Our Domestic Birds: Elementary Lessons in Aviculture

by John H. Robinson

Small Farm Flocks

Size of flock. On the ordinary farm, where only a few dozen geese are grown each year, a flock of one male and from two to four females gives a sufficient number of breeding birds. It is more difficult to get a start with geese than with fowls or ducks, because a young gander will often mate with only one goose, and an old gander separated from mates to which he has become attached may be very slow about establishing new family relations. An experienced goose grower does not expect to get very good results the first season that a flock of breeding birds are together. On the other hand, a flock once harmoniously mated does not have to be renewed every year or two. As long as the old birds are vigorous the entire product of young may be sold each season without reducing the producing capacity of the flock. The average gander is past his prime after he is six or seven years old, but geese are often good breeders until ten or twelve years old. Occasionally a goose lives to a great age. There are reliable accounts of geese breeding well when over twenty years old. Some stories of geese living to more than eighty years of age have been widely circulated, but little credence is to be given such tales; people who originate them and suppose that they are true do not know how difficult it would be to make sure of the identity of a goose through so long a period.

Houses and yards. Geese, like ducks, prefer to live in the open air, and do not often voluntarily take shelter from any element but heat. It is customary to provide a small shelter which they may use if they wish. In most cases it is not necessary for a farmer to make a yard especially for geese. The permanent fences or walls between the divisions of the farm will usually keep geese in the pasture allotted to them. The best place for geese is a marshy meadow in which some parts of the surface are elevated enough to be quite dry at all seasons. These places afford more comfortable resting places when the birds tire of the wet land. They also furnish different kinds of grass from those growing on very wet land. On many farms there are tracts of land much more suitable for geese than for any other live stock. Cattle and hogs sometimes cut up such land very badly, destroying the vegetation on it and making it unsightly. Such a piece of land is sometimes a part of a pasture used for cattle. In that case it may be a good plan to fence the cattle from the soft ground with a wire or rail fence, which keeps them out of the part reserved for the geese, yet allows the geese the range of the whole pasture. A small number of geese in a large pasture will not hurt the pasture for cattle or horses. Too many geese in a pasture spoil the grass for themselves as well as for other stock. Even when cattle have access to all parts of a pasture in which there are geese, a small space should be inclosed for a feeding pen, where food for the geese will be out of the reach of other stock. This is especially necessary during the breeding season, when they usually require extra food.

Feeding. A flock of geese in a good pasture need no other food except at the breeding season or when they are being fattened. If there is any doubt about the pasturage being sufficient, a small trough or box containing grain of any kind that it is convenient to give them should be put where they can eat what they want. When there is snow on the ground, they should have a little grain and all the cabbage, beets, turnips, or other vegetables they want.

Laying season and habits. Geese usually begin to lay in February or March. As many nests should be provided as there are geese, for while two or more geese sometimes lay peaceably in the same nest, it is more likely that each goose will want one to herself. A barrel placed on its side in a secluded place makes a good nest. Geese are sometimes very notional about the location of the nest and, neglecting one provided for them, may choose a spot right out in the open or in some place where the nest is not well protected. When they do this, it is a good plan to place over the nest, without disturbing it, a large box with a hole cut in one end for passage. Geese, like ducks, lay very early in the morning. When they begin laying while the weather is cold, the person who has charge of them must be up early and get the eggs before they are chilled. A goose usually lays from twelve to eighteen or twenty eggs and then goes broody. The common practice is to set the first lot of eggs under hens, and keep the goose away from her nest until she shows no inclination to sit. She may then be allowed access to the nest and before long will begin laying again. As a rule the second lot of eggs will be fewer in number than the first. When the goose goes broody the second time, it is as well to set her, for if stopped again she may not resume laying. Occasionally a goose lays for a whole season without going broody.

Hatching and rearing goslings. In hatching goose eggs under hens the hens are managed in just the same way as if they had hen eggs. Each hen is given four or five eggs, according to the size of the eggs and the size of the hen. A goose must be set in the nest where she has been laying. If she is inclined to be very cross if approached while sitting, she should be left to herself as much as possible, care being taken that nothing can molest her. With the help of the gander a goose can defend her nest against almost anything likely to attack it, but some eggs would probably be broken in the fray.

The period of incubation is from thirty to thirty-five days. The goslings sometimes chip the eggs two days before completing the process. They should be left in the nest until they begin to run about. Then, if they are with a goose mother, they may safely be left to the care of the old ones, and may not even need to be fed. The early goslings with hen mothers should be placed on sod ground where the grass is fine and soft, in coops such as are used for little chickens, with a small pen in front of each coop to keep them from wandering away. This pen may be made of boards 8 or 10 inches wide, set on edge and kept in place by small sticks driven into the ground. It is best to give them only grass to eat the first day. After that two or three light feeds of mash may be given daily, but they should always have all the fresh, succulent green food that they can eat. The coops and pens should be moved as often as is necessary to secure this end. The goslings should also be constantly supplied with drinking water. They will appreciate a bath occasionally.

Goslings grow very rapidly. In from ten to fourteen days they are so large that they no longer need the hen mother and she may be taken away. At this stage several broods may be combined and the flock allowed the run of any place where it can graze unmolested. A shelter should be provided for protection from the sun, and a roomy coop with a dry floor to keep them in at night. If allowed to do so, they would stay out and graze at intervals during the night, but the owner will sleep more comfortably if he is sure that nothing can disturb them. Although very big babies, they are quite soft and helpless at this stage. When six weeks old a gosling is nearly half-grown. Young goslings that were started with hen mothers may then be put into the pasture with the old geese. When ten or twelve weeks old they will be almost as large as the adult birds.