Pasture Raised Geese
Monday, May 18, 2009 at 11:33AM The geese are finally here! We decided last year that we wanted to raise geese on our farm. The plan was to order some day-old goslings through the hatcheries, but by the time we got around to ordering them in the late summer we were surprised to find that the hatcheries had stopped shipping geese. I have no idea why, but we couldn't find a hatchery that would ship geese after June. So this idea moved to the back burner, but a few months ago we brought it back to the forefront. We knew of a few specific breeds that we wanted to raise and through much searching, Tim found a farmer in Louisiana that raises hundreds of varieties of rare birds. He had a few small breeding flocks of the type of geese that we wanted and was ;)
willing to sell them. We agreed to buy his breeding flock of Pilgrim, Toulouse, and Pomeranian geese, which totals 21 birds. Also through Tim's calls to geese farmers all over the USA, he found some people who were willing to sell some fertile eggs that we could hatch out. So besides the adult breeders, we also have about 40 eggs in the incubator! These babies are destined to become Christmas dinner to the customers that have lucked into that. But until then, we will have lots of fun raising them and they will have many happy days in the sun eating fresh green grass.
A couple of days before the geese arrived we decided to give up on processing the pastured ducks that we had been raising in the chicken tractors over the winter. They had grown up so much that some of them were beginning to lay eggs. Duck eggs are a wonderful treat, so we decided that if we couldn't figure out how to process the ducks for meat, then we would collect their eggs to eat! So the ducks moved to their new home, which is our orchard, complete with lots of pasture and a pond! We loaded the ducks up in the livestock trailer, drove them to the orchard and set them free! At first they were scared, but by the second day (and a little persuasion from Tim) they were swimming in the pond and having a grand old time.
When the geese arrived they saw the ducks and headed straight for the pond to swim. They followed the ducks lead, but did not mingle together with them. It was like a football game - ducks on one side of the pond and geese on the other. They would swim around each other but never too close! Each stayed with their own team.
It's been a couple of weeks and both groups have settled in. They are starting to range about more, but really just like to swim or lay beside the edge of the pond. They look so fantastic out there. Of course, with all of the changes for them, they have stopped laying eggs. This is to be expected and they should resume as soon as they settle in, that is if they settle in before their egg laying season is over. Geese especially will only lay eggs for a couple of months out of the year. They only lay eggs in the spring when they are ready to hatch out babies and will not hatch eggs any other time of the year, so they see no reason to continue to lay eggs. Actually now that I stop to think about this...I guess that's why the hatcheries can't ship day-old geese after June - there's no eggs to hatch!! Well, I'm glad that we have our very own breeding flock and should have a great supply of hatching eggs come next spring to ensure some baby goslings for the farm.
Reader Comments (11)
Liz, I really love geese and wish I hadn't sold the ones I had. They weren't mated pairs and I couldn't raise any gooslings so I sold them. They are excellent grazers and would prefer to graze instead of eating grain. They also make great pets and they aren't as noisy as you would think. Now I want to get some more.
Darrell Adkins
Hi Darrell,
Yes, I love the geese! They are living in a great pasture and so we haven't fed them since we got them. They thrive off of the grass alone. And I have only heard them honk once or twice. The ducks are far more noisey. What do you mean they were not mated pairs? Do all geese mate with the same partners for life?
Liz, When geese mate they mate for life. The ones I had were bought at different places and one spring they layed eggs and set on them and they didn't hatch. I checked some of the eggs some of the other geesed layed and they weren't fertile. They will sometimes take another mate if they lost theirs, but mine never did. If your geese were raised together then they are mated pairs. That was always something that intrigued my about the geese. Only one partner or maybe one gander to two geese, but mainly one to one. I hoped this help answer your question.
That's really cool! We asked the breeder if he separated the different breeds of geese during mating season to collect pure bred fertile eggs and he said that he didn't have to because the breeds do not mix. I thought this was weird but this totally explains it. They are all paired up! Actually, on the trailer ride to our farm the geese laid 7 eggs so I put them in the incubator. They are due to hatch next week, but I've candled them and most are fertile with baby goslings inside! I can't wait!
My 9 year old daughter, Hannah, purchased 11 ducklings which are now almost 3 months old. She has a straight run mix of Indian Runners, Welsh Harlequins, Pekins, and one Khaki Campbell (she only ordered Runners and Harlequins, I don't know what happened). They are the only birds that we allow free access to the farm and they are such a delight to watch. The march everywhere like a well organized army and when we fill up the waterers for our brooder house, they come running in hopes to be sprayed with the hose! They've even been known to greet our egg customers as they come down the driveway. They love slugs and bugs and left over lettuce is a real treat. I think every farm needs a small flock of ducks (or maybe geese?). They are truly entertaining.
