Among poultry geese occupy a special place. If chickens are bred mainly to get eggs, then geese are raised for tasty, juicy meat.
Although it is inferior in dietary characteristics of chicken because of its high fat content, it is still very useful. It consists of microelements and vitamins A, C, B, including B12 deficient for many, and mineral components such as iron, zinc, and manganese. Especially appreciate goose meat for its amino acid contentfrom which antibodies against viruses are produced in our bodies.
In this article we will consider in detail the breeding, maintenance and care of geese at home for beginners.Find out if you can eat goose eggs, how they are useful and how much they can cost. After reading all the information you will be able to grow healthy and strong birds.
Table of contents
How to breed and grow geese at home for beginners?
First, let's talk about breeding geese at home. The specificity of the geese is that they can not be grown in cages like chickens. This explains the fact that their livestock is much smaller. It is advisable to breed this bird in the event that there is a place nearby for their walking - a pasture with a reservoir (a river or a lake). For geese need space. They have to walk a lot, move.Because of this, their meat is darker than chicken (there are more blood vessels in the muscles).
Breed geese for breeding
The most common breeds are as follows:
Large gray geese - weigh 6-7 kg. Egg production 37-47 eggs. Eggs are large - 150-200 g. Very hardy.
Chinese geese - live weight reaches 5 kg. Egg production - 50-60 pieces per year with a weight of 130-170 g. Hardy, but by nature aggressive.
Lindovskaya breed - The mass of adult geese is 7-8 kg. Egg production is 45-50 eggs with an average weight of 120-140 g.
Kuban - domestic breed. Egg production - 80-90 eggs per year. The average live weight is 4.5-5.5 kg.
Kholmogorsky - weigh more than other breeds - 8-10 kg. But egg production is 30-40 eggs per year, but their weight is more than 200 g. They are calm and non-aggressive.
Italian geese - are characterized by high productivity of meat. Live weight - from 6 to 7 kg. Egg production - up to 50 eggs per year.
Toulouse - French breed. It is considered the largest with a weight of 10 kg or more. Egg production - 30-40 eggs per year with an egg mass of 190-210 g. They are calm and not mobile, well and quickly fed.
Emden Geese weigh 8-9 kg. Egg production is low.
Rhine - bred in Germany. According to its characteristics are similar to emdenskie.
Chicken Eggs
To remove chicks of geese from an egg is better with a hen, than in the incubator. However, if in a poultry farm only one hen, then broods receive a maximum of 13-14 heads, since the eggs are large. If you still choose this method of obtaining chicks, then first create the necessary conditions. Temperature indoors supported at the level of 14-15 degrees.
It should be dry and well ventilated, but without drafts. Nest for goose make spacious. Be sure to separate it from other livestock and partition off the nests between themselves (if there are several hens). Keep hens apart from other geese. This is due to the fact that the geese can, during the absence of the future mother, carry eggs into the already-hatched clutch. Thus, the period of getting the goslings will stretch in time, which is very bad for their further development.
We follow the dryness in the nest. An accidentally broken egg must be urgently removed and wiped out the remaining ones. The need to make partitions between the nests is explained by the fact that in the absence of one hen the other rolls several eggs towards itself, since their maternal instinct is very developed.
We make sure that when the hens return to the nest after the necessary exercise, eating and water procedures, they occupy their nests, and not confuse them with the neighboring ones. During the hatching, the water in the future mom's water bowl is changed daily in order to avoid her diarrhea and we feed only selected grains. The hen itself will take care of all the processes during incubation.
She rolls the eggs in the nest for even heating. If for some reason the goose does not return to the nest after eating for 20 minutes, it will be driven to the nest. This happens mostly with a bird sitting on eggs for the first time.
The first chicks appear on the 28th day. After that, they are taken out of the socket, placed in a separate box, dashed by a lamp, creating the desired temperature. After all the chicks are born, they are returned to the goose. In the first two days, Mommy can be nested with several chicks from eggs hatched in an incubator. Do it in the evening.
Incubator Eggs
Catch geese chicks in the incubator harder than chicks. This is due to the fact that goose eggs contain a lot of fat and are in themselves big. If more than 70% of chicks hatched from one tab, this is a good result. Several features of incubating goose eggs:
- taken away within 10 days - no more;
- 3-4 hours before bookmark the incubator is heated with an elevated temperature of 39 degrees;
- taken away only healthy perfect shape the eggs;
- you can not wash them, but you can disinfect by spraying with a light solution of potassium permanganate;
- the first 4-5 hours after laying the temperature in the incubator maintained at around 38 degrees. Further reduced to 37.8. The last couple of days it is reduced to 37.5 degrees;
- eggs turn 6-8 times a day in order to avoid sticking of the shell to the mesh or mold and for uniform heating;
- to prevent the accumulation of harmful gases, the incubator after 15 days of laying periodically open for 10 minutes for airing.
How to care, grow and maintain goslings
It is extremely important to care for goslings at home from the first days of life.
With the beginning of life, the goslings' immune system is formed and strengthened. therefore it is important to make a balanced dietto grow a large and healthy bird. For each period of growth and development is your diet. The feeding of newly hatched goslings is also extremely important.
