Pictured to the left is a 3-up nesting box full of goose eggs. The boxes were designed and built by the resident engineer at the retreat (me).
These are placed at various locations around Old Orchard Retreat. We also place old tires filled with hay, but the geese tend to feel most secure with the nests we provide in close proximity to the house.
Our geese are “free range” which means they have full access to the whole property. When they were younger, we would put them away to keep them safe at night. Now they are free to choose where to roost each evening. Of course, they select as close to the house as they can get.
Feeding them is quite economical. We give them commercial grower and layer mix in the morning and evening. The rest of the day, they forage on grass, all manner of plants and weeds, fallen fruit and insects. If any nutrients are missing from the commercial feed, they will supplement themselves through a rich and varied natural diet.
We purchased our first small flock of goslings on Valentine’s day 2014. Our dog, Duku was still a puppy and we hoped for the best. We raised the goslings and the dog mostly together as we could not keep the dog out of any enclosure I could devise.
It turns out there was no need to worry. Duku took to the geese and the geese took to her – like birds of a feather. Duku would always watch and copy goose behavior. There were times I would catch Duku stretched out like a goose and even eating grass with them as they grazed in the paddocks.
When the hens began laying and setting on eggs, Duku wanted to try that too. It seems she did not like when the hens would leave the nest to eat or bathe, so she took matters into her own hands – um – paws.
Every time the hens would get up, Duku would jump in the nest box to sit on the eggs until the hens returned. Our puppy number three, PitaLu, began to emulate her big sister, and eventually, both dogs were tending the eggs until the goose-hens returned.
In spite of their much larger size, the dogs were surprisingly gentle. Both dogs were very careful where they stepped and no eggs were broken by the canine Step-Moms. This unusual partnership worked amazingly well. Eventually baby goslings began to emerge from each nest.
Once the eggs hatch, we collect the day old chicks and put them in a brooder to keep them safe and warm for a few days. Our brooder is a secure enclosure equipped with a two liter water bottle heated by a submersible aquarium heater.
This provides the new chick with constant 35 degree C heat – and a nice cozy form to nestle up to.
After a week of hand raising, we put them back with a brood hen to be raised in the fenced and secure “nursery area” of the yard.
Notice that the Step-mother Goose is watching over goslings of differing ages, sizes and colors. NONE of the babies are actually hers!
The nursery area is usually quite full with other babies. There are assorted kittens, bunnies, and ducklings to keep each other company. Pictured here are Mango with her kittens and Spot with her bunnies.
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Our three dogs – Duku, Jambu, and PitaLu are truly special. I am amazed when I see them doing some task around the ranch that they picked up on their own. They love to follow around when we do projects and, once they figure out what we want, they just pitch in. Sometimes I feel this is THEIR ranch and we get to stay here because we know how to work the can-opener. Thank you for your comment. Cheers
Pictured to the left is a 3-up nesting box full of goose eggs. The boxes were designed and built by the resident engineer at the retreat (me).
Our geese are “free range” which means they have full access to the whole property. When they were younger, we would put them away to keep them safe at night. Now they are free to choose where to roost each evening. Of course, they select as close to the house as they can get.
Feeding them is quite economical. We give them commercial grower and layer mix in the morning and evening. The rest of the day, they forage on grass, all manner of plants and weeds, fallen fruit and insects. If any nutrients are missing from the commercial feed, they will supplement themselves through a rich and varied natural diet.
We purchased our first small flock of goslings on Valentine’s day 2014. Our dog, Duku was still a puppy and we hoped for the best. We raised the goslings and the dog mostly together as we could not keep the dog out of any enclosure I could devise.
It turns out there was no need to worry. Duku took to the geese and the geese took to her – like birds of a feather. Duku would always watch and copy goose behavior. There were times I would catch Duku stretched out like a goose and even eating grass with them as they grazed in the paddocks.
When the hens began laying and setting on eggs, Duku wanted to try that too. It seems she did not like when the hens would leave the nest to eat or bathe, so she took matters into her own hands – um – paws.
Every time the hens would get up, Duku would jump in the nest box to sit on the eggs until the hens returned. Our puppy number three, PitaLu, began to emulate her big sister, and eventually, both dogs were tending the eggs until the goose-hens returned.
In spite of their much larger size, the dogs were surprisingly gentle. Both dogs were very careful where they stepped and no eggs were broken by the canine Step-Moms. This unusual partnership worked amazingly well. Eventually baby goslings began to emerge from each nest.
Once the eggs hatch, we collect the day old chicks and put them in a brooder to keep them safe and warm for a few days. Our brooder is a secure enclosure equipped with a two liter water bottle heated by a submersible aquarium heater.
This provides the new chick with constant 35 degree C heat – and a nice cozy form to nestle up to.
Notice that the Step-mother Goose is watching over goslings of differing ages, sizes and colors. NONE of the babies are actually hers!
The nursery area is usually quite full with other babies. There are assorted kittens, bunnies, and ducklings to keep each other company. Pictured here are Mango with her kittens and Spot with her bunnies.
Impressive content and love the photos.
Our three dogs – Duku, Jambu, and PitaLu are truly special. I am amazed when I see them doing some task around the ranch that they picked up on their own. They love to follow around when we do projects and, once they figure out what we want, they just pitch in. Sometimes I feel this is THEIR ranch and we get to stay here because we know how to work the can-opener. Thank you for your comment. Cheers