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. 

Gosh ducklings and goslings are cute! The last of the hatch was out today, with just a few goose eggs to go. The eggs were collected early in spring when the temperatures were still very low and although they were likely fertile, they were not viable. The ducks laid in their shelter and the chickens in their nesting boxes, but the geese were laying outside in makeshift nests. Unfortunately, most of the eggs got chilled and only two geese out of 50 eggs hatched. There are four geese setting now though, and each has a dozen or more eggs, so most likely, many of those eggs will hatch. The geese adults all care for and protect the young goslings. Last year, the gaggle raised 5 mom hatched little gaffers and they all went into the freezer. This year, if the eggs all hatch, which is not likely, but possible, there will be more than 40 goslings. It will be more difficult to protect the babies from arial predators, particularly the ravens. I am not sure how to handle that, not wanting to lose the young ones, but at the same time, wanting to allow the gaggle to look after and raise their babies. Only Robbie, the border collie, chases the ravens off. The other livestock guardian dogs do not much bother with them, unfortunately. 

Two goose eggs pipped, that is the baby broke through the shell, but they have been in the shells too long now, and likely will die in the shell. It is usually not a good idea to liberate the hatchlings either, since they often die shortly after, especially if they are stuck to the shell or membrane and bleed from being released. There are a dozen more goose eggs still in the incubator due in a few days. Then hatching is pretty much over for this year. A hundred chicks and about 25 ducklings, plus 5 turkeys made it, and so far, just two little goslings. They are all living in the granary aka brooder house with two heat lamps (in case one light burns out in the night or anything else ). During the day, if it is good weather, the granary door is open with a wire cover in place to keep cats and ravens out, so the birds can get some fresh air and see outside. In a few weeks they will be transferred to separate pens, one for the waterfowl and the other for the chicks and turkeys. There they will remain until they are well on their way to adult hood and have gained the ability to fend off predators and watch for themselves, usually about at four months old. The males will be sent off to the processor at five months, and the females sold as laying hens or kept for breeding stock and laying hens for the farm. Then next year, the cycle will go on. That is the way of the hatch. 

The first hatch is underway. The cost of keeping birds is much less than buying hay for sheep and goats, and the eggs, chicks and adult bird sales far outweigh their upkeep. That is not so with the other animals on the farm, but at least something breaks even!
The incubators are not mine, but belong to two different friends. I am splitting the hatch with one friend and the other gets his pick of the birds, so it is a win win situation for me and for them. About 40 mixed duck eggs, Rouen, Saxony, Ancona and Khaki Campbell, plus Muscovy, and 15 Standard Bronze turkey eggs, 18 mixed geese, Tufted Toulouse/Embden/Pomeranian, and chicken, Ameraucana/Partridge and white Chantecler and a few others plus bantams are all in the incubator with the chicks due on April 26 and the waterfowl on May 3 and 5. Muscovy ducks take the longest to hatch, followed by the geese then ducks and chicks the shortest, at 21 days. Some of the hatch has been presold already. About the same time, or a bit later, the farm will be receiving an order from Performance Poultry with specialty birds so there will be waterfowl and chick brooders set up and ready to go. Three separate hatches will be made, with approximately 80 eggs per hatch. After that, if there is still interest, the hatch will be set by order only. Unclaimed birds will be raised and either sent to the processors or kept for layers or for sale as adult birds. In the summer the feed bill is very low because the birds free range and basically feed themselves. This year, the numbers of adult birds are too high for the small farm yard, so they will out to pasture with the sheep so the dogs can also watch over them. With the new fencing, it will be easier to pasture the birds. The fliers go where they wish anyhow, so basically it is the ducks and geese and a few of the chickens that will need supplemental grazing. The benefits of raising the birds are many from fresh pastured eggs to bug control to delicious dinners. And to think that when I began this venture three years ago, I had a terrible bird phobia and could not touch a bird, not even a newly hatched chick, let alone go in a coop. Now I can, though the odd time, I still get prickles on the back of my neck when the birds fly by my head. I actually like them now, especially the comical ducks. They are my favourites, hands down. The egg pictured is from a Standard Bronze turkey, and I even like them. 

