Winter Goose Care

Table of contents:

Video: Winter Goose Care

Video: Winter Goose Care
Video: American Buff Geese Winter Feeding 2024, May
Winter Goose Care
Winter Goose Care
Anonim
Winter goose care
Winter goose care

Breeding geese enables their owners to receive not only meat, but also fat and fatty liver, feathers and down. However, despite the fact that geese are far from fastidious birds and less fastidious in comparison with other species of birds to the conditions of their keeping and feeding, in winter they require special care. It is the right care that will allow you to get full-fledged hatching eggs in the spring, from which viable goslings will hatch later

Goose maker in winter

In winter, the air temperature in the room for the geese should not be less than 3 - 5 degrees - at a lower temperature, the geese will need much more food, and their egg laying will decrease or may stop altogether. The room itself may not be heated, but it is still worth insulating it well; it should be free of drafts and dampness. The floor is covered with any kind of bedding material - sawdust, straw, peat, etc.

It is very important to monitor the cleanliness of the goose house, since the cleanliness of their plumage is vital for these birds, and especially in winter, because the plumage protects the geese from hypothermia, which is undesirable for them. The bedding of birds should always be dry, otherwise they often start to hurt and may stop rushing altogether.

Image
Image

Additional artificial lighting in the goose house in winter helps to increase egg production in geese. Therefore, in the poultry house, daylight hours in winter should last at least 14 hours. For this purpose, some owners turn on the electric light for the birds at about 5 o'clock in the morning, and when it becomes quite light, the electricity is turned off; the light is turned on again only at dusk and until approximately 19 o'clock. The lighting power is determined from the calculation: for 1 square meter of the floor in the room - 5 watts.

Winter walk geese

Even in winter frosts, geese need walks (while, without harm to health and productivity, geese are able to temporarily withstand temperatures down to minus 25 - 30 degrees). At an air temperature of -10 degrees, geese are allowed to walk on special small areas, previously cleared of snow and covered with straw. As a rule, walking areas for geese (3-4 m wide) are equipped on the south side along the premises. And if there is any reservoir nearby, you can make an ice hole in this reservoir and let the birds swim a little during thaws.

Diet of geese in winter

To compensate geese for the lack of vitamins such as A and D, fish oil must be periodically added to the feed intended for them, as well as regularly feed the birds with sprouted grains - it contains a large amount of vitamin B2. For their subsequent germination, oats or barley are poured with water for two days, and then scattered on metal baking sheets with a layer of 2 - 3 cm. Quite quickly, already on the 2nd - 3rd day, sprouts begin to appear.

Image
Image

Steamed clover, meadow hay, silage, alfalfa and root crops - carrots, beets, potatoes are also added to the diet of geese. Birds are also given dry brooms of maple, linden, nettle, poplar, birch. In areas rich in coniferous forests, pine needles are also used - green legs (10 cm long) are crushed and fed to geese 30 g per day in wet mash. If possible, it is useful to give them 10-15 g of red rowan every day (berries for geese are stored dried or frozen).

Gusakov must be fed additionally without fail. This should be done separately from the geese, since geese very often come to their feeders only after the geese, and as a result they often remain hungry. It is also very useful to give them a mixture of 40 grams of peas, 100 grams of sprouted oats, 15 grams of any animal feed (for example, leftover cottage cheese or meat trimmings) to increase the weight of the gander, as well as to strengthen their vitality. etc.), 2 grams of fish oil and 4 grams of baker's yeast. These figures are indicated on the basis of one gander, and they are given in order to be able to freely navigate in what proportion to make up such a mixture.

The owners, who believe that the snow will be enough for the geese to drink in winter, are greatly mistaken - the geese must always have fresh water, and at room temperature. Due to the lack of water, they develop disorders of the central nervous system and blood circulation is noticeably impaired. Geese can become noisy and aggressive or drowsy, very weak and lethargic. Every day goose drinkers are washed very thoroughly, and the water in the drinkers should be changed at least three times a day.

Recommended: