An article on how to raise geese at home: arranging premises for them, a diet and creating other conditions for raising healthy birds. Geese are raised for the purpose of obtaining dietary meat, eggs, gourmet liver and feathers. The goose is quite intelligent, perfectly adapted to harsh climatic conditions, resistant to diseases and unpretentious to food. Even in a small backyard, without much effort, you can feed 3-5 or more birds, which by autumn will gain 4-6 kg of weight each. The most popular among many breeds of geese are Chinese, large gray, Gorky and Kuban. Geese of Tula, Obroshin, Toulouse, Landsh, Kaluga, Kholmogorsk, Rhine and Italian white breeds are suitable for fattening meat. Such geese gain up to 8 kg and lay up to 50 eggs per season.
To raise geese, certain conditions must be created
It is necessary to have a sufficiently spacious, dry and well-ventilated, insulated room. For one goose, an area of 1 sq. m. However, it must be remembered that geese cannot stand drafts. The floor must be lined with sawdust or chopped hay. The room should be equipped with feeders, drinkers, nesting places. Be sure to have an outlet for walking. In order to combat skin parasites, it is recommended to put a container with sand and ash every 2 weeks in the goose house. In the warm season, the bird can be left outside overnight. Despite the fact that geese tolerate cold well (up to -10 degrees), the temperature in the goose house should be at least +10.
Growing geese
Raising geese is a time consuming process, but not difficult. The first decade of life for goslings is the most important. If it is possible to save the goslings on these days, then, observing the feeding norms and normal conditions of detention, it is possible to grow all the young animals without much difficulty. It is best to place no more than 10 goslings per square meter. Otherwise, the litter quickly becomes dirty, access to feeders and drinkers becomes difficult, the goslings begin to starve and stagnate.
In the first decade, the temperature in the goose house should be about +28 ° С, and for the next three weeks - up to +18 ° С. If the temperature is below normal, then the goslings will be crowded, and if it is higher, the young will drink and not eat a lot, have rapid breathing and constantly open their beak. Both cold and heat can kill chicks. With poor ventilation, young animals lose their appetite and grow poorly. Lighting in the first decade of life for goslings should be around the clock (make the light less bright at night). And then the daylight hours are reduced by half an hour every day, gradually bringing its duration to 17 hours. This light regime is left until slaughter. The most ideal conditions for the general condition of the bird will be the conditions for keeping it near a reservoir with running water and meadows rich in vegetation. If the bird is kept in conditions as close to natural as possible (the presence of grass cover and a reservoir), then it will need less homemade food. To successfully raise geese, the site must necessarily meet sanitary and hygienic requirements. If there is no natural reservoir, then it is necessary to make a ditch or fill the trough with water. Geese are waterfowl, so water is essential for them.
What to feed the geese
Goose is a bird with a large body mass. These birds willingly consume food around the clock. Therefore, feed and water should be left overnight. For high-quality feeding, it is necessary to use grass, which in summer is enough for geese to use it on pastures. In winter - steamed hay from alfalfa, clover, nettle, harvested before they bloom. Bran and grain (wheat and corn) are used as feed. Dry food is also used, in which various root crops and vegetables (beets, pumpkins, carrots, potatoes, etc.) are added. You can use different berries in a ground form: viburnum, mountain ash, wild rose, hawthorn. Geese eat silage with pleasure. It should be remembered that geese cannot distinguish between temperatures. Therefore, you need to ensure that they do not eat hot food, as a result of which they may die.
Geese begin to lay eggs at 8-11 months. For geese, you need to make a wooden nest measuring 50 * 75 cm (one for 2-3 birds). New litter is changed in the evening so that eggs that will be laid in the morning do not get dirty. It is necessary to clean up the nests systematically, since the dirt on the goose eggs reduces hatchability, and the microbes in the droppings can infect the egg. If it is cold, the eggs are collected more often. Store them in a cool dry place without foreign smell.
Geese are slaughtered at the age of 70-75 days, when they weigh more than 4 kg. During the period when new feathers begin to grow in them, it is better to keep geese up to 120-130 days of age, when their growth finally ends. This process ends by mid-November, when frosts set in.
Do you want to start breeding geese? Watch the video for tips on how to get started:
