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.