Post by Christine on Aug 3, 2021 9:47:25 GMT -5
I bought two African goslings to guard my chickens. I got them at two days old, and raised them inside in my office, in a macaw cage until they feathered out. Lots of handling, and time around me and the Great Pyr dogs.
1. I put them outside, and let them out of their pen when they got big enough. Even so, they slipped through the openings in my cattle panels, and down at my neighbor's outdoor kitchen during a big pool party, mooching snacks and pooping on their cobblestone patio. Will they get big enough so that cattle panels will keep them in? Them gooses asked me for sunglasses and sunscreen so they can start using the pool.
2. What do I feed them in the summer and winter? Is grass enough during the summer? And how do you handle feeding and water in the frozen winter?
3. I have a plastic, 55 gallon drum head that is 8 inches deep for their water. They are using it to wet their food, so it gets gross. I also have a pig waterer that they figured out on their own, so they drink and play in the water. Can I fill a kiddie pool, in addition, and will the availability of the 55 gallon head near their food keep the kiddie pool from getting gross? I can change the 55 gal head daily, but would rather not tax the well with a kiddie pool water change daily.
4. What do they need for nesting in the winter? They are in an 8 x 8 enclosed pig house with an additional 8 x 8 open sided, attached car port that I flaked a hay bale into. Pigs are no longer in residence.
5. They are skittish around me. I've never done anything aggressive toward them, but they are leery about me coming near. Is this normal? When I pick them up after cornering them, they don't do anything aggressive. They are very calm for the most part. I thought keeping them in the house at age 2 days would bond them to me, but apparently not.
Christine
1. I put them outside, and let them out of their pen when they got big enough. Even so, they slipped through the openings in my cattle panels, and down at my neighbor's outdoor kitchen during a big pool party, mooching snacks and pooping on their cobblestone patio. Will they get big enough so that cattle panels will keep them in? Them gooses asked me for sunglasses and sunscreen so they can start using the pool.
2. What do I feed them in the summer and winter? Is grass enough during the summer? And how do you handle feeding and water in the frozen winter?
3. I have a plastic, 55 gallon drum head that is 8 inches deep for their water. They are using it to wet their food, so it gets gross. I also have a pig waterer that they figured out on their own, so they drink and play in the water. Can I fill a kiddie pool, in addition, and will the availability of the 55 gallon head near their food keep the kiddie pool from getting gross? I can change the 55 gal head daily, but would rather not tax the well with a kiddie pool water change daily.
4. What do they need for nesting in the winter? They are in an 8 x 8 enclosed pig house with an additional 8 x 8 open sided, attached car port that I flaked a hay bale into. Pigs are no longer in residence.
5. They are skittish around me. I've never done anything aggressive toward them, but they are leery about me coming near. Is this normal? When I pick them up after cornering them, they don't do anything aggressive. They are very calm for the most part. I thought keeping them in the house at age 2 days would bond them to me, but apparently not.
Christine