Geese - two unexpected additions!

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Trev62
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Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Trev62 »

I have been helping our neighbour with his livestock recently due to him having an issue with his back (for which he is at hospital tomorrow) when tonight he called me over to his house and gave me a cardboard box which he told me to open when I got home, he then said thanks, shook my hand and asked me to look after his geese tomorrow. No problem there. On arriving back home I discovered these two baby goslings and a bag of food for them. Later his wife came round to explain they are only four days old and give us instructions on how to look after them, she was shocked to find us out in the garden with them introducing them to the new rabbits and our dogs! She also explained they will become good security guards/geese letting us and our dogs know if anyone is around.

So we are in at the deep end again not being sure what to do with them or where to keep them, at present (overnight) they are in the porch next to the broilers but it looks like we will have to section another area of the garden off and build something for them to stay in overnight once they are larger, looks like the turkeys will not be arriving this year now!!!

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ChickenCarol
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by ChickenCarol »

They look so cute. A whole new experience.
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kitla
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by kitla »

how sweet (for now!) what kind of geese are they?
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Cheshire Chick »

They are adorable. Having them from such an early age I would imagine they will become quite tame and friendly towards the people that feed/handle them. If I had more space, I would love a pair of geese (I'm presuming they work on the same principles as chickens). Enjoy your new babies - all very exciting for you.
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Richard
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Richard »

They're good for security of your property as well !!

Great stuff !

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KathJ
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by KathJ »

Adorable )like(
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Hi Trev. Farmer opposite SHMBO has 7 geese for sme reason . Each egg 1.50pounds each.
Any problems I will ask her advise for you. The chap who gave them to you will help for sure.
What next .
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Trev62
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Trev62 »

kitla wrote:how sweet (for now!) what kind of geese are they?


I have absolutely no idea! All I know is they have two legs, two wings, a beak and are covered in soft yellow feathers! To be honest I thought they were ducks until I was told otherwise! Shows my limited knowledge of these things!

Cheshire Chick wrote:Having them from such an early age I would imagine they will become quite tame and friendly towards the people that feed/handle them.


I hope so, there are about 30 geese wandering loose outside our house every day, it took my Better Half a long time to deal with their onslaughts when she went to the communal bin, in fact for over a year she refused to go anywhere near them or the bin!

bikesandbirdsbob wrote:Any problems I will ask her advise for you. The chap who gave them to you will help for sure.


The guy they gave them to us went to hospital today and has been kept there, his wife called in tonight to ask us if we could look after their geese, chickens, turkeys, rabbits and sheep for the next "few" days while he undergoes an operation then comes home to recover, she will show me the ropes tomorrow morning, that should be fun as she speaks no English at all, we converse in broken Bulgarian and my limited Turkish! I can see a disaster on the horizon!! Thanks for the offer of help, if required I will definitely take you up on it.

bikesandbirdsbob wrote:What next .Bob


These were not planned for as we had hoped to raise a couple of turkeys this year but that will have to be shelved for now, if Brexit is sorted and we can afford to stay here then a goat is next, my Better Half wants to have a go at hand milking then making goats milk cheese, she also wants to try making goats milk soap (yes you read that right!) I had never heard of it before she told me it was possible and who am I to disagree!!!
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Mo
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Mo »

I've never milked a goat, but I have bottle-fed kids. One of the mums in our baby-sitting circle kept goats, so as well as minding her 'kid' I fed the kids.
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Trev62
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Trev62 »

Strange creatures these geese, they grow rather rapidly, drink water non stop, love being picked up and stroked, their down feels more like fur than feathers, they never leave you alone always following you around when they are given their freedom. They make a variety of noises that can be distinguished, one for more food or water, one for your company, another if a chicken hops into their run and starts eating their food its as if they can actually talk to you, probably me just going crazy!

Fascinating birds though we still have the issue as to where and how to house them, at present they reside in our porch but have a small run outside that they will probably outgrow within two weeks and they get supervised free time in the garden.

We are slowly introducing them to the dogs, rabbits and chickens so hopefully they will join all the rest of our charges roaming freely all day in the garden and only being secured at night, fingers crossed on that one.
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Richard
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Richard »

Straight question Trev.

I was offered both Geese and Ducks once but was told they can tend to be a tad smelly.

Is that true ?

Richard )t'
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lancashire lass
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by lancashire lass »

Trev62 wrote:my Better Half wants to have a go at hand milking then making goats milk cheese, she also wants to try making goats milk soap (yes you read that right!) I had never heard of it before she told me it was possible and who am I to disagree!!!


google goats milk soap and there are plenty of hits )t' If I recall, goats milk doesn't curdle like cows milk when the soap is being made. About 18 years or so ago I bought this book on handmade soap making (though I saw lots of new exciting books when searching for this particular title just now) and had loads of fun making my own soap from scratch using various fats and oils, adding essential oils and other stuff like dried fine grated orange peel (with the orange oil, it smelled divine and that particular recipe had goats milk which made a smooth soap that looked like cheese cake - had a nice lather too) or kelp (smelled fishy ... not one of my best soaps as it was a little oily but my friend swore it helped her skin condition), chocolate (I had to remind myself that the pan of chocolate soap had sodium hydroxide in it as it was so tempting to want to dip my finger in and taste!) and an "experimental" one (I didn't have all the ingredients from the recipe so improvised) which had ginger and peppermint essential oils and was one of my favourites (top of the list was the patchouli and lavender soap, and another that had sandalwood) I'd love to get back into soap making again but the biggest problem was sourcing the ingredients and at reasonable price (essential oils can be very expensive, hence recipes can change - having saying that, it was before I started shopping online where things can be a lot cheaper) The important thing is to have accurate weighing scales which can measure even tiny quantities as everything is weighed, not measured in volumes. Back to the goosey topic:

Richard wrote:I was offered both Geese and Ducks once but was told they can tend to be a tad smelly.


I think they are messier - they are like little muck spreaders as they walk and poop. I can remember being at York university on an OU summer school week, and the footpaths between buildings next to the lake/pond was covered in foul smelling piles of slimey poop. Not a fond memory trying to pick my way through and hoping not to stand in it in my sandals )loo(
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Cheshire Chick »

The goslings sound like they are doing really well and are already enjoying your company. I'm sure it will not be long before they will be free ranging around with all your other charges.
Trev62
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Trev62 »

Richard wrote:Straight question Trev.

I was offered both Geese and Ducks once but was told they can tend to be a tad smelly.

Is that true ?

Richard )t'



Bear in mind I am only into my second week? of geese keeping and my views may change as I progress down this road, currently our two geese are living in our porch/sun room overnight and they do not smell at all but the broilers who share it with them do!

The majority of a goose’s diet is grass and their droppings are basically macerated grass that do not smell and wash away easily in the rain or with a hose pipe. We sweep our grassed area most nights with stiff brooms to clear the chicken droppings and then use a hose/watering can to wash down the areas the geese have been kept in their pen during the day. The chicken droppings give off a "distinct" aroma the geese droppings none at all.

lancashire lass wrote: I think they are messier - they are like little muck spreaders as they walk and poop. I can remember being at York university on an OU summer school week, and the footpaths between buildings next to the lake/pond was covered in foul smelling piles of slimey poop. Not a fond memory trying to pick my way through and hoping not to stand in it in my sandals )loo(


Having been looking after my neighbours flock of @ 30 birds I would tend to agree with lancashire lass that they are messier than chickens but again the area where they wander during the day does not smell at all though it does get messy with droppings and feathers when they moult both easily resolved with a feather sweep and a dowsing with water. I should also mention the shed/barn he keeps them in overnight does not smell either and he only washes this place down once a week.

So to answer your "straight" question, no they do not smell but.....they are messy.

Ask me again in a couple of months and I may have changed my mind but dealing with my neighbours birds (who now happily accept me without any hissing and charging!) I think the above will stand.

A couple of other things we have found out, just for interest:

Geese, generally do not become ill if looked after properly, they do not suffer from red mite either it would seem they only require worming which most Bulgarians including our neighbour have never done in all their years of keeping them. They love being out in the rain or snow and do not turn grass into mud when it gets wet due to how they eat the grass.

Like I said earlier though we are only into our second week and we only have two that although growing fast are still babies.
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Trev62
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Re: Geese - two unexpected additions!

Post by Trev62 »

lancashire lass wrote:google goats milk soap and there are plenty of hits )t' If I recall, goats milk doesn't curdle like cows milk when the soap is being made. About 18 years or so ago I bought this book on handmade soap making (though I saw lots of new exciting books when searching for this particular title just now) and had loads of fun making my own soap from scratch using various fats and oils, adding essential oils and other stuff like dried fine grated orange peel (with the orange oil, it smelled divine and that particular recipe had goats milk which made a smooth soap that looked like cheese cake - had a nice lather too) or kelp (smelled fishy ... not one of my best soaps as it was a little oily but my friend swore it helped her skin condition), chocolate (I had to remind myself that the pan of chocolate soap had sodium hydroxide in it as it was so tempting to want to dip my finger in and taste!) and an "experimental" one (I didn't have all the ingredients from the recipe so improvised) which had ginger and peppermint essential oils and was one of my favourites (top of the list was the patchouli and lavender soap, and another that had sandalwood) I'd love to get back into soap making again but the biggest problem was sourcing the ingredients and at reasonable price (essential oils can be very expensive, hence recipes can change - having saying that, it was before I started shopping online where things can be a lot cheaper) The important thing is to have accurate weighing scales which can measure even tiny quantities as everything is weighed, not measured in volumes.


)like( lancashire lass thanks for this post, I can just imagine the struggle not to actually taste the chocolate {rofwl} as I love testing anything my Better Half is in the process of making. I passed the information it contains on to her and needless to say the subject of goat ownership was immediately raised again >coc< Shame but it is too much of a commitment until we know if we can afford to stay here but the idea of soap making appeals to her, )ot: this Brexit needs sorting out as it is already impacting on the lives of people like us.

Thanks again for taking the time to post your reply, much appreciated )t'
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