All about breeding geese

It’s hard to find a house in the countryside where you wouldn’t goose breeding. This bird is unpretentious in leaving, and its meat has excellent tastes. If you build a small farm, then breeding geese can be considered as a small business that will bring a steady income. For the business to be truly successful, you need to provide the bird with proper care.

Content
  1. Why is it worth keeping the geese
  2. Construction of the barn
  3. Requirements for the house
  4. Dimensions of the house
  5. Site for walking
  6. Designing a place for swimming
  7. Choosing equipment for the house
  8. Arrangement of nests
  9. Breed selection
  10. Features of the choice of breed
  11. Methods of breeding geese
  12. Purchase of chicks
  13. Caring for young
  14. Caring for adults
  15. Feeding the geese in winter
  16. Tribal work
  17. Incubation of eggs
  18. Feeding a bird before slaughter
  19. Diseases and their treatment
  20. Interesting facts
  21. Conclusion <

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Geese

Why is it worth keeping the geese

The domestic goose is advantageous in that it can find its own food, so it takes a little money to maintain it, but you need to provide a feathery area with good grass. It is she who acts as the main source of nutrition, so before you start breeding geese, you need to build a barn and build a site for grazing.It is also worth taking into account that the goose is a waterfowl, therefore it is desirable that there is a pond nearby. If there is none, you will have to think about building an artificial lake.

It is advantageous to breed geese for several reasons: in addition to meat, you can trade eggs and donate feathers. White feathers are used to make pillows and blankets. You can also sell goose fat, which is used in cooking, medicine and cosmetology, and if there is a restaurant nearby, you can agree on the supply of goose liver, from which the famous foie gras are prepared.

Construction of the barn

Breeding geese suggests the presence in the courtyard of the building, where they will spend the night. Given that the construction will take not 5-7 days, but about a month, the construction of the house should begin in the fall. As soon as spring arrives, birds can be settled there. If you plan a small farm, then the construction may be small. If the farm will consist of more than 20-25 goals, it is better to build a large house. Such a barn can be built with your own hands, after making the appropriate drawings. And it’s better for a specialist to make the drawing.

The technology for building a house is not much different from the technology for building a small house. It is simplified by the fact that you don’t need to think about how to burn the building.

Requirements for the house

We will not dwell on how to build a barn.Consider only the requirements for the premises for birds.

The bird is not particularly afraid of cold weather, so it makes no sense to invest in warming a farm building. You can use inexpensive building materials, or you can even build a shed from improvised means: wooden planks, slate, etc. can be used. But there should not be drafts in the house, which provoke a number of diseases in geese. You also need to make sure that the room is ventilated.

In the cold season, domestic geese should not sleep on the bare floor, as, indeed, in the warm, but if in summer the litter is laid in a thin layer, then in winter this layer should be warm. To prevent the occurrence of infectious diseases, the litter is changed daily. It is best to use straw as a litter. An alternative is sawdust and husk of sunflower.

We must not forget to set aside the area for young animals in the house and equip the shed with all the necessary equipment, which includes drinking bowls, feeders, nests. It will not be superfluous to set aside an area for storing feed and equipment. If the structure is capital, then you can store feed in the attic. It is worth mentioning that the structure with the attic will be warmer than without it. If the design is not capital, then the attic may collapse. In this case, it is better to allocate a place to store feed in the room itself, however, it should be isolated from birds.

Sizes of the house

Before you begin to build a shed for birds, you need to think about how many birds are planned to contain. In order for the birds to feel comfortable, you need to provide them with at least 1 square. m of living space. At this stage, one should consider not only exactly how many birds will be kept in the first year, but also what maximum number of goals is planned in the future.

It is imperative to consider what height and width of the building should be. Since the goose is a small bird, it is not necessary to build a high room, but the shed will need to be systematically cleaned, so it is advisable to build the structure so that when it needs to be cleaned, there are no difficulties. We must not forget to equip a special hole through which the bird will return home, otherwise you will have to keep the house doors open all day. home conditions suggests the presence of an aviary of impressive size. In this case, you need to carefully select a place for arranging the aviary.

Feathered birds feed mainly on grass, but not all grass fits geese. In addition, the quality of the meat depends on what the goose or goose eats. In the diet of birds should be clover, nettle and dandelions. It is advisable to independently plant these plants on a paddock.

In addition to the fact that the walking area should be fenced, it is advisable to equip it with awnings, under which the birds can hide from the heat. It is advisable to make the canopies portable. The birds eat grass faster than it has time to grow, so it is advisable to change the location of the walking area several times during the season. Drinkers with clean water should always be on the paddock.

For industrial rearing of geese, cell content is acceptable. The cells are expensive, but you can make them yourself. It’s more difficult to care for the birds growing in the cages, because they will have to be fed several times a day, and it will take a lot of time and money to build cages. For cell breeding and keeping geese, it is better to choose broiler breeds: they gain 3-5 kg ​​in a few months.

Set up a swimming place

If there is no pond nearby place for walking put a container of water. The number of these containers depends on the number of birds. It’s best to make an artificial lake. The construction of such a lake is a time-consuming and costly process, besides, not always the size of the site allows you to equip the lake on the territory.

You can make a place for swimming birds using an old bath or a similar tank. To do this, dig a hole on the site, the dimensions of which correspond to the size of the bath, then put the bath on the bottom of the pit and dig it up with earth.At the end of the work, the upper edge of the bath should be flush with the ground. If the sides rise above the ground, the bird will be uncomfortable swimming. Water is changed every day in such an improvised pool.

Choice of equipment for the house

To keep the geese at home does not cause trouble, you need to choose the right equipment for the house. This primarily concerns feeders and drinking bowls. In order not to collect food throughout the house, the choice should be stopped at the feeders, which have high sides. It is also important to correctly calculate the number of feeders: if there is a crush near the trough with food, then most of the food will be on the floor.

For dry feeds, wooden troughs are best suited. Wet feed should be poured into a metal container. If wet feeders are usually placed on the floor, then grass troughs are best hung along the wall. Separate feeders for mineral top dressing are also installed on the hill.

If you want to save money, you can build wooden feeders yourself. To do this, you need a scheme that you can do yourself, wooden boards, a hacksaw and a hammer with nails, and you can use old pots and bowls of the appropriate size as drinkers and feeders for wet mixes.

In the cold season systematically throughout the day, warm water is added to the drinker.

Arrange nests

Geese nests must be installed in the house. This design is very simple, so it can be built independently. They make nests from boxes or boxes, improvised means (plywood, for example). Boxes should be made of thick cardboard. For the goose to sit comfortably on the nest, the front wall of the box or box should be lower than the back. The brood hen doesn’t always sit on the nest, in which case its location should be changed.

Depending on the breed of the goose, the size of the nests for geese can vary, but on average, the width of the nest is 40 cm, length and height – 60 and 30 respectively. The front wall in the nest is lowered by 7-10 cm. In order not to make one of the walls in the nest shorter, you can build a ladder along which it will be convenient for the goose to enter the nest.

It is very important that the goose feels while hatching eggs you are comfortable in the nest, so you should position it away from doors and windows, if any. The goose nest should have a thick bed of straw. Change the litter in the nest as needed. It is needed so that the eggs do not break when hitting the bottom of the nest.

Breed selection

When breeding geese at home, you first need to determine the breed of bird. Today, thanks to the tireless work of scientists, there are many diverse breeds, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Some breeds are valued for meat productivity, some for dairy. Some birds quickly gain weight, others more slowly, so you need to figure out for yourself what the bird is bought for.

To date, the following species of birds are the most popular:

  • Adler (meat-oriented);
  • Vladimir (meat-and-egg);
  • Toulouse (meat orientation);
  • Danish legart (egg orientation);
  • Kholmogory meat (orientation);
  • governor (egg orientation).

There are breeds that are valued for the high quality of fluff (vishtines, for example). In addition to high-quality silky fluff, the geese of this breed have good meat productivity (6 kg for geese and 7 for gander).

