How to feed geese at home?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Goose meat is a dietary product that is always popular with consumers. The same goes for the liver of these waterfowl.

If you wish, you can, of course, grow geese in your own suburban area. Caring for this bird is a relatively simple procedure. The economic life of this species is unpretentious. However, the owner of the farmstead, who decides to have such birds, should know how to feed the geese correctly. The diet for a bird of this variety should be developed carefully.

Feeding types

Of course, the menu of geese, like any other poultry, should first of all be as diverse as possible. Such birds are grown in the courtyard using the following types of feed:

• dry concentrates;
• green meadow grass and duckweed;
• vegetables;
• dairy products;
• fish and meat waste.

There are only three types of feeding for such a bird:

• dry;
• wet;
• combined.

Owners of private household plots inin most cases, the second feeding scheme for geese is used. With the use of this technology at a relatively low cost, it is possible to achieve rather high rates of weight gain. Dry and combined methods are usually used only in large poultry farms specializing in raising waterfowl.

Features of the digestion of geese

The neck of these birds, in comparison with other economic birds, is known to be very long. Such waterfowl therefore cannot eat dry food in large quantities at a time. In this case, the bird's esophagus may even clog, which will cause its death.

Geese usually eat like this:

• stuff a portion of food down the throat (in the goiter);
• push it with water or something edible, but very wet, into the stomach;
• stuff their throats with another portion.

Grass or vegetables do not get stuck in the esophagus of geese. Each previous portion is simply pushed through by the next one. With dry food, the situation is slightly different. His geese need to drink water.

When using a wet feeding scheme, problems with the esophagus in such birds usually never occur. In this case, the answer to the question of what is better to feed the geese is a mixture of grain with chopped vegetables. Such food turns out to be quite moist and is readily eaten by a bird.

What concentration should the mixture have

To test the suitability of the goose feeder, backyard owners usually:

• take a handfulmixture in the palm of your hand;
• squeeze her hard.

If after that the food remains crumbly, it means that it is quite suitable for the bird. It is these mixers that are the best answer to the question of how to feed geese at home. Food intended for such waterfowl should also not be viscous. Otherwise, the geese will get their noses stuffed up.

How stirrers are made

Make wet mixes using this feeding pattern using the following products:

• cereals - in the amount of at least 70 g per head;
• carrots - 100 g;
• hay dust - 150 g;
• beets or potatoes - 500 g;
• mineral supplements - 25g

In any case, you should not save on grain for geese. In the presence of such food in a sufficiently large amount, the bird gains weight much faster. For thoroughbred meat geese, some owners of farmsteads are advised to give concentrates in the amount of 180-200 g per head per day.

At the same time, it is recommended to take oats as the basis of grain mixtures. It is usually added to the mixers approximately 60% of the total amount of concentrates used. The rest of the ingredients in the mixture is added:

• wheat - 20%;
• barley - 10%;
• corn - 10%.

Many farm owners are, of course, interested in what to feed the geese before laying eggs. Products containing too many proteins are not recommended for the bird during this period. Otherwise, the geese will become fat and will not lay eggs. ATIn February - March, such waterfowl are usually added not a mixture of cereals, but only oats to the mash.

Backyard owners interested in how to feed their geese before laying eggs should also consider offering calcium-rich foods to the birds. It can be, for example, bone meal.

Fish and meat waste

Such ingredients are also often mixed into goose food when using a wet scheme. In this case, the answer to the question of what to feed the geese can be, for example, such products:

• small, sliced junk fish;
• meat and bone mince;
• cut leftover fish, etc.

If desired, the goose mash itself can also be prepared using a small amount of fish or meat broth. In this case, bran is usually added to the feed to give the desired consistency. Mixers on broths is a good answer, including to the question of how to feed geese in winter at home. Such food at this time of the year will be very suitable for them.

In addition to proteins and vitamins, geese, of course, must receive enough minerals for their body with food. Therefore, a little chalk is usually added to the mixers. You can also add special vitamin and mineral purchased supplements to the feed of this bird.

Sometimes, earthworms, mollusks, etc. are added to goose mashers, among other things. A little pebbles and river sand are also usually poured into the feeders before laying the wet mixture. itnecessary for good digestion of food in the bird's body.

Number of feedings

When using a wet scheme, geese are usually given food three times per knock. For the first time, the mixers are placed in the feeders early in the morning. The second time the bird is fed in the afternoon and the third time in the evening.

The combined method of growing geese is considered quite economical. However, in this case, the owners of the farmsteads have to carefully calculate the amount of food offered to the bird. Wet mixtures in the feeders, of course, should not turn sour. At the same time, leaving the geese hungry, of course, is also impossible.

The readiness of the mash when feeding geese is determined as follows:

• take a handful of the mixture;
• strongly squeeze it in the palm of your hand;
• put food in some container.

If the mixture crumbles after this, then it is suitable for use.

