AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Thought you & other breeders might find this interesting Kai,



Geese - domestic - care and husbandry
Introduction
Looking after geese can be a rewarding hobby. The beginner should start with a trio of adult geese and confine them to a movable pen until the birds become accustomed to their new territory. The movable pen allows the geese to be regularly moved to fresh pasture.


Housing

Geese do not require an elaborate shed. A movable shed with a flat, sloping roof is a suitable shelter. The shed needs to be completely enclosed and locked at night for protection against foxes, dogs and feral cats.


The trio of geese will need a shed with a floor space of 1.0m2 per bird and a run. A 15 cm layer of wood shavings on the floor will help maintain dry conditions in the shed. Geese tend to foul their sleeping quarters so damp litter must be removed frequently. Each shed should have nest boxes, even though some geese may nest on the floor. Geese can be housed on slatted floors. The slats should be 2 cm wide at their top to ensure a comfortable standing surface and 1.5 cm wide at the bottom, while spacing between slats should be 1.5 cm to permit droppings to pass through. Access for removal of droppings from under the floor is essential.


Runs

Yards should be provided with each shed. Their size is determined by the amount of space available and the method of management. Each goose should have at least 2 square meters of ground space. Yards should be as large as possible and preferably sown to suitable pastures such as millet, kikuyu, paspalum and Rhodes grass before geese are introduced. Each breeding flock need not be confined to a separate shed and yard.


Geese have been used to weed a variety of crops (for example, cotton and strawberries) and to keep fence rows, irrigation ditches and other inaccessible areas, clean. They are also considered to be effective in controlling the pond weeds, para grass, water-lily and water hyacinth. Raising geese in orchards may be a profitable method of controlling grass growth. As certain pesticides are toxic to geese, care must be exercised when using these in an orchard stocked with geese. The stocking rate for adequate grass control is 50 to 60 adult geese per hectare. If only light grazing is required, this stocking rate could be reduced to 15 to 20 adult geese per hectare. Excellent control of pasture may be obtained by moving the water trough to grassy sections of the orchard. One water trough is sufficient for 10 ha. A shallow ditch will serve for both drinking and swimming. Swimming provides beneficial exercise and helps prevent sore feet.


Fencing

A 1m high fence made from 2 mm wire netting makes a satisfactory enclosure. A two-strand electric fence, with strands spaced at 10 cm and 30 cm from the ground, will prevent geese from straying.


Handling and catching

Geese can be easily driven and drafted into holding pens. When handling and catching geese, experience and discretion are necessary. Geese can inflict painful blows with their wings and scratches with their feet. Grasp a bird with one hand firmly around the neck and close to the body. Geese should never be caught by the legs as lame, disjointed or broken legs often result. A stout piece of wire with the end shaped like a shepherd's crook is handy for catching geese.


After catching the bird, the operator pulls the bird to him. The bird is lifted gently by passing an arm (usually the right) round the bird's body, grasping the legs with one finger between them and pinning the wings closely between arm and body. The bird is carried under the arm with the head and neck protruding back under the operator's arm.


Sexing adult geese

When buying a trio of geese, it is essential that they be sexed so that one gander and two geese are actually obtained and not any other combination. An incorrect selection can be made by casual observation. The methods described below seek to identify the male.


Physical examination of the birds is a sure way of sexing geese. This is easier if two people are available. After the goose is caught, it is lifted by the neck and turned on its back, either on a table or over the knee with the tail pointed away. The tail is bent downwards and the forefinger inserted in the cloaca about l cm and moved around in a circular manner to enlarge the sphincter muscle which closes the opening. Pressure is applied directly below and on the side of the vent in order to evert and expose the sex organs.


In some birds, the male organ is difficult to unsheathe. It is spiral in shape and white, and is up to 4 cm long in mature ganders.


Birds are then marked using leg bands, web punching, or wing bands.


Masculinity is usually expressed by a larger body, larger neck. and somewhat coarser and larger head-parts than those of females. The male of those breeds having knobs at the base of the bill, such as African and Chinese, have larger knobs. In immature geese these differences may not be easily distinguished. Sex-linked characteristics in two pure breeds of geese enable the birds to be sexed by colour. The Embden gosling can be sexed by colour only until the dilution gene whitens the plumage. In the Pilgrim breed, the sexes can be determined from day-old to maturity because the down and, later, the plumage colour in males is light or white, while in females it is dove-grey.


It has been said that eye colour can be used to sex geese; the ganders having blue eyes and the goose having brown eyes. Also the gander has a shrill, high pitched note compared with the lower, deeper, harsher note of the goose. These two methods are not infallible ways to separate the sexes.


Sexing goslings
When birds are used for breeding, nutritional studies or similar purposes, separation of sexes at an early age (day old) is desirable. Sexing is done in a warm room, and under a strong light to allow the small penis of the male--a distinct whitish papilla about 5 mm long--more easily distinguishable.

Article Courtesy of D.P.I Qld

Thanks
Peacocks Australia

That's good info. We went to the show last year & the Geese were so loud, they drowned out the roosters, some are very nice to look at though.
Theres not much information around about geese but I Found this, thought it might help the geese poeple.

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/dow ... /ducks.pdf


Jeff