The father goose is a pure Sebastopol and mother goose is an American Buff. They make beautiful babies together, though some might have been from the tufted Toulouse gander. The parents protect these babies with their lives, both of them and they move slowly to accommodate the little feet and short legs as they take them out for their walks. Three of the babies were late hatchlings and cannot keep up. I put them back in the nest this morning to keep warm. 

Geese are very polite. People...not so much anymore. 

In written communication isn't it most pleasant to see, "thank you" instead of no problem? Isn't it nice to see, 'thank you and you're welcome" at all rather than a thumbs up icon? In real life how many people maintain the pleasantries of politeness. I called my elderly uncle the other day. He thanked me for calling and told me he loved me. Older folks do that. They thank others for everyday actions that most take for granted. But who calls a 91 year old anymore? Maybe they are more thankful for being thought of than the younger generation is. I learned though. I learned that I felt good when I was thanked for the simple act of calling, and I thank others for the same. I have done that for years, but then again, now I am am of the older generation too. 

Politeness should not be forgotten. People should respect and revere their elders, give up their seats, offer a hand to carry things and so on, no matter what. If we cannot help one another, then why are we even here? It should not be just help for the elderly, but for anyone that needs help. 

Take this tip from the goose family. Be polite, take your time, accommodate those with shorter legs (or shorter incomes, or shorter arms or whatever) and help out. For the geese, the survival of their young depends on it. What about the human race? Our survival does not depend on being polite, however; by helping one another we certainly can improve our human plight. 

I don't just mean in the face of disaster, like the Fort McMurray evacuation for the fire or a tsunami aftermath. I mean everyday, all day, all the time. 

Love is what makes the world a better place. Don't you agree?

Geese are magical creatures, delightful to watch, comical, friendly and are very excellent parents. They sit and hatch their own eggs, and the whole gaggle, males and females, care for the babies. Unfortunately, with the ravens gone wild population around the farm, I cannot let the geese keep their babies out in the open, and the ravens even lure them to the wire and eat them through the fences. 

This winter, the number of ducks was greatly reduced, only with trios of the breeds being retained. There are Rouens, Anconas, Khaki campbells and Buff ducks. They cohabit with the geese, because the number of geese and ducks actually raises the temperature in their shelter quite a lot and it is warmer for them. They learn very quickly, unlike chickens. I only had to herd the ducks and geese into their winter shelter twice and the next night, they were already in there themselves. Chickens take forever to learn where they need to go and even then, some are too stubborn to go anywhere but where they want to! 

The Fat Ewe Farm geese are beautiful. There are two American Buff geese and a Tufted Toulouse cross gander that are mated. There is a Sebastopol pair and the offspring from the Sebs and the Toulouse and the Buffs. The Sebastopol cross geese are stunning, with their long ruffled coloured feathers and blue eyes. Well, not all of them have blue eyes, but most do. My only problem is that I cannot sex the ganders from the geese of the offspring. Several experts have tried to as well, but without turning the geese upside down and vent sexing, we won't know for sure until mating season. 

There are several people interested in these beautiful birds for their own farms. I love the geese. They seem to float rather than waddle like the ducks and the Sebastopol's feathers, when completely grown in, hang to the ground, some over a foot long. Stunning! 

In winter, they are easy care. They do have a large rubber tub they can bathe in once a day. They will go in the water, no matter what the temperature is. To them, water is the best thing going! They do not have to have bathing water, but they do require enough water to dip their heads in so their eyes are washed. The Muscovy ducks sleep in the chicken coop, though, because they need a warmer house than the goose/duck house. The loose feathered birds, like the Sebs and crosses of them, do not have the same insulation factor as the smooth feathered geese, but they are doing well in their large hoop coop. I sprinkle new hay on the floor once a week. When it is still fresh they eat quite a bit of it, which helps them with fibre and greens, since greens are scarce in Alberta winters. 

I think when I move from here, if I ever do, I will always have Sebastopol geese. The Fat Ewe Farm would not be complete without them!

It is spring! We are having a late spring this year due to the drought. But the birds are having an early spring. The geese, ducks, chickens and turkeys have been sitting on eggs for some time now and babies are popping out everywhere. Today there are new turkey poults and new goslings. Unfortunately, I will have to take the babies from the geese and the turkeys because the ravens will eat them. They don't bother much with the chicks, likely because there is not much to eat there, but they love ducklings and goslings. The turkeys just loose their babies, then the babies get cold and go to sleep forever. 