If there is one thing that ducks love, it is water and with the warm temperatures, the snow is turning into puddles. The ducks love that! They are in their glory splashing  and dunking and playing in the water, but today, they were able to get some mud at the bottom, so they were extra ecstatic.
The big Rouen drake was out taking his ladies for a walk about. There were puddles everywhere to their absolute delight and of course, they sampled them all. The geese decided to venture further and went out to the driveway on the other side of the fence, but the snow has not turned into puddles there yet, so they ambled back. The goose sold as the male Saddleback Pomeranian is female and one of the females is a male. That was quit evident today, because geese love to mate in shallow water. The gander from last year did not want to share any of the ladies, though, and quickly turfed the newcomer out. The one that was supposed to be the gander is nesting, but she will have to relocate because where she wants to be is not a safe place out of the elements. In a few days, the barrel nests will be able to be moved and she will have a great place to lay her eggs and have little ones. It is so wonderful to enjoy the warm temperatures after that bitterly cold winter. Yup, spring has sprung.

Ducks and geese are hardier than chickens by far. Some chicken breeds, those without large combs and wattles (the hangy down things from their noses) fare better in the cold. Large combs are subject to frost bite and freezing, then turn black and fall off. How painful that is for the chickens. One breed of duck, the Muscovy, has large caruncles, or red hangy down or puffed up warts around its face and eyes, and that area is most delicate and subject to freezing as well. Generally the other duck breeds and geese are very winter hardy and prefer to be out on the snow than cooped up in a building.
At the Fat Ewe Farm, the ducks and geese are housed together in a long hoop shelter, 16 by 8 by 6 feet high. It is covered with two tarps and the ground edge is shored with spoiled hay from the lambs next door, insulating the ground level area where the birds stay. In very cold weather, they tuck their legs up by their sides and rest their down covered bellies on the ground, nearly impervious to the cold. The females are better at tucking their heads under their wings than the males, but both will do it. Even when it is forty below, they want to get their whole bodies into the water for a bath. The droplets freeze on their feathers and they look like little ice men when they emerge. Then they spend the next hour preening, that is spreading the oil from their glands through their wet feathers. It is the preening that waterproofs them and weather proofs them and is very important in keeping them warm. If they do not have the opportunity to bathe, then they must at least have a bucket in which they can stick their heads or their eyes and nostrils can become pasty and dry. They will flick water on their bodies with their heads, similar to bathing, but not quite.

Aside from the water, they need to eat something. At this farm, they are fed whole oats, barley and wheat and dirt, plus oyster shells for calcium. The dirt is collected from the forest and is full of microbes and roots. They will spend hours rooting through it and gobble up whatever tasty morsels they find, along with the dirt. They do get minerals from the dirt. It is good to have the soil tested to see what they could ingest and what might be lacking. From time to time, they get lettuce and kitchen scraps and they do eat the meat that the dogs leave on their bones. People told me geese were strictly vegetarian, however; they are not. They will eat bugs, slugs, and worms, plus they do not mind nibbling at meat as well. Winter is hard for the waterfowl, because a good portion of their natural diet is grass, so I also feed them hay. They will eat the leaves and grass in the hay, especially any dried dandelions, which they seek out and gobble up rapidly. The roughage helps to keep their digestive tract healthy too, but they are getting roughage from the whole grains and the dirt/leaves/roots too.

I find the ducks very comical with their antics. They have become quite tame for the most part and do not move much when I walk amongst them. They also herd well and after one attempt to move them, they know where to go on their own. The geese have separate quarters, but they sleep with the ducks in the big house, along with two or three chickens and sometimes, if it is warmer, the guinea hens.Just a few duck or two geese could easily live in a dog house for the winter. Duck eggs are three times more nutritious than chicken eggs, but they do not generally lay in the winter in a normal situation. For that, they would need a heated coop and supplemental daylight. I believe in allowing their natural rhythms dictate their laying schedule because it gives their bodies a chance to rest and rejuvenate for spring. Ah, spring...just another six months away. Winter is a time of survival for the waterfowl, and for me.

