McLovin_
In the Brooder
- Apr 16, 2023
- 2
- 5
- 11
Hello everyone bit of a long story but I have some questions about a pair of geese in my backyard (I don't know much about geese).
My backyard has a fairly large pond with a little island in the middle about the size of an average room in a house. Ever since I was a little kid a pair of geese have been coming to my house to lay their eggs on the island and raise their little goose babies because the island is completely surrounded by water and overgrown with shrubbery, so pretty safe for them.
Anyway about a week and a half ago I tossed a piece of a peanut butter sandwich I was eating into the water where the geese were swimming and they liked it, so that turned into me going outside every day since then to feed them cheerios because I got too lazy to keep making peanut butter sandwiches.
So a week went by and what I'm assuming is the male (slightly larger, more bold, always kept watch while the other foraged) was starting to get used to me, like when he saw me coming he would swim towards me, but he never got too close. (The female would eat the cheerios too but she seemed more indifferent.)
So all's going well until a few days ago I went to feed them and I only saw the male (I knew he was the male because he recognized me right away and swam over to me, which the female never did). I couldn't see the female anywhere, and when she wasn't there the next day it struck me that maybe she had layed eggs and was sitting on them. I googled what time of year geese lay eggs and the timing matched up.
So here are my questions:
When the goslings hatch and start swimming around with the parents, is it ok to keep giving them cheerios or is it like a choking hazard to the goslings? Is there some other common household food item that's better for them? Also I have 2 dogs, so I figured I should keep them on leashes when they're in the backyard, but would it be better to just keep them contained to the front yard only? (The geese like to eat grass in the backyard.)
Thanks to anyone who answers
My backyard has a fairly large pond with a little island in the middle about the size of an average room in a house. Ever since I was a little kid a pair of geese have been coming to my house to lay their eggs on the island and raise their little goose babies because the island is completely surrounded by water and overgrown with shrubbery, so pretty safe for them.
Anyway about a week and a half ago I tossed a piece of a peanut butter sandwich I was eating into the water where the geese were swimming and they liked it, so that turned into me going outside every day since then to feed them cheerios because I got too lazy to keep making peanut butter sandwiches.
So a week went by and what I'm assuming is the male (slightly larger, more bold, always kept watch while the other foraged) was starting to get used to me, like when he saw me coming he would swim towards me, but he never got too close. (The female would eat the cheerios too but she seemed more indifferent.)
So all's going well until a few days ago I went to feed them and I only saw the male (I knew he was the male because he recognized me right away and swam over to me, which the female never did). I couldn't see the female anywhere, and when she wasn't there the next day it struck me that maybe she had layed eggs and was sitting on them. I googled what time of year geese lay eggs and the timing matched up.
So here are my questions:
When the goslings hatch and start swimming around with the parents, is it ok to keep giving them cheerios or is it like a choking hazard to the goslings? Is there some other common household food item that's better for them? Also I have 2 dogs, so I figured I should keep them on leashes when they're in the backyard, but would it be better to just keep them contained to the front yard only? (The geese like to eat grass in the backyard.)
Thanks to anyone who answers