Chickens do make the best mothers, especially in the breeds where the instincts have not been bred out. The little bantam cross bred hen that sat on her eggs in the yearling ram pen, hatched 10, but is just cavorting with 8, so two have been lost. She is fiercely protective and very watchful and likely will keep the rest of her babies. 

The goose has 7 eggs. Three have hatched and she is sitting on the others. Hopefully they wll all hatch. There are some new goslings that arrived from the hatchery on Saturday, perfect timing to add these to the incubator, which is an old livestock trough. A Khaki Campbell duck has a nest and should be coming out very soon with her babies and I gave 2 goose eggs and some Muscovy duck eggs to the Mottle Houdan hen. She has to sit for a month to hatch them and so far it is fine. I keep removing any chicken eggs, which would hatch 10 days sooner than the duck and goose eggs, so she would abandon the nest. This way she will stay until she hatches the eggs. Unfortunately for her, I will have to take them from her as well to ensure their survival. 

Now, spring on the farm is teeming with new life and that is so perfectly wonderful, isn't it?

When I first started farming in 2011, I really had a lot to learn. This dumb city slicker did not really know the difference on sight between sheep and goats, chickens, geese, turkeys or guinea fowl or much about cows or horses. I have come a long way in the past 4 years and of course, will continue to learn more. I had never really seen geese up close, only through a car window driving by a goose and duck farm in Yarrow, BC. They were stinky and over crowded and all white, obviously raised for meat production with little regard for the lives of the birds. I am not saying they were not given the necessities, but they didn't have the opportunities to enjoy their lives as the species they are. 

I got some goslings the first year, Embden crosses. They had tufts on their heads, and I later figured out they were tufted Toulouse crosses with Embden. Embden geese are big, agressive geese. Toulose geese are much calmer, but still not calm enough for me. The ravens ate my goslings right through the wire enclosure. I wondered what happened as they disappeared. I could not find a way for them to get out and did not see any dead bodies. The raven would sit patiently on the outside of the cage and when the gosling was close enough, reach his beak in and tear off a bit of the gosling, eventually pulling the remains out and eating it all, which is why there were no bodies. The next goslings were raised where the dogs could protect them and they fared better. They grow very quickly and eat mostly fresh grass. How a creature can eat grass and convert it to fat is a miracle. Some of those geese went to the freezer and I must say, they are incredibly delicious eating. They averaged about 14 pounds, not much, and of that, provided two meals only, with much of the waste being bones. The meat breeds of geese dress out to a greater percentage of meat to bone. 

Last year, I ordered two Sebastopol geese. I had seen photos of these geese who look like they are wearing wedding gowns of fine ruffles. Simply stunning, they are! The goslings were sexed and cost $100 each. They were taken great care of and have grown to be lovely adults. One was nearly lost to an owl in the winter. The owl tore off the wrist portion of a wing, but since they are flightless, once it healed, it will not cause any permanent harm. The two female geese other than the one Sebastopol are Amercian Buffs, a beautiful buff coloured quiet, docile breed. I wish I could find a gander of that breed. Instead, to have two ganders, in case of the demise of one, I kept one of those tuft tops that I had originally. He was a scrawny teenager, but is quite handsome now with grey and white feathers. Of all the geese, he is the loudest and most agressive. 

They geese are nesting now, so they are highly protective of their nesting area. They were hissing at me when I checked one nest today. The Tufted gander has mated with one Buff goose and the Sebastopol gander has mated with the other Buff and his Sebastopol wife. The cross goslings, Sebastopol and Buff, will be very striking with long flowing coloured feathers or possibly the soft smooth feathers of the Buff with Sebastopol fluffs. There are 7 eggs in the nest now. It has been pretty cold and has frozen to minus 10, so the eggs might not be viable, since the goose is not sitting yet. She will continue to lay eggs in the nest until she feels she has enough to ensure continuation of her species, usually about ten or twelve. It takes just over a month to hatch the eggs. Due to the loss of baby birds to the ravens, the goslings will have to be taken away and artificially reared or they will be dinner. I have a waiting list for Sebastopol geese and the crosses. At $100 and up per goose, it is better money than raising sheep. From one nest, ten babies provide $1000 dollars. At best one lamb will fetch $300 unless it is a specialty lamb, which may come closer to the big dollars, but still not equal to the thousand dollars. 