In summer, the number of feedings for geese is allowed to be reduced to two. At this time of the year, the bird is usually released to graze next to the house on the grass. This significantly reduces feed costs. If there is no suitable grazing near the house, the owners of the farmsteads mow the grass for the geese separately and simply throw it into the paddock in a bunch. At the end of the meal, the rest of the greens are removed. In summer, cut grass, of course, can also be simply added to the geese in the mash.

What you need to know

Grass such birds, as already mentioned, are very fond of. Greens are by far the best answer to the question of what to feed geese in the summer. If desired, such a bird in the warm period can berelease both on upland pastures and on areas with lush green grass. Homeowners usually have no problems with adults when kept on pasture.

However, unfortunately, small goslings on pasture, sometimes I can eat some grass that is harmful to them, for example, nightshade or hemlock. In this case, the affected chick should definitely do a gastric lavage. Sometimes digestive disorders also occur in the young of this economic bird, which has access to a natural reservoir. The cause of malaise in this case is usually eating too many shells.

How to feed geese at home: he althy foods

In addition to vegetables, herbs and concentrates, when using a wet feeding scheme in goose mash, farm owners often also add:

• cake;
• bone or fish meal;
• cooked beans;
• berries (usually mountain ash or hawthorn).

These products are also just a great answer to the question of what to feed the geese. In winter, instead of grass, these waterfowl are usually offered pre-shredded spruce or pine green needles.

And, of course, the geese are also given compound feed.

How to feed geese: feed

Such food for this bird is also used quite often. Compound feeds, like cereals, belong to the group of concentrates. Of course, the owners of suburban areas should choose such mixtures intendedjust for the geese. There are three main varieties of this food on sale today:

• nulevka designed for very small goslings;
• compound feed for older poultry;
• adult mixes.

Mixed feed is, among other things, a good answer to the question of how to feed geese in the winter at home. They, like cereals, can replace part of the succulent feed at this time of the year. Getting food rich in proteins, geese, like any other household livestock, endure the cold much easier.

What is the composition of compound feed

Most often, cereals are added as concentrates to such a poultry mash. Compound feed for this purpose is rarely used by owners of farmsteads in its pure form. The fact is that such food for geese is quite expensive. Compound feed is usually added to mixers in a very small amount, simultaneously with cereals. The composition of such mixtures intended for geese may have, for example, the following:

• corn - 13%;
• wheat - 15%;
• barley - 40%;
• bran - 9%;
• meal - 3.5%;
• feed yeast - 2%;
• fish, herbal, bone meal - 15%;
• chalk - 1%;
• s alt - 0.5%;
• premix - 1%.

Diet of little chicks

How to feed adult domestic geese, we thus found out. But what should be the diet of young animals? Newly hatched goslings are usually not fed by homeowners for the first 10hours. During this period, the chicks do not yet need additional nutrients and simply will not eat the food offered to them.

After 10-15 hours after hatching, babies are usually offered a chopped boiled egg. This product should be cut as small as possible. An egg for feeding very small chicks can be used both goose and chicken (preferably not store-bought).

Starting from the 4th day after hatching, finely chopped green grass is added to the chopped egg little by little. Subsequently, the dose of such feed is gradually increased. It is impossible to drastically change the composition of the food offered to goslings. Green food for chicks is great, for example, dandelion or clover.

Food for goslings is usually offered in wide containers with low sides. Just perfect for feeding these chicks, for example, the lid from an old 2-3 liter pot is suitable.

At 6 months of age, if the weather is good outside, goslings can be pastured for the first time. To do this, cut off the bottom in a cardboard box. Next, this container is installed on a site with short juicy grass and the chicks are placed in it. Goslings are very fond of greens. And most likely, without any action on the part of the owners of the farmstead, immediately after they move away from the first fear, they will begin to pinch the grass on their own.

Starting from about 2 weeks old, goslings are usually fed zero feed into the diet. The amount of such food in the kids menu is also increased gradually. At about 1.5 months, you can alreadyadd crushed grain. By 2 months, this product usually completely replaces the feed. At the age of 2.5-3 months, young animals can be fed with whole grains.

Water

So, what to feed the geese in winter or summer, and how many times a day it needs to be done, we found out. Food when using a wet feeding scheme is given to such a bird three times a day. Water for these birds, both adults and small ones, should always be freely available. For a large bird, drink is usually poured into car tires cut in half.

For little goslings, drinkers are made from plastic bottles. At first, the chicks are given only boiled water. Goslings are taught to drink like this:

• bring several babies to the drinker;
• poking their spouts into the water.

Usually selected for training goslings quickly understand what is required of them, and begin to drink. After a while, the rest of the kids follow them. The herd instinct in geese, like in many other birds, is very well developed.

At first, vitamins are often added to the water to reduce lunge and better development. It can be, for example, the drug "Revit". This supplement is used within 4 days after the babies hatch. One dragee of this vitamin is diluted in 1 liter of water. On the 5th day, vitamins can no longer be given to chicks. For 5 days, goslings are allowed to offer water not boiled, but raw.