All on their own

Last year we assisted our geese in hatching out a clutch.  Hank built them a nice little hutch.  We kept the sheep away from the geese so as to give them some privacy.  We let the two girls lay 22 eggs and then candled them to see which ones took.  Finally, we were satisfied that all was properly in place, and Mother Goose sat her required 30 days on 11 eggs.  Four goslings hatched, and we were quite proud of ourselves.

This year we did nothing.

One of the yearlings got broody last month, and so we decided to just let Nature take its course.  We weren't really keen on adding to the flock, but being her first nest, how many would she actually hatch?  Lo and behold, a few days ago we had two little goslings wander out of the hutch.

Here's a family photo of our small (but loud) flock.  Grimm, the gander, is in the foreground.  The two older females are the white ones on the right side of the photo.  The darker goose in the back left is one of the yearlings that hatched last year.  She is the proud mama of the two little goslings.  Rearing these little ones seems to be a family affair.  Grimm is uber-protective, yet very gentle.  If anyone approaches the fence, all honking breaks loose.  The goslings head for Mama and the other three, heads down, come charging.

 

These little guys are precious, as are all Spring babies on the farm.  I may be buying a kiddie pool soon.