Legs
usually riding on Zwift...
- Location
- Staffordshire
I've got two female Embden geese, but am thinking about expanding the flock by buying in some fertile eggs. Our girls are laying at the moment and one of them is looking like she'll go broody (on her dud eggs) any moment, so I'm tempted to buy some eggs on ebay or preloved* so that my sons can see the goslings growing up and diversify our stock. It's been a few years since we raised any goslings... We don't want them for meat or for sale, but it's nice to have them as lawnmowers, for the eggs in the springtime, and as pets.
We'll need a new hut (we currently sleep our two in a dog kennel) but that's not a big problem. We've got a quarter-acre paddock so there'll be plenty of grass, in the summer at least, and we've got some seedling trays which are great for watering the little ones.
The question is, what to get? We've only ever had Embdens before, but I'm quite taken with the idea of getting some Pilgrims. Has anyone had any experience of them? My only reservation is that, as a rather lighter bird, they might be prone to flying away! (Our Embdens went through a phase of needing to be retrieved from the neighbours' fields, but I suppose wing-clipping isn't that much of a problem).
I'm guessing that whatever eggs we get will be in stasis, so timing them going under the goose won't be absolutely critical. Ideally we'd like 2 more geese (a goose and a gander would be great), and Pilgrims are autosexing so choosing two to keep would be easy (provided they hatch and that we get a mix of sexes...) If we end up with spare geese, I'm sure we'd be able to sell or gift them on.
Anyone with experience, your advice is most welcome!
Thanks,
Tim
* IRL poultry markets are closed ATM with bird flu, but internet trade seems to be flourishing.
We'll need a new hut (we currently sleep our two in a dog kennel) but that's not a big problem. We've got a quarter-acre paddock so there'll be plenty of grass, in the summer at least, and we've got some seedling trays which are great for watering the little ones.
The question is, what to get? We've only ever had Embdens before, but I'm quite taken with the idea of getting some Pilgrims. Has anyone had any experience of them? My only reservation is that, as a rather lighter bird, they might be prone to flying away! (Our Embdens went through a phase of needing to be retrieved from the neighbours' fields, but I suppose wing-clipping isn't that much of a problem).
I'm guessing that whatever eggs we get will be in stasis, so timing them going under the goose won't be absolutely critical. Ideally we'd like 2 more geese (a goose and a gander would be great), and Pilgrims are autosexing so choosing two to keep would be easy (provided they hatch and that we get a mix of sexes...) If we end up with spare geese, I'm sure we'd be able to sell or gift them on.
Anyone with experience, your advice is most welcome!
Thanks,
Tim
* IRL poultry markets are closed ATM with bird flu, but internet trade seems to be flourishing.