My Gaggle of Goslings
My two-and-a-half week old goslings are doing so well - eating, drinking, and enjoying all the sights and sounds of their new surroundings.
The six goslings are now down at the coops where they can be closely monitored until they are all big enough to join the other waterfowl. If you follow me on Instagram @MarthaStewart48, you may have already caught glimpses of them. As many of you know, I’ve had Pomeranian guard geese for many years. They keep watch over my chickens. I also have Sebastopol geese, Toulouse geese, and Brown African geese. They all get along extremely well and can always be found near each other in the coop.
Enjoy these photos and have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend.
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- The poultry complex down by my vegetable gardens includes four large coops and various hutches – all completely fenced and netted for the utmost protection. I keep my chickens, guinea hens and my geese down in this area.
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- These adorable goslings were hatched right in my kitchen and then housed in my Winter House for almost two weeks. Now they are in a brooder in one of the coops – half of the coop is sectioned off just for these babies until they are old enough and big enough to go outdoors and mingle with the others.
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- These goslings are very healthy and very curious – they love huddling near the entrance and watching all the activity outside.
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- Because they’ve been well socialized with humans since they hatched, they love visitors and are always eager to say hello.
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- At this stage, goslings need a safe place to sleep that is dry, but not droughty. Goslings also need to be kept warm for the first few weeks, until they have sufficient feathers to help maintain and regulate their body temperatures.
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- Geese are flock birds. They like the company and will always stay together in their group – this group will be great friends.
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- They have lots of fresh drinking water in their brooder – it is changed several times a day.
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- Goslings will eat starter food for several weeks. Afterward, they will get a pelleted growing food along with cracked corn and other grains.
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- It was hard to keep these babies from the camera – they wanted to peck at it.
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- Look closely, this gosling has bright, clean eyes – a sign of good health in a bird. Geese have a flattened beak covered with a thin skin and a horny plate at its end. The bill is tapered toward the tip to help in grasping grass.
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- Geese spend most of their time on the ground. Their legs are adapted to walk longer than other birds. They usually concentrate on areas of grain or forage. They are also equipped with webbed legs which are positioned farther forward than in swans and ducks, allowing them to walk readily, and to swim efficiently.
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- Here are two walking around the enclosure – always traveling with a friend.
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- These youngsters cannot fly yet, but they usually start to flutter their wings and go short distances at around two or three months of age.
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- Dawa, who oversees all the outdoor birds, checks on the babies several times a day. These birds are getting lots of attention.
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- Geese grow much more quickly than chicks and peachicks, so it won’t be long before the goslings outgrow this enclosure and move into another area with access to the outdoors.
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- On the other side of the complex are the parents, keeping watch over all the chickens. Do you know… a goose is actually the term for female geese, male geese are called ganders. A group of geese on land or in water is a gaggle, while in the air they are called a skein, a team or a wedge.
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- These are two of my Sebastopol geese. The Sebastopol goose originated in southeastern Europe and is named after the Russian city. Their plumage on the head and upper two-thirds of the neck is smooth, and the feathers on the breast and underbody are elongated and well-curled.
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- This is my pair of Brown African Geese – a breed of domestic goose derived from the wild swan goose. The African goose is a massive bird. Its heavy body, thick neck, stout bill, and jaunty posture give the impression of strength and vitality.
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- The tan goose is one of my two Toulouse geese I got from the Northeastern Poultry Congress. The Toulouse is a French breed of large domestic goose, originally from the area of Toulouse in southwestern France. Look closely and you can see that this goose breed has a dewlap – a longitudinal flap of skin that hangs beneath the lower jaw or neck.
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- This Sebastopol and Pomeranian are sounding off their “alarms” to let all the others know visitors have arrived.
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- And here are my two Pomeranian guard geese. Thanks to their loud honks, geese make excellent guardians for my many chickens. They can scare off many predators that otherwise would bother the hens. They are also known to be great at spotting aerial predators, such as hawks. All my geese do a great job. Keep following me on Instagram – I will share more videos of my growing gaggle.
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