Geese are interesting and the Buffs and Sebastopols are gentle and non invasive. Anyone can walk around them, provided they do not come too close to the nest, and they do not bother with them.The Tufted Toulouse cross gander has learned to give me a wide berth after a few early encounters where he met my boot after he tried to bite me. He does not both with Robbie too much either, because Robbie has given him a haircut once or twice when he attacked him. Sofi, on the other hand, is fair game and the gander loves to chase her, hissing and creating a scene. 

A mixed farm wouldn't be complete without geese. I am considering raising forty to fifty next year and then having a goose per week for dinner. One goose, in the grocery store, is around $50. If I had a market for them, butchered, then that is another possibility to add to the farm income. I am thankful for the opportunity to get to know geese. Would you like to ?

It took a while for me to research enough to be comfortable raising waterfowl through a northern Alberta winter. For one, I do not have heated coops. Also, I do not have an underground water system or a system that keeps water from freezing. So, for the ducks and geese, it was still important that they had access to fresh water daily so they could dip their heads in to clear their eyes, but they also like to bathe daily, despite the frigid temperatures. 

The ducks and geese go into their tubs and flick the water over thier backs, wetting the feathers. Then they sit for an hour afterwards and preen. This means that they spread the oil from their oil gland near the tail, with their beaks, through out the feathers. The oil helps to unify the feathers and then keep the birds warmer. This seems counterproductive when the tempatures are so low that immediately upon leaving the water, it freezes to ice on their feathers, but it does work. 

The ducks prefer to be outside during the day and do not require too much shelter, just a place away from the wind and off the cold ground, with a roof to keep the snow off too. Bi weekly, or as needed, I spread some fluffy straw on the floor of their shelters. The birds tuck their legs and feet up into their sides though and rest on their breasts, which are amply covered with feathers and underneath those, a beautiful layer of fine down. The water actually does not penetrate their feathers if they are in good condition. 

The Sebastopol geese worry me though. They have open feathers and not much down in comparison to the other geese, yet they love to bathe just the same. They also sit and preen and are not shivering, so I assume they are not cold, but they do not have the insulation against the cold that other geese do. Fortunately, the ducks and geese crowd themselves into an 8 x 10 shelter, so their body heat does keep the shelter warmer and the proximity to each other keeps the birds warmer too. It is always nice to cuddle up to a buddy. 

The Muscovy ducks do not sleep with the other waterfowl and instead, go into one of the chicken coops. The body temperature of chickens is higher than ducks and in that coop there are a lot of them, so perhaps it feels warmer to the Muscovy ducks. The caruncles, or red raised bits on their faces, can freeze and if they do, it means that they could get brain freeze too, in which case, death would result. Today they all got new straw in their coops and they had their daily baths too. I could stand and watch them for a long time, I find them so interesting. But when the temperature is well below zero and the wind is blowing, standing to watch is not really a good option. 

Another thing I do not comprehend is how they know each other. The Saxony ducks, three girls, got two Saxony drakes recently. I did not segregate them to introduce the drakes to the girls, but some how they know who is who and they hang around together. I see that when mating occurs in the spring too. The Rouens hang around together and the Campbells too, and now the Saxony ducks will likely too. Pretty cool things, those birds. Aren't they?

Peep Peep and Zoom Zoom are young goslings of Tufted Toulouse/Embden gander and American Buff goose. The two Buff geese took turns sitting on the eggs and sometimes sat together. They hatched a whole bunch, 14 in total, but kept losing them to something, so their last three were removed to live with Peep Peep and Zoom Zoom and no, I did not name them. My son did and cared for them for the first few days.
The two goslings were hatched a day apart and thrown out of the nest because mamma goose was still sitting and she did not have time for the little one. The gosling would not have made it on his own and was brought to the house to live in a Rubbermaid tote with a heat lamp for warmth. Goslings do not require heat for more than a couple of weeks and if the weather is warm, they do not need it much at all. Unlike chickens, geese are very good in wet cool weather as well as warm dry days. Two weeks in the house and they had outgrown their tote. They then moved to the outside where the other three confiscated goslings joined them. At first they little goslings were afraid of the bigger ones, but within a few days, they were all fine together. A week in the outdoors in the puppy pen with boards over the top for security and shade and the older ones were returned to the parents. Hopefully they will not lose any more and take better care of these three. 

Peep Peep and Zoom Zoom were then let out in the farm yard with close supervision. I was outside all day supporting and helping the contractor as well as doing the regular farm chores and was able to observe the goslings. They stayed close to where their pen was for the half the day, then got brave and venture a bit further. They got to swim in the tote lid, which they loved and eat all the grass they wanted. 

The evening brings all sorts of terrors and although the dogs protect the farm with their lives, Peep Peep and Zoom Zoom are back in the puppy enclosure for the night for safety and security. They have a small bucket of water and their kibbles and some fresh grass. It is wonderful to hear them sing themselves to sleep, so sweetly and so softly they sing. They are totally bonded to humans now and prefer their company over the birds. They were in with the birds in the main yard for a few minutes but were terrified, so I brought them back to the farmhouse yard. For the next week they can wander around the farmhouse yard, but the reason it is fenced off from the barnyard was to keep the animals that poop anywhere on the other side, so their days are limited in the yard. Soon they will be bigger and more confident too and able to join the rest of the ducks and geese in the farmyard. 

Geese are wonderful companion birds, friendly and intelligent and like to be cuddled if they are from when they are hatched. Who would think that a goose was a great pet? Peep Peep and Zoom Zoom surely are!

The ducklings and goslings hatched in the incubator earlier in spring are now almost full grown adults. It is possible to tell the difference between the sexes too. The male ducks have a distinct green tinge to their bills, while the females have plain orange, brown or mottled bills, depending on the breed or cross. The males will also develop a curl in their tail feathers fairly soon, but for now, they can be sexed. There are about half and half it appears. Most of these girls will stay on the farm since their moms are now three years old and their laying will decrease considerably next year and the subsequent years. The Khaki Campbell ducks will lay from early in the spring, even with snow on the ground and freezing temperatures, right through until the late fall, and possibly the start of winter. The other ducks, Saxony, Rouen and Ancona, will lay more sporadically now until fall. The only gosling hatched from the farm is a very large gander, mostly grey in colour. He is already protecting his flock. The white Chinese gosling belongs to a friend and was a sole hatchling, so has come to live on the farm for now. The poor fellow has a genetic defect resulting in dropped wings, called angel wing. Since he was fed just the same as the rest of the ducklings and the three other goslings, it was not likely a deficiency that caused the problem, because no others display any abnormalities at all. Well, that is not entirely so. One Rouen was hatched with wry neck, a twist in the neck that inhibits proper eating and drinking and is very tiresome. Although I was advised to do away with him, he has been given the chance to survive and do his best to keep up with the flock. 

The pure white Sebastopols are becoming quite stunning with their fluffy feathers. The goose comes to me and tells me stories. I picked her up today and she protested loudly bringing the gander over to investigate. Then she calmed down and laid her beautiful head on my arm. Ah, the goslings and ducklings are wonderful creatures. They really are. 

The Fat Ewe Farm has lots of goslings this year. The eggs that were in the incubator did not hatch, but boy, the mothers have had no problems hatching them. There are three nests hatched so far, with two more to go. There are 7 left out of 11 in one gaggle and 13 out of 17 in the other, which is actually two together. Baby geese are quick to follow their parents and aunts and uncles around and are agile and smart, unlike turkey poults. Both turkeys lost all their babies, 10 and 5 respectively. But, the turkeys had only the mammas to look after the babies. The geese have two parents and extended family to care for the little ones. 

What happens when these geese grow up? Some will be sold unsexed, since I have no idea what the sexes are until they start to mate. There is a way to tell, best when they are first out of the egg, but I am not about to catch those babies and turn them upside down and look. Depending on the hatch numbers of the next two nests, there will be a lot of little goslings running around. Fortunately, they mostly eat grass, with bugs and worms as a protein supplement, so they feed themselves. I have had to feed the ones hatched in the incubator, goslings and ducklings, twice daily otherwise. Soon, I will liberate them though, since they are mostly feathered, and they can forage as well. There are now three Rouen ducks sitting on nests of nine to ten eggs, so there will be more ducklings too. 

The geese that are not sold as young adults will be taken to the butchers for winter roast goose. People do not eat much goose around here. It was always my father's favourite, preferring it by far to turkey, which he said was dry. I do enjoy roast goose too, and the young geese at the season's end are in prime condition, grass fed and tender. It is not that I set out to raise geese for meat, but that is the choice given at the end of summer since no farm needs 30 geese! Young goose sells for $50 per goose, if anyone would like to preorder. Hint hint. 

