Monday, April 2, 2012

Three's a Gaggle

Mother Goose, Dot and Grimm

Last summer my husband, Hank, decided our homestead needed a little more charm so we bought three geese from a local farmer and put them in the pasture with the ewes.  What we didn't realize was that charm came with a price.  We didn't exactly have any experience with the "most aggressive of all poultry" but could it really be that hard?!  But as most homesteaders can attest to, new endeavors of any kind aren't necessarily hard, they're just a learning process.


For starters, these guys can wake me up from a dead sleep at 2am.  And of course they hiss at any man or beast that looks at them sideways.  After several attempts to migrate, we trimmed their wings.  And then we found this rolling around in the pasture one day.  On to the next step in the process...

If those two geese wanted to sit on a nest, we could be obliging (gotta try anything once, right?).  Hank built a small hutch, and we snuggled it up against the south side of the barn where we found the eggs.  We watched as our two females marched in and out of the hutch, taking turns laying eggs, covering them up each day, hissing appropriately when we peeked in.


After about a week of this, Mother Goose (original, huh?) didn't leave the hutch.  She stayed put and promptly coated the nest with her down.  Ever the optimists, Hank and I are excited at the prospect of even more 2am noise in another 40 days or so!  We closed the gates, mended a few large holes in the wire fencing so Dot (her sister) couldn't get through, and left Mother Goose to her business.  Each day I smile at her hissing and leave her some corn and water.

Grimm, our gander, can often be seen standing guard in the adjoining pasture.  At least, I assume that's what he's doing.  Although if he, the ewes and the two steers are secretly rehearsing the 'Bremen Town Musicians' for an upcoming performance, I wouldn't at all be surprised.  In any case, I'll let you know how the story ends!

12 comments:

  1. Well that is exciting! Such obliging geese to take up in the hutch you built for them...we can barely get our chickens to lay eggs where we can find them! Do keep us posted on the progress!

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  2. Geese were the only barnyard animal that scared me when I was a kid. Didn't the army use them as guard dogs?

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  3. I know there is alot of hard work that goes into looking after all these animals but your stories are so charming and I can't wait to here what's next. My husband and I love our acreage but travel doesn't alow us the time to look after animals and feathered friends. I'll just enjoy yours.

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  4. Oh, I hope they hatch for you. Good idea to lock Mother Goose up - when we had guinnea hens, we didn't do this and something scared her off her next and ate her eggs. However, I think Mother Goose would be a hard one to scare. Love the picture of Grimm on the sheep! Blessings from Ringle.

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  5. What a wonderful story, I am anxious to know how it turns out. I have never tried to raise geese, they scare me because they are so aggressive. What a cute photo though, of Grimm standing on the sheep.
    I love your header of "Bo Peep".
    Hugs, Cindy

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  6. Too funny that Grimm! Well geese are pretty aggressive and scary with their hissing, but they do seem to fit right in.

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  7. I really enjoyed your post. Let us know how it turns out.

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  8. Just popped over from ApringStringz and had to comment to say I adored that last photo! And good luck! :)

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  9. Spring is in the air! How wonderful to be a young goose and starting your family :)
    I don't know what on earth you're going to do if all of those eggs hatch. That looked like quite a few! You may never sleep again.

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  10. Ugh, I love geese but I too am scared to get one! They're such beautiful birds, though!

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  11. Ooooh geese are scary!
    Love that last photo.

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  12. Cute and funny how geese work!

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