I also want to say separately about the Hungarian breed. A feature of these birds is that their liver weighs up to 600 g with a total bird weight of 5-6 kg. The Italian white goose has the same peculiarity, but its average weight is 2-3 kg higher than the body weight of the Hungarian goose. Another interesting breed that was born after the crossing of a goose and a domestic duck is called mulard. Moolards are appreciated for their high palatability.

The less popular are the French land geese, Pskov, Demidov, Pskov bald, Tatar, Rhine, Emden, large gray. But these breeds have their own merits. So, for example, a large gray goose egg weighs 175-180 g. The Chinese white goose, Nile, Sukhon, and Bashkir deserves attention. And this is not the whole list of highly productive breeds.

Features of the choice of breed

When choosing a breed, you should pay attention not only to the general characteristics of the bird, but also to its habitat. So, for example, the Arctic geese, whose homeland is the Arctic, are able to withstand severe frosts, so they can be wound in areas with severe winters. It is advisable to first ask what breeds of geese are cultivated in a particular region.

You also need to determine the purpose of growing birds. Broilers, for example, are growing rapidly, so it is beneficial to grow them for meat.

There are also decorative breeds of geese. These are usually small birds with unusual plumage, which are not kept for meat or eggs, but as a decoration of the yard. Unusual and interesting looks black or blue. The most striking representative of the decorative breeds is the tape goose. Its body weight is 5 kg, egg productivity is 20 eggs.

Before buying goslings, it is advisable to first ask advice from a person whose profession is related to breeding birds.

Methods of breeding geese

If the house for geese is ready and the breed is selected, you can start breeding geese at home: you can buy goslings, or you can remove goslings from eggs using an incubator. For beginners, the first option is more suitable, since removing chicks from the incubator is associated with a number of difficulties.First of all, you will have to purchase expensive equipment, which in the future may not be needed. In addition, practice shows that of the eggs that goose incubates, the hatchability of chicks is higher, therefore it is better to breed geese at home by hatching eggs. The purchase of incubators is advisable only if you plan to sell chicks and poultry, but you should first calculate the profitability of such an event.

Buying chicks

It’s better to buy chicks just go to the nursery. Experienced poultry farmers do not recommend purchasing birds in the markets. This is due to several factors. When buying chicks in a nursery, you can be sure that the bird has good genetics: specialists in the nurseries select the best representatives of the breed for crossing. Also, when buying chicks in the market, you cannot be sure that you have a representative of the breed for which they are given out.

Before buying goslings, pay attention to their behavior. Opt for those pets that are active. Be sure to look under the tail of the young. It should be dry, otherwise there is a high probability of infections that lead to gastrointestinal disorders.

It is best to acquire goslings that have reached a weekly age. At this age, young growth quickly adapts to new conditions.

Care for young animals

Care for geese at home involves feeding the bird, cleaning the house and maintaining a certain temperature regime in it. The first 3 weeks of young geese are kept in a box, providing additional heating in the room. Air temperature should not fall below 28-30 ° С. After 3 weeks, lower the temperature by 7-8 ° C. After a couple of days, we transfer the young to the house.

They begin to feed the young with cereals mixed with pre-chopped boiled egg. Opt for wheat and oatmeal. Finely chopped grass is gradually added to the food. In the diet of monthly goslings, carrots are added, which are previously rubbed on a grater. To start feeding grass fresh grass as early as possible, you need to start growing it in a greenhouse in early spring. Clover is especially useful for young animals.

Monthly goslings can be released to a pond where they are looking for their own food. In the diet of these waterfowl duckweed must be present. If there is no reservoir nearby, they will additionally give the duckweed to the birds.

Change the litter in the bird cages as necessary, ventilate the room daily without creating drafts.

Care for adults individuals

Care for adult geese is not difficult. The main thing is to provide a fresh and clean litter in the house and to give the bird food and drink in a timely manner.

