Feed – Chick Starter (20%) mixed with scratch grains in winter is the best feed for large-framed birds. Their bone structure needs a lot of protein. About one cup a day plus greens, veggies like banana peppers, and fodder from barley in winter.
We keep Pekin Ducks for eggs, Call Ducks for breeding, and Embden Geese as “watch-geese”. Ducks and Geese love a pond or pool, and should primarily eat while they are in the water. When giving ducks and geese grain-feed, have water nearby. Geese and ducks also love to graze and ideally will have access to pasture in addition to their pond or pool area.
Ducks and Geese are generally docile and can be easily socialized. Geese will become protective and more aggressive when females are laying, approximately 4 months out of the year. Goose and duck eggs will hatch at 31 days. Goslings and ducklings grow very fast and will generally be completely feathered out in 6 or 7 weeks.
It is hard to get geese to pose for a group pic. They prefer to turn and amble away as if totally disinterested. I can approach them with the feed can and they will be quite attentive, but it is hard to balance the feed and the camera together. What to do…
These pics were taken when Silly Goose was about 6 weeks old. She is almost big enough for us to be able to let the geese out into the pasture…too big for the hawks to manage carrying her off. We will wait another week or two to be sure.
Here is a video of the geese at home. They tend to encircle Silly when anyone is around. When she goes in the pool, Tuloolah and Lucy will go with her and Bruce will stand at the edge and watch for danger.
In April 2015 we hatched 2 Call Ducks from Blue Hen Farm. This is Squeaky…
Here are the original Edam ducks from 2014 hanging out with the three Geese. You can see how small the Geese were at approximately 4 or 5 weeks! Compare them to Silly Goose at 6 weeks and see how big the geese are now!