The farm is filled with new life, from goslings, to little lambs. The promise of tomorrow is held by these babes, with a chance to grow and learn and be part of a big world. How fast they do grow, too. The goslings that were hatched are so carefully guarded by the whole gaggle, that only erroneous ways lead to mishaps and missing babies. No arial predator would dare to tackle a group of adult geese, for they would protect their progeny with their lives if need be. 

The turkey mamma was not so fortunate. Two babies got into a bucket of water and drowned there and somewhere along the way, another went missing. The turkeys are very small when they are hatched and need the guidance and protection of a watchful mother. One turkey mamma choose the barnyard to brood, but the other, with still more wild instincts brooded under the steps at the bed and breakfast and keeps her babies away from the crowded farm. She calls to them and paces every so slowly in order for them to follow her and keep up. Other than the one that has drowned, she has all the rest of the babies, 8 in total. Between the 4 geese that sat on nests, there are 24 hatchlings to watch over, with two more geese still sitting on nests. 

Then there are 5 hens and one guinea sitting on nests as well. It will be interesting to see what or if much hatches because they are in the nest boxes in the coop and the other hens continued to lay eggs in the boxes. One box has around 30 eggs and it is doubtful that any will hatch even though one guinea hen and one bantam have been sitting on them. 

The Muscovy ducks will hatch their brood very soon, one with 9 eggs and the other with 8. They are dedicated mothers and fiercely protective, even with humans. Muscovy ducks have long sharp claws and are not afraid to use them when it comes to their little ones. Another duck nest has no mamma yet, but has 8 eggs so it should be rather soon occupied. 

Then there are the lambs, 24 at last count, and the goats, 13 now, all babies cute as ever. The birds can be sold or sent to the processor for winter roasting, but when the goat babies are unwanted, what happens to them? or the lambs?

So, I have 12 ewes and their lambs for sale and hopefully they will go. If not, the market is the next step. There is an odd and unusual sale in September if all else fails, but it requires a lot of preparation as well. In the meantime, with lack of fencing, even though some is done, there is not enough pasture for the whole flock, the electric fencing will have to be set up and moved daily. The babies always get caught in the fence the first few times and when they are put in it, close supervision is mandatory for several days. Goats and sheep with horns are the worst, pushing forward when they get the first shock and entangling themselves in the fence. Hearing a goat scream is something else. 

Next year will be different. No hatching in incubators will be done since there are plenty of willing mothers to do the jobs and they eliminate the electrical bill and the feed bill. As long as the babies can forage, and there is enough pasture for them, they can and do feed themselves. The turkeys and geese are free to roam and eat all the bugs and grass they find, as do the chickens and ducks. Ducks and chicks that have been hatched via the incubator do not have mothers to teach them or protect them and must be housed and fed for months before running free. 

And with less than half the sheep and half the goats, and selective breeding, there should only be a few babies here and there. Then the heart break and head aches will be lessened for sure. 

Still, there is a joy when spring comes and the farm is teeming with the new life and promise of tomorrow. The Creator is wonderful indeed as is Mother Nature and the Earth. And I, I am just a steward of all, graciously doing my best to take care of these blessed little critters. What a joyous life. 

Mamma goose hatched her babies! Last year and this year she was a champion and sat on a nest full of her eggs, hatching 5 last year and 9 this year. There are still three eggs to go, so tomorrow will tell if they are viable or not. She has not thrown them out of the nest yet and has returned to it. The mother goose listens for signs of life, pecking and peeping inside the shell and knows if the egg is good or not. The gander and the other geese were very protective of the newly hatched brood and the whole flock, or gaggle, will watch the babies and guard them with their lives. The little ones were outside with mamma goose today, but they could not get back into the barrel nest so I put them in one by one and only suffered one bite from mamma goose doing so. It was well worth it though. 

Mamma turkey also hatched 5 poults and one chick about 5 days before her own babies. A chicken laid an egg in her nest and she did not abandon the nest, but stayed to hatch the rest. Two eggs did not hatch, and she too has returned to the nest to see if they will be good or not. Two baby turkeys died today though, one getting stuck and cold and the other simply expired due to failure to thrive. The rest are robust and healthy, but it is always difficult for the mothers to keep the babies alive with the dogs, cats and ravens about. There are not enough shelters for all the newly hatched birds and if forced to live together, one goose may kill the other babies. It is best to let nature take its course some times. 

Mamma turkeys, geese and chickens are awesome.Thank you mammas!