Caring for geese in the first days of life
When caring for goslings at home, for the first 5-7 days it is useful for chicks to give yolk of boiled eggs. It is well absorbed by the immature body of goslings. When feeding, it is recommended to add greens. Better ate this green onion feather. It is finely crumbled and mixed with the yolk. During the first two days, the hatched goslings are fed 7-8 times a day.. It depends on this whether you can grow healthy geese.
We make sure that the aviary where they are kept is dry.
Care in the first weeks: how to grow healthy geese
Gradually, the diet is diversified with herbs and increases its presence in the feed. In addition to green onions give alfalfa, clover. We monitor the presence of clean water in drinking bowls. Gradually add boiled potatoes and corn porridge to the diet.
Drinkers replace more bulkso the goslings can swim in them.They turn into small ponds. To do this, use pots or bowls, but with low sides. This is a prerequisite.
The presence in the food of the required amount of nutrients and vitamins will provide sliced root vegetables and vegetables. If we cook porridge for goslings, they should not be too liquid. It is recommended to give more dry food.
Three-week goslings are gradually being transferred to pasture. It is advisable that they graze in the pen in the open air. Together with the grass they eat feed and crushed grain.
Care in the first months
How to care for goslings at home? Since this period, goslings are intensively fed with mixed fodder, grain, sunflower cake and greens. They are grazed on an open small pond without a strong current. In addition to grass, they eat algae, which has a positive effect on the development and build-up of live weight.
The proportion of greens to all other feed should be 1-1.3: 1. That is, greens give more. In this case, the content of the goslings will be cheaper and it will not affect the collection of live weight.
Conditions of detention and feeding
In addition to food and water, goslings need an appropriate ambient temperature, a sufficient amount of space, and lighting.
Choice of aviary for goose farming
Depending on the number of livestock choose the appropriate room. In the early days, goslings are kept in cardboard boxes on the veranda, in the summer kitchen. Then they are given a place in the house, a barn. It should be well ventilated (ventilation) and warm, drafts are unacceptable. It is necessary to exclude the possibility of penetration of predatory animals there, primarily rats.
Straw and chaff are used as litter. We change litter every 2-3 days to keep it dry. This will save the still young chicks from disease and hypothermia. The presence of a window in the room - a prerequisite. Geese love to be in a closed dark space only at the time of sleep.
After 40 days they are grazed near reservoirs. But while they are not strong, and are not able to defend themselves, the presence of a person is necessary.As soon as the live weight reaches an average of 2 kg (depending on the breed), geese let go on their own for grazing.
It is better to do it in the early morning - the grass is then juicy and nutritious. Geese themselves find food. They are perfectly oriented in space, so they can easily find their way home. Adults geese cut wings so that they do not fly away.
Daily temperature and lighting
In the first week of life, the temperature is maintained at 28-30 degrees. If the natural ambient temperature is not enough, heating with heaters or lamps that, besides light, give heat to the room. Temperature is measured at the level of the litter.
Gradually reduce it to 22-24 degrees. And after three weeks, if the weather permits, we transfer the goslings to the mode of life in natural conditions. In general, adult geese are quite hardy birds due to their fat, high body weight and warm plumage.
They freely maintain temperature to minus 15 degrees. Illumination should be sufficient to maintain normal conditions with increased daylight hours (more than 14 hours). For this purpose use lamps.
Room dimensions
The main condition for the size of the room for goslings is that it should not be cramped in it.
Provide their free access to food and water. When the young grow up, in the afternoon it is recommended to let it out in specially blocked pens in the open air. At night, they are in the barn (gooseberry).
Geese growing period
Now we find out how many geese grow. If daily chicks have a weight of only 100 grams, then after 5 months their weight reaches 5-6 kg. On average, this bird is gaining more than one kilogram per month. In order for the geese to be healthy, and the live weight reached good weight indicators, you need to carefully and carefully monitor their diet.
The weight of adult geese of different breeds varies from 4.5 kg to 10 and above. If you plan to breed geese for meat, then it is advisable to keep them up to two or three months of age. During this period, they gain 50% of the mass of one-year-old adult bird. Further weight gain is suspended.
Goose eggs: how much can you eat and how useful
Depending on the breed, geese give from 30 to 90 eggs per year. They are distinguished by their size (up to two hundred and twenty grams) and thick shells.They can be eaten and useful, but due to the fact that they contain a lot of fat, they need to be eaten in moderation. Eggs of geese were eaten by our ancestors 7 thousand years ago. This is the first domesticated bird.
100 g of raw eggs contain 185 kcal, including proteins and fats - more than 13 g. They contain vitamins K, D, E, A, B, micro and macro elements. Their use has a positive effect on brain activity and the urogenital system, the elimination of toxins. Goose egg is widely used in cooking and cosmetology.
Now you know that breeding and keeping geese at home is beneficial. After all, in addition to the quick return of meat, geese provide us with eggs and down. For successful cultivation of geese it is advisable to have pasture and open water. In this case, with adequate care and proper nutrition, their content will pay for itself many times. Perhaps even in the future, gussing will become the main source of your income.
Tell me, please, the optimal size of drinking bowls for goslings so that they do not choke and drown?