by Good day. Today we will talk about keeping geese in summer and early autumn. The fact is that summer and winter keeping with feeding differ from each other to the maximum. Summer period makes it easier for poultry farmers to keep track of any bird: comfortable air temperature and a lot of green feed.
Keeping geese in summer and early autumn for beginner goose breeders
If the plans include meat fattening of young animals up to 3 months of age, at which point the birds are sent to slaughter at industrial facilities (the birds reach slaughter condition, at which the carcasses are characterized by maximum marketability), then it is better to buy goslings at the beginning of the grazing season.
The main thing is that the bird’s body has time to “mature” to consume green fodder. Information is often found on the Internet that in private farms, fattening young animals up to 40-45 days is justified. In principle, this is reasonable, since in industrial poultry farming, the average daily gains of goslings are greater than those of young animals in private farms.
When a free walking system is not available, a fenced walking area is installed, on which a container with water is installed.
A good alternative is a mobile structure covered with a net on all sides. Such a design solution is irreplaceable on a large plot with low-growing grasses. In this case, you can arrange for portioned grazing of the grass stand, returning the mobile enclosure to its original place after the grass has grown.
Now about the nuances of using a natural meadow, pasture. Young animals are accustomed to walking from the 9th-10th day of life. As natural lands, young animals are able to use what domestic cattle cannot. We are talking about swampy places, ravines, etc.
In cases where a walking system of keeping is not available, many experienced poultry farmers make a fenced area within the plot. Places with perennial greenery are a priority.
The stocking density depends on the age of the birds. Thus, in the case of young birds up to two months old – one individual per square, birds older than two months – one individual per five squares, adult livestock – one goose per 15 m sq.
In the evening, the bird is fed with a grain mixture, which we wrote about earlier (read here). If the grass is poor, grain is fed in the morning hours.
Keeping geese in the summer at the dacha
About the “dacha” option of keeping geese. In this case, it is more correct to focus on short-term meat fattening, in which an aviary is made for the birds, and their diet consists of feed grown at the dacha. Naturally, grain is purchased. Fattening of 3-4-week-old young animals is more effective when their diet is supplemented with food waste.
If you do not prepare feed mixtures from grain, root crops, mown grass and aquatic plants, you will have to spend money on purchased complete feed. With properly organized feeding and maintenance, the live weight of young animals can be 4,5 kg. In this condition, the bird is sent for slaughter.
Capital poultry house
What to do if the plans include permanent maintenance of birds of different age groups, including adult birds? In such a situation, a capital poultry house is required, in which a comfortable microclimate for geese is maintained even in winter.
You can limit yourself to a poultry house made of boards, the joints of which are hidden under the slats. Such a structure, after processing the material with special protective compounds and painting, serves for quite a long time. To prevent the bottom of the walls from rotting, a light foundation is made. The structure can be erected on brick pillars. This idea is worth paying attention to those who often have a “swamp” on their site.
It is desirable that the poultry house be equipped with a gable roof. A small attic will be justified. Here you can store bedding material or dry bulk feed. The main thing is that the roof does not leak.
In northern regions, the poultry house can be insulated from the inside with foam plastic. Just in case. Just in case
A design with a pitched roof that slopes down to the back wall of the poultry house is acceptable. If you reliably protect the roof with roofing felt, you will not have to spend money on roofing material (slate, etc.).
As for the floor, experienced poultry farmers recommend choosing the plank option. The floor is simpler in all respects (including financially) – earthen, which is raised to a height of 20 centimeters.
The density of adult geese in the area of their keeping is one head per square. Why is there a certain area designated for birds? The fact is that the poultry house may have utility rooms, vestibules. Everything depends on the construction project.
The experience of many poultry farmers shows that the area for the bird should be divided by a wall with a door into two sections. One is a place for the birds to rest, and the second, which is larger, is for feeding.
What to put in the poultry house for geese
At any time of the year, bedding material is used to optimize the microclimate. And in this regard, it is very useful bacterial litter with sawdust. Its beneficial microflora, consuming the waste products of birds, produces physiological heat and inhibits the development of pathogens.
Such effects have a positive effect on the sanitary condition of the premises. In addition, The bacterial bedding lasts for about two years and during this time it eliminates unpleasant odors.
The waste material can be included in compost or used as a separate fertilizer.
In the simplest case, the substrate is made of straw. In general, the best bedding material is the one that absorbs the most moisture.
Important: the bird of the species in question tolerates low temperatures well (an evolutionary adaptive reaction to the conditions of natural habitats – near water bodies), but does not cope well with drafts. The latter lead to overconsumption of feed and contribute to the development of respiratory diseases.
Before laying a 4-5 cm layer of straw, the floor surface is sprinkled with lime. Its consumption is 1 kg per square meter.
The litter is renewed every fifth or sixth day of its use in the section with feeders, and in the resting place of the geese – every 9-10-day intervals.
Setting up a goose house
And what about the inventory? The inventory set consists of feeders, drinkers, nests, tools for cleaning the poultry house.
Dry feed is often fed from wooden feeders, and wet mash from metal ones. The feeding front (width of the feeder) is 150 cm/head. If this indicator is lower, weak individuals are displaced by stronger relatives and therefore lose weight.
Add to this the fights, which are a stress factor for the entire bird population.
Geese that have reached physiological maturity are given water from wooden troughs, buckets, cut iron or plastic pipes.
Females are more likely to lay eggs after preliminary accustoming to nests. Therefore, the latter are equipped 30-45 days before the start of the productive period for geese. In order to determine the required number of nests, they are guided by the fact that two or three layers need one nest.
In poultry yards with a small number of geese, nests are represented by wicker baskets, plywood boxes. No less common option is a plank: 50 x 65 x 65 cm. If the bottom of the nests is equipped with a removable wicker tray, it will be easier to collect eggs.