The female geese fought over their nest and moved it five times in the course of the month and a half they sat on it. The eggs rotted, of course, after being chilled too long with each move, and they abandoned the nest, but one goose laid 5 of her own eggs in another location and successfully hatched all of them. One little guy tumbled out of the nest into the hot sun, still half in the shell, but I picked him up and ran warm water over him to rehydrate him, which also released the shell and then I blew him somewhat dry and gave him back to mamma goose. The American Buff geese and the Toulouse gander mated most often, however; the Toulouse/Embden gander also mated with the Buff geese, so the goslings will be a mystery for a while longer. For now, they are adorable, but totally untouchable. The entire gaggle of geese, 4 ganders and 4 geese, stay together and protect the young ones. It is quite marvelous to watch them waddle around the yard talking to the babies and teaching them where to find food and what is good and bad, but when they go swimming in the toboggan pool, it is the cutest. These will be the only 5 babies hatched this year. The geese have quit laying eggs and are seasonal layers with a peak in late spring which tapers entirely off by summer. The American Buff geese are very calm and do not bite the way the Embden geese do, but the Embden geese are larger and make better yard guards, especially against arial predators. Geese eat very little other than grass and bugs in the summer and are economical to raise, especially when the gaggle takes care of business. The Fat Ewe Farm would not be complete without them!

The first batch of eggs did not fare well, but the ones set a week later seem to be doing better. So far, one duckling and one gosling have hatched and 4 more duck eggs have pipped, that is the ducklings have penetrated the shell to create a breathing hole while they slowly peck their way out of their shells. No more of the goose eggs have pipped, but they usually take a few days extra. And to think, I was ready to give up and had already unplugged the incubator, when two of the little ones called to me.

I listened carefully and sure enough, there were babies waiting, so I plugged the machine back in. One of the ducklings was very quiet, so I helped him open his shell. I think that might have been a mistake. They need the pecking and resting to absorb the last of the yolk. There was some blood in his shell and I am thinking yesterday when the two hatchlings were still in the incubator, they could have banged the eggs around and caused harm. He is not doing so well, but is still alive.

I have learned a great deal about hatching. This was my first attempt. I have a very old incubator that does not measure humidity or temperature. There is a pan of water inside, however; the holes should have been taped over for the first while, until hatching starts. This raises the carbon dioxide levels and keeps the humidity inside, more like the conditions under the duck. Turning the eggs and wetting them down with a sprinkle of heavy misting is necessary too. I did keep a thermometer inside and the old incubator was excellent at maintaining the temperature, but I should have had it 100, not 98. They take two days longer to hatch when the temperature is 2 degrees cooler, or so the book says.

When I first put the new hatchlings in with the few days old duckling, he tried to run at them and bite them. To protect them, I put a divider in the container, where they could communicate and get used to one another. After an hour, the divider was removed and they are snuggled together. The older duckling taught the babies to eat and drink. It was so cute. I cannot say that hatching is fun, but it is rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. Some of the babies were fully developed and died in the shell. This can happen when the embryo is just not viable, or when the conditions are not quite right. I suspect better humidity control will prevent most problems, so after these babies hatch, I will set another load of eggs. Having learned 'how' now, I am sure to have better results with the second try. And they are adorable and quirky and so much fun to watch.

The babies are on dirt from outside. When I set it up for them, there were a few ants crawling in the dirt, a spider, some straw and I picked some green grass tips, so it is more like nature than shavings. I have started them with duck and goose starter, commercial feed, against my better judgement, since it contains mostly genetically modified grains and chemical additives. I will offer them soaked chopped grains in a few days. They have already been eating their dirt to some extent and I will continue to pick grass for them. Last year, a Khaki Campbell raised 8 babies and from the day they were hatched, she had them outside foraging. Surprisingly, they are extremely hardy compared to chicks and could be out without warming for a long period of time. I do enjoy waterfowl very much and have just purchased a pair of Blue Swedish ducks. Soon it will be The Fat Duck Farm!