As for the diet, it depends on the lifestyle of the bird. With street content, the diet of geese consists of pre-chopped corn cobs, chaff (oat, millet or wheat), clover flour, sugar beets and potatoes. Feathered vegetables are given so that there are no disturbances in the digestive tract. The daily norm of clover flour for an adult goose is 300 g; corn cobs and chaff give 200 g per day. In addition to the main feeds, mineral supplements (shellfish, chalk) are also provided. Such food is sufficient if the bird eats grass during the walk. If there is no way to build a walking area, you will have to mow the grass yourself. An adult goose needs 1.5-2 kg of grass per day.

Feed the geese no more than 2 times a day. It is advisable to give wet mixers in the morning, and cereals in the evening.

Feeding the geese in winter

Unfortunately, it is not possible to feed the geese with grass in the winter, so many before winter, they decide to stab adult geese. But poultry farmers engaged in breeding geese must leave a certain number of adult individuals for breeding. In addition, not all breeds are precocious, and the birds do not have time to gain maximum weight before winter.

Oats are best suited for winter feeding.This grain crop contains almost all trace elements necessary for birds and does not lead to obesity, but corn, which is also a good bird food, can cause obesity in birds.

In addition to oats, you can also give hay harvested to birds in winter autumn period. To dry grass in hay should not be in direct sunlight, but in the shade, otherwise most of the nutrients contained in the grass will not be preserved. You should also carefully select grass for harvesting hay. All opt for the same clover, nettle, swan, cereal crops and other succulent herbs. Hay can be given with dry or steamed boiling water.

In addition to hay, feathery silage made from corn stalks is included in the winter diet. Silage can also be harvested from fodder beans, and silo, hay and concentrated feeds can interfere with the winter ration no less than the spring one.

You can treat perennial dried branches of fruit trees tied in small brooms. Do not put such brooms in the feeders. They should be hung around the house. It will not be superfluous to enrich the diet with dried seaweed, grated in flour. Conifer needles are also added to the diet, which are harvested in the fall, winter and early spring. In summer, needles are too stiff and contain less nutrients. Before adding pine needles to the feed, grind them to a powder state.

Breeding work

Breeding geese at home involves breeding work. You can, of course, buy young animals every year on the market, but this is unprofitable, especially when it comes to small business. In addition, breeding can also be considered as a business.

The first thing to do is pick up a pair of geese for breeding. These should be individuals with good genetics and excellent health. It is important that the goose and gander are not relatives: this will adversely affect the genetics of the offspring. Since the goose chooses the gander on its own, it is necessary to trace whether the intended family is developing. If not, then look for another male. It is best to choose a gander for breeding work that actively protects the flock.

When choosing a gander, a tribe should pay attention not only to its genetics, but also to its appearance. The bird should be large, with 10 fly feathers on each wing and 10 feathers on the tail. A male who cannot repel other birds from the flock is not suitable for breeding.

Not always a bird wants to hatch eggs. If the goose does not sit on the eggs, they can be placed on another hen. The same can be done with ducklings if, after hatching, the hen leaves the newborns. But at the same time, it is not a fact that another mother hen will accept someone else’s offspring.

Egg incubation

When conducting breeding, you will have to buy an incubator.When choosing equipment should pay attention to its functionality. So that the incubation process does not cause much trouble, it is necessary to stop the choice on fully automated equipment. We will not consider in detail the existing incubator models on the market, in addition, the model range is constantly updated with improved options. The store consultant in which the purchase will be made will help determine the appropriate one.

Before laying the eggs, one should see through. This procedure is called ovoscopy. Ovoscopy of goose eggs can be carried out either using a special device or using similar equipment made independently. But, given the not-so-high price of ovoscopes, there is no point in wasting time building a makeshift device that works just as clearly as the factory one. In addition, they must have good genetic data.

Feeding the bird before slaughter

Before you chop the geese, you need to ensure that they gain the maximum possible weight. Accordingly, a few months before slaughter, birds begin to feed more intensively. At the same time, the diet practically does not change, only the portion weight changes. So, for example, the daily norm of potatoes increases to 100 g.In winter, and experienced poultry farmers begin to feed the birds in January, add oil to the carrots, include herbal flour in the diet, and give root crops.

It is worth paying attention to the store feed intended for the feeding of birds. Despite the fact that the cost of a good feed is quite high, it justifies itself.

How much the bird weighs before slaughter depends not only on how well it was fed, but also on the characteristics of the breed.

Diseases and their treatment

All about the diseases of geese is impossible to know. As a rule, treatment is carried out with the help of antibiotics, which can only be prescribed by a doctor, so you should not even try to self-medicate. Most often, these birds have colds, problems with the digestive tract (blockage of the esophagus, for example), rickets, cloacite, stomatitis, catarrh, goiter, enteritis, aspergillosis, salmonellosis, colibacteriosis, cholera. Geese and parasite attack. The goose feather is spoiled by puffer eaters, causing problems with the gastrointestinal tract of echinostomatidoses and worms.

What you can’t do is treat yourself. At the first symptoms of diseases, you need to consult a specialist. It is extremely difficult to make a diagnosis on your own, since many diseases have similar symptoms. In almost all diseases, the bird eats poorly, rows its wings, does not get up and wheezes, foamy mucus from the beak appears. And some diseases can kill the whole herd in a few days.

Prevention against viral and infectious diseases is to provide birds with proper care during detention. Colds are most often caused by drafts. Problems with the gastrointestinal tract are caused by bacteria that are bred in dirty feeders, so you can’t leave wet food in the feeder for a long time: it acidifies, and bacteria grow quickly in such an environment. To prevent the growth of bacteria, after each meal, remove the remnants of food and wash the feeders. Gastrointestinal problems can also be caused by bathing the bird in a dirty pond.

As a preventive measure for diseases, it is necessary to systematically treat the house with disinfectants, and in order to minimize the risk of parasites on the body of birds they make ash baths.

Interesting facts

Consider interesting facts about birds. Few people know how many geese live. With proper care, the lifespan of these birds is 20 years. But until this age, almost no one keeps geese, because egg productivity decreases significantly with age, and the meat of an old bird is tough.

Although the bird that lives at home is not particularly eager for freedom, do not forget that geese can fly, so she should cut her wings, otherwise in spring you can miss out on feathered pets.

The maximum weight of a domestic goose recorded to date is about 12 kg. Even some world records are set by geese.So, for example, a goose can withstand frost at -110 ° C. Not a single animal in the world, not even a polar bear, can withstand such a low temperature. There is also a record related to age. The life expectancy of one bird from the UK was almost 50 years.

A wild goose flies at an average speed of 75 km / h. The maximum flight speed is 90 km / h. And if the flight range is far from the record levels of other birds, then the altitude is impressive: these flyers rise by 8-9 km. Such indicators allow geese to fly over the Himalayas. Before departure, birds gather in flocks and, having previously rested, go on a journey. The air temperature over the Himalayas drops to -40 ° C, which complicates the flight above them. But the birds successfully overcome all difficulties, following the leader who knows the area, after which they stop to rest and only then continue on their way. It is noteworthy that birds fly without a map, and at the same time never go astray.

Conclusion

Poultry farming is a fairly profitable industry, which is good to deal with even in the country. Such an economy does not require large investments, and profit can be made quickly, even if there is a small herd of birds.

We figured out how to grow a goose at home. You can breed a herd of birds and make a mini-farm.As a result of such activities, it will be possible to sell eggs, meat and geese for sale, but in order for birds to gain weight, the rules for keeping and caring for geese should be observed. The bird needs a room that protects it from the weather, proper feeding and maintaining sanitary standards in the house. Before breeding geese at home, you need to sanitize the barn, even if it was built the day before. Violation of sanitary standards in the house is the main cause of diseases in birds. You can even grow geese in the country, provided that people live there permanently.

If the plans include selling a feather, it is advisable to acquire special equipment for plucking it, which is called peroderk. Before stripping the bird, it must be treated with boiling water.

You can not breed the birds, but catch them. A person has many tricks to hunt wild geese. He lures birds with the help of decoy, in order to hide from the goose, he invented skradok, and the most popular weapon on the goose is the saiga. But even with this approach, catching a smart bird is quite difficult, especially for beginner hunters.

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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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