Thank you for being so diligent with your blog, I don't know how you and Tim find the time to do it with all your great farming work.
I have a Chinese goose and gander that produced about 10 eggs> She has been nesting for 12-14 days. We have some people on our property that live on our farm but do not like our geese. So, yesterday, we were starting our 4th of July celebration and some of those people decided to shoot off a 500 strung firecracker and let it go off near my goose cage where she is sitting. It upset me because they don't care and later made a comment that they have heard that loud noises can interfere with the hatching process and cause the incubation period to stop. I feel these people are up to no good and I wondered if you knew anything about loud noises and the hatching of goose eggs. Please respond by e-mail, it would be so appreciated!! I was hoping to raise some goslings and praying for mean people! Thank you soo much for any info you can find for me! Susan
That's awful. I don't know of any association between loud noises and hatching, but I can't imagine the geese would enjoy the fireworks.
Hi Liz
I sure did enjoy reading about your geese. We too decided we wanted some Geese in May, 2009 and thought we would not find them anywhere. We lucked out and found one place in Iowa that would sell us 25 White Embdens, newly hatched. They were hatched July 1, 2009. We picked them up at the post office about 6:00 AM July 3, 2009. Our 25 baby goslins came in one box about 2 feet by 2 feet. They did so well in the first week in our makeshift brooder. We are not farmers but own 12 acres that have about 4 acres in grass, so we have a lot of room for our geese. We were attracted geese because they can free range, are hearty and strong for foul, and need little support or supplemental food once on the grass. It has worked well for us. They are 8 weeks old tomorrow.
We lost one at about two weeks and then had two come down with a respiratory infection and eventually lost them before they were four weeks old. The one little goslin, Bluefoot, was the toughest animal I have ever seen. It lived about a week so sick I thought it would die many nights. We tried everything we could with the vet and even gave aerosol treatments to try to clear its little lungs, but if finally lost its brave battle. We rejoined as it was so painful to see it (we did not sex them so don’t know what they were, thus the term “it”) suffer so long struggling to live. The other one, (Nanny) initially got better almost instantly, outlived Bluefoot. Nanny was so upset when we isolated she and Bluefoot from the gaggle. Nanny called to the gaggle constantly, wanting to go to them. After Bluefoot died she seemed fine and we put her back with the gaggle. After enduring the pecking from the others for a few hours she was so happy to be back with them. When she separated herself from them about a week later we knew something was wrong and she was suddenly so sick and died the next day of the same respiratory infection. So we buried Nannie and Bluefoot in the same grave that is in the field where the gaggle will eventually live. I knew Nannie would love to be with the rest for her final resting place. Nanny made Bluefoot’s days of suffering a bit more bearable, thus the name Nanny. They rest eternally now with the rest of the gaggle as Nanny would have loved.
They are so big and cute now. I am mother goose. I have to be very quiet when I leave the house as they hear me and come running anytime day or night. Our gaggle of 22, now quite big goslings, plow around the property and keep it neat and tidy, as far as the grass and weeds go. I still feed them once daily. They love it and swarm me so tightly, honking at me, that I cannot walk without stepping on their huge feet before I can put down their four feed pans. They have so much personality and talk constantly to everyone around.
Their meat (along with duck) is one of few poultry meats that are anti inflammatory. The free range will make it healthier. The goose meat that is rated is what is found in stores, so it’s surely grain fed I have gone on too long, but loved to read about yours. Write about the goslings when they hatch.
Joe in Jefferson, Georgia
I'm sorry to hear about Nanny and Bluefoot, but it sounds like you're having a great time with the reast of your geese. It's so refreshing to hear about someone who cares so deeply for their animals. Your goslings are lucky to have you!
We have 4 geese we bought in the spring as babies. It was supposed to be 2 embden and 2 toulouse but one toulouse looks more chinese, and one embden has a grey backhalf. Anyway, we put them in an old pump house at night since we get coyotes a lot, but its down by the creek and convenient. This evening we noticed 6 eggs laying in the corners of the house. I dont know if I have males or females, but obviously I got a few females :) So anyway, the eggs are green, 2 are dark grey and they are the size of regular chicken eggs. I assume they are not fertile, but what about eating them?
You can eat them for sure. We eat turkey eggs from time to time and many people love duck eggs. Of course, one goose egg might fill you up! C'mon...be adventurous!