The meat of young, lean poultry is always in great demand. For this reason, many farms are engaged in raising chickens, geese and other birds not only for themselves, but also for sale. From the point of view of economic benefits, the most profitable is breeding geese for meat. Why geese? Yes, because they are unpretentious, prefer green food, which allows them to save a significant amount of money, and besides dietary meat, they can be used to obtain valuable fluff, as well as liver - the main component of the famous “Foie gras”.
Collateral successful cultivation geese at home is choosing the right breed. Like all birds, geese are divided into three main groups: light, medium and heavy (meat breeds or broilers). Since in in this case If the goal is to breed geese for meat, then you should choose among heavy breeds with good meat performance. Such birds grow quickly, gain weight within 4–5 months, and their meat has a higher taste.
The group of heavy (meat) crosses numbers more than two dozen, but the most popular are the following breeds:
- Kholmogorskaya. One of the largest breeds, characterized by rapid fattening and carcass weight gain. Already by the age of 60–65 days, young animals grow up to 4 kg, so this particular breed is most often bred for meat.
- Large gray. A heavy cross obtained from crossing the Toulouse and Romny breeds. These geese are agile, have a strong build, a muscular, wide sternum, and low content fat For slaughter, it is recommended to raise goslings until they are 9–10 weeks old – at this age their weight is 4–4.5 kg.
- Lindovskaya white. A very popular breed among domestic poultry farmers with high productivity, including meat production. Young animals reach their slaughter weight (4–4.5 kg) by the age of three months. Geese gain weight well, eat pasture, and are not demanding of care.
- Toulouse. A French breed characterized by rapid weight gain, not only meat, but also fat. Toulouse geese are inactive and do not eat plant foods well, so young animals are slaughtered when they reach two months of age, otherwise the meat will become too fatty.
- Broilers G 35. Highly productive cross, bred by French specialists through genetic selection. Ideal for breeding geese at home, since the birds rapidly gain weight and have a high immunity to disease. Young animals reach slaughter weight (4 kg) by the age of 7 weeks, and already a three-month-old goose weighs about 7 kg.
How to keep
The technology for raising geese in private farming requires the creation favorable conditions for keeping birds. While the goslings are small, they will need a bright and heated room of such a size that there is at least 1 m² of space for every 8–10 chicks. In the far corner of the poultry house, a resting area with bedding should be installed, and drinkers and feeders should be installed on the opposite side.
For chicks up to 20 days old, it is necessary to maintain temperature regime at 26–28 °C. When the temperature drops you can use infrared lamps. Daylight hours for normal growth of chicks should be approximately 17 hours.
On farms, young geese are raised for meat mainly in mesh or wooden cages. Typically, such pens have several partitions (sections), each of which houses 15–20 animals.
If cages are used to keep geese at home, then it is necessary to ensure that the number of goslings per 1 m² of area does not exceed 3-4 heads. With denser housing, the livestock grows slowly and often gets sick, becoming infected from each other.
Mandatory conditions for cage keeping include daily walking of birds for 1–2 hours. In normal home keeping, geese should always have access to water. It is desirable for the goslings to grow up near a pond, but if this is not possible, then large containers of water should be installed in the yard for the birds to bathe and swim.
What to feed
The diet of goslings depends on their age. During the first two weeks from birth, chicks should be fed healthy and light foods: boiled eggs, low-fat homemade cottage cheese, crushed cereals. When the babies are 10 days old, you should gradually add bone meal and chopped herbs to the menu: dandelions, nettles, ordinary grass, onions. For the first 4 weeks, chicks need to be fed frequently - up to 8 times a day.
When they are a month old, you need to put out an additional feeder for solid grain feed. Geese are very fond of mash made from vegetables (zucchini, carrots) and grains. You can and should add good combined vitamin mixtures to such food to promote growth and weight gain.
The water in drinking bowls should always be clean and in sufficient quantities. Sand and small shells should be poured next to the feeders - these components improve digestion. As the chicks age, the frequency of feeding decreases to 4–5 times, and the size of the portions, on the contrary, increases.
In the warm season and good weather, it is better to let geese outside for the whole day. Forbs, various insects and the sun will have a beneficial effect on the growing organism. The birds themselves will be able to choose which pasture food suits them. In general, an adult bird can eat about 2 kg of greens throughout the whole day, and will only have to feed it 2 times - in the morning and in the evening, which is very economically profitable.
How long does it take to grow
How long do geese usually grow before slaughter? – the answer to this question depends on the breed. The main criterion to focus on is that the bird reaches a weight of 4 kg. For some breeds of geese, 60–75 days are enough for this, while for others 3–4 months. You can determine the period of readiness for slaughter by the condition of the feathers - if you can’t feel the stumps when you run your hand over them, this means that the bird has fully fledged and can be slaughtered. Having mastered this knowledge, breeding birds at home will not be difficult for beginners and experienced poultry farmers.
Video “Basics of breeding ducks and geese”
From this video you will learn how to raise ducks and geese on your own.
Raising goslings at home is considered a profitable business. Adult birds are used for two purposes - for meat or for obtaining eggs. Chicks reach adulthood in 4-6 months. From the first days it is necessary to look after them proper care so that the majority survive. Beginning poultry farmers need to remember the rules and recommendations that will help them take good care of their goslings. If you follow them, the babies will grow up healthy and can be used for their purpose.
Care in the first days
The chicks are born from the egg at about 28-30 days. Not all birds can hatch, and sometimes human assistance is required to remove the bird from its shell. For healthy individuals it is necessary good care so that they don’t get sick and die. Therefore, raising goslings from the first day must be correct.
Newly born babies should be divided into weak and strong, and then transferred to a warm place. The temperature should be around +30°C. If there is a hen, then take the strong chicks to her after 3 days, and leave the weak ones for another couple of days so that they get stronger.
Keep newborns in a separate place from adults. The first ten days on one square meter there should be ten heads per pen. Three weeks later, the territory was increased, now by 1 square. meter to accommodate no more than 3-4 chicks. When birds are crowded together, it is inconvenient for them to eat and drink, the drinking bowl quickly becomes dirty, which is why the young begin to get sick. If you do not enlarge the enclosure, mortality is possible
The question of how to care for goslings at home worries many novice poultry farmers. Immediately after birth, let the young animals dry out, and a day later try to feed them. The first food will be corn grits and a boiled egg. You can give fresh grass and crushed grains that have undergone heat treatment already on the 3rd day. The food must be crumbly, the glued version is unacceptable.
It is necessary to ensure that all the birds eat. Individuals who refuse food should be fed in a separate box.
Babies need water. They can not only drink it, but also bathe in it almost from the first days. However, it is not advisable for them to splash around in the liquid now. Therefore it is better to install vacuum drinker, which they won't turn over.
Start taking babies out for walks when they are a little stronger, stand well on their paws and move actively. This will happen in about a week. It will be useful for them to spend 20-30 minutes in the meadow, where they can eat grass and breathe fresh air. A portable aviary will be a good help for a small livestock. The chicks actively peck at grass, because it is their main diet. If it is not possible to release the bird into the pond, install wide containers. In hot weather, geese will bathe, which will make their maintenance much easier.
Proper nutrition for goslings
Raising goslings at home will be successful if they are raised correctly. It is recommended to give formula feeds for the first few days after birth.
They should include:
- cottage cheese;
- bran;
- eggs;
- split peas;
- oatmeal.
Mix in wet green food, as well as potatoes and pumpkin. After three weeks, offer the chicks food scraps.
In order for birds to grow up healthy, it is necessary to add vitamins A, D, E, B. Please note that some feeds already contain them. To strengthen the immune system, dilute a few grams of biomycin and penicillin in a glass of milk, adding a little sugar. Give antibiotics to the chicks in this form.
Don't forget about mandatory walking. Fresh green grass is an excellent source of vitamins. If it is not possible to send the kids to the meadow, then pick up the grass yourself and throw it into the enclosure. Then the question of how to raise healthy and strong goslings at home will be simplified.
Where and how to keep it?
To raise goslings at home, choose a special place. Prepare a separate, well-heated room. Keep the temperature at least 30°C for the first week. With age, this will no longer be so important, but for now, babies should be kept warm. On the 6th day of life, reduce the temperature to 24°C, and on the 11th day to 20°C. Do not overheat the grown chicks, otherwise their development will slow down. As for humidity, its limit is 75%. At the same time good ventilation required. Provide a flow of fresh air, ventilate the room several times a day.
Do not turn off the lights for 14 hours a day. When there is light, the chicks eat more and grow faster. If there is no light at night, it will be difficult for them to find their food bowls.
Information about raising goslings at home will be useful for beginners. The tips and recommendations described above will warn you against mistakes. Although proper care of chicks is a painstaking task, it will help raise healthy young animals.
Day old goslings - video
The goose has always been a symbol of the well-being of the rural owner - “Good goose!”, and for good reason. Breeding geese as a business is most profitable in well-established individual farms. The goose is an unpretentious bird, but for successful breeding it requires the owner to have solid management skills.
Breeding geese in the country or small personal plot unlikely to generate much income. Geese require simple and not burdensome, but constant supervision and a well-equipped room for keeping near the house. If you only visit the geese from time to time, don’t expect any noticeable income. This, in turn, requires considerable initial investment in gooseneck equipment.
The goose, so to speak, is not a stable bird. In order for geese to breed well, they must spend most of the day - up to 90% of daylight hours - in the fresh air and graze in the wild.
Although the goose is the first bird domesticated by humans, it has retained many of the features of its wild ancestor, the tundra-dwelling greylag goose (Ancer cireneus). This is explained by the fact that domestic geese, unlike chickens, live close to the habitats of their ancestors.
Consequently, the owner-goose breeder must have goose pasture at his disposal, either his own or rented, in order to obtain stable offspring. For a profitable goose herd you need about two hectares of meadow, wasteland or any inconvenience: ravines, slopes, etc.
What to expect from geese
Goose is primarily a meat bird. The egg production of geese is low, and goose eggs are not in particular demand, especially since they are inferior in taste to chicken eggs and no special properties or qualities have been noticed in them. But in an established farm, a goose produces up to or more than 2 tons of meat per hectare of pasture per year, and the first product can be obtained 2 months after the start of grazing. The goose's grazing season lasts from the first grass to persistent frost.
Considering that a goose is not a bull, you can “harvest” the goose herd gradually over the course of the season, as demand is met. Consequently, there is no need for refrigeration equipment and waste from expired storage. Cost of goose meat in small-medium farming turns out to be lower than beef (though slightly higher than pork), and the selling price is higher; higher, respectively, and profitability.
A delicious and healing product, goose liver, is in high demand. Foie gras (Strasbourg pate, foie gras) is an expensive delicacy. There are even special “liver” breeds of geese and a technology for fattening geese for fatty liver. Foie gras is canned and can be transported far from the place of production. This is the same “Strasbourg imperishable pie” that Eugene Onegin enjoyed with champagne.
Goose also produces a valuable industrial product - goose down. For insulating clothing, goose down is second only to eider down, but their prices are incomparable. You should think about possible buyers of down at the planning stage of a goose farm.
Finally, although the goose eats a lot, it eats almost any kind of food and is very resistant to diseases. Therefore, financial insurance in case of a possible epizootic, as in rabbit farming, is not needed.
What does a “good goose” need?
Question: “Is it profitable to breed geese?” generally speaking, rhetorical. The goose is certainly beneficial for the “good goose” - the owner of at least a small but profitable farm in the countryside, confidently standing on his own two feet, in order to, figuratively speaking, “spread his wings.” It is not recommended for beginners in agricultural production to work with geese.
The first thing you need to produce goose meat is a room of 150 square meters. m per 1000 heads. The room needs to be thoroughly heated, at least 8 degrees in the coldest weather, with an insulated floor. Although the goose is a northern bird, it needs to sleep warm for a good yield of marketable products, and its paws and beak can get frostbite.
It is impossible to keep commercial geese in some kind of shed because the goose is a large poultry, and for regular sales of products you need permission for the production of agricultural products from the sanitary and epidemiological station, the veterinary service and firefighters, and all of them must inspect the future goose barn. Of course, you need to register as an individual entrepreneur in advance; Such permits are not issued to individuals.
Geese also need a pond, from 2 acres (200 sq. m.) per 1000 heads with banks overgrown with grass - the goose is an aquatic bird. If there is no such pond on the site, it will have to be dug up, filled and the banks sowed with lawn grass.
Rospotrebnadzor does not allow the use of natural reservoirs for goose farming in the immediate vicinity of housing (as well as setting up a goose farm in populated areas) - the goose is a noisy, strong and quite aggressive bird. A school of irritated geese can peck to death a child or maim an adult, and the cackling of a flock of geese creates noise like in a forge and press shop. Therefore, the goose barn must be located at a sufficient distance from one’s own home, otherwise the sanitation will not work.
It is best to start a goose business by buying or renting an abandoned poultry house or barn. Making repairs and restoring broken communications will be much cheaper and easier than building from scratch, and there will be no need to prove that the location is suitable.
Where is a good goose?
The success of the goose business largely depends on the right choice breeds There are many breeds of geese, for different purposes, climatic zones and specific local conditions, but if you decide to start new business- breeding geese, then first of all you will need to take care of regular offspring.
Geese are unimportant mothers, incubate goose eggs in homemade incubator You can’t, you can put no more than 5-7 eggs under one hen, and branded incubators are expensive. By the way, if you decide to purchase one, don’t be too tempted by digital foreign models: they work flawlessly, but their capacity is small. Domestic ones are no worse, but they can hold hundreds of eggs.
Of the breeds of geese to start with, we can recommend first of all the large gray ones, then the ubiquitous Kholmogory. Their geese are good at incubating eggs and raising young, and the birds themselves are very hardy and resistant to diseases. For the southern regions, Gorky and Romensky geese are suitable for the same characteristics, and for the temperate zone with excess humidity(eg. Western Siberia) – Ural (Shadrin).
How to open a goose farm
Breeding geese begins with paperwork. Goose meat and goose liver are included in the list of products of the Russian Federation that are subject to mandatory certification, so you will have to overcome a lot of authorities to get started:
- Tax: indicating the types of activities - sale of poultry meat, meat products, young animals, eggs, canned meat. Upon registration, you will receive a certificate in Form 4 OGRN - this is your main document for the future.
- Rospotrebnadzor and firefighters will give permission to open based on your Form 4; These documents are paid. “They’ll give it right away!” Ha!" – a fairly experienced entrepreneur will exclaim here, but this is a subject for another discussion.
- Now it's time to go to the veterinarians. A goose is a subject of mandatory certification; a goose carcass cannot be sold without a certificate, even individually on the market. You need to receive two documents from the veterinary service: a certificate of veterinary welfare of the enterprise - buildings, equipment, adjacent lands and a certificate for the products. Only with this package in hand and a veterinary action plan approved by the same veterinarians can you begin to work