Checking on My Gaggle of Geese
For those of you asking how my geese are doing, they're doing great and thriving here at my Bedford, New York farm.
I currently have 18 beautiful geese - Sebastopol geese, Toulouse geese, African geese, Chinese geese, and of course my Pomeranian guard geese. Last spring, I decided to move them to a larger enclosure next door to the peafowl and the pigeons, where they could enjoy more room to roam. In their new space, I also installed several more pools and built them a new shelter that would provide ample shade, protection from strong winds, and a safe place to nest and lay eggs.
Enjoy these latest photos.
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- My geese have a large new yard, but they love to gather close together most of the time. Here are all 18 of them in one corner. This yard is located right outside my stable, where they can be watched closely during the day. I am very happy that all my geese get along so well. A group of geese on land is called a gaggle. This is because when geese get together they can get quite noisy and rowdy.
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- Outside the enclosure I have my espalier of pear trees. There are so many fruits growing this year – I am so excited to eat these delicious pears. Here, I have six ‘Shinseiki’ and four ‘Nijisseiki’ pear trees. ‘Shinseiki’ Asian pear means “new century” and was developed from two of the best Asian pears of the 1940s. The ‘Shinseiki’ Asian pear is round, medium to large, yellow smooth-skinned fruit with little or no russet. It has crisp, creamy white flesh, and a mild, sweet flavor. The ‘Nijisseiki’ pear, or the 20th Century Asian pear as it is often called, is incredibly delicious, easy to grow, and smells just like a pear, but, like an apple, the outside of the fruit is crisp, firm and round.
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- I also have a stand of young crabapple trees growing in front of the goose pen. At maturity, crabapple fruits vary from yellow to orange to bright red like these. The fruit of some crabapple varieties color and ripen in August, others mature in the fall.
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- And here are two Sebastopol geese coming to say hello. Sebastopols are considered medium-sized birds. Both males and females have pure white feathers that contrast with their bright blue eyes and orange bills and feet. Sebastopol geese have large, rounded heads, slightly arched necks, and keelless breasts. And what is most striking is the plumage. The plumage of the head and upper two-thirds of the neck is smooth, while that of the breast and underbody is elongated and well-curled.
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- This buff-brown goose is a Toulouse. On this breed, the bill is stout, the head large and broad, and the moderately long neck is thick and nearly straight. Often suspended from the lower bill and upper neck is a heavy, folded dewlap that increases in size and fullness with age. The body is long, broad and deep, ending in a well-spread tail that points up slightly. The Toulouse has a rounded breast, and often exhibits a wide keel. The abdomen is double-lobed and often brushes the ground, particularly in females during the early spring.
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- Here is Toulouse and a Sebastopol – these geese are very curious.
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- Here is my pair of Chinese geese. The Chinese goose is refined and curvaceous. Its bill is relatively long and slender, with a large, rounded, erect knob that attaches to its forehead. The Chinese goose holds its head high. Its head flows seamlessly into a long, slim, well-arched neck which meets the body at about a 45 degree angle. Its body is short, and has a prominent and well-rounded chest, smooth breast and no keel. Mature ganders average 12 pounds, while mature geese average 10 pounds.
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- Here, one can see the difference in body type between the slender Chinese goose and the Sebastopol on the left. The Chinese geese most likely descended from the swan goose in Asia, though over time developed different physical characteristics, such as longer necks and more compact bodies. The Chinese goose is a very hardy and low-maintenance breed. Because they can actively graze and forage for food, they are often nicknamed “weeder geese.” The Sebastopol is preening itself. Preening is a maintenance behavior where a bird uses its beak to position feathers, clean plumage, and get after any pesky bugs.
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- This is one of my pair of African geese – a breed that has a heavy body, thick neck, stout bill, and jaunty posture which gives the impression of strength and vitality. The African is a relative of the Chinese goose, both having descended from the wild swan goose native to Asia. The mature African goose has a large knob attached to its forehead, which requires several years to develop. A smooth, crescent-shaped dewlap hangs from its lower jaw and upper neck. Its body is nearly as wide as it is long. African geese are the largest of the domestic geese.
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- Geese have impressive visual capabilities. The way their eyes are structured allows them to see things in much finer detail at a further distance than humans. They can also see UV light and can control each of their eyes independently.
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- My gaggle of geese is fun, friendly, personable and protective. These are my Pomeranian geese – the oldest of my geese.
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- These sentinels come honking and hissing at anyone who comes near. Thanks to their honks, these geese make excellent guardians. They can scare off any animals on the ground and they’re great at spotting aerial predators, such as hawks and falcons.
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- In another corner of the enclosure, we built this shelter. Waterfowl don’t need roosts – they are very happy sleeping on the ground, but this does give them shelter from strong winds. This area is also lined well with hay for laying eggs.
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- On this day, the Pomeranian geese are more interested in the pool than the shelter. While both ducks and geese love water, geese don’t require a pond or large swimming pool – they swim much less than ducks and are content with a small dipping pool where they can dunk and clean their noses and beaks.
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- All the geese love to congregate together. I am so happy they all get along.
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- Geese are grazing birds which means they eat a variety of different items. They eat roots, shoots, stems, seeds, and leaves of grass and grain, bulbs, and berries. They also eat small insects. I provide them with fresh greens from the gardens every day and also fortify their diet with a mix specifically made for waterfowl.
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- Unlike most bird species, which molt their feathers one at a time, waterfowl lose their flight feathers all at once. This is called a “simultaneous wing molt”. Geese typically undergo just one complete molt a year, during summer, replacing all body, wing, and tail feathers shortly after the nesting season.
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- Because geese do not have lips or cheeks, they drink by filling their bills with water and then tilt their heads back to swallow, using gravity to send the liquid into their digestive tract.
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- Although these birds are not good fliers, they do love to spread their wings. Due to their large size and upright posture, domestic geese can’t really fly. Domestic geese have larger back ends than their wild counterparts and stand more upright.
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- Geese don’t sweat like humans, so to keep cool on very warm summer days, they open their mouths and “flutter” their neck muscles to promote heat loss.
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- Here’s one Pomeranian goose resting in the grass watching all the activity at the farm – or perhaps it’s waiting for Dawa to come by with dinner… I’ll see you soon, my dear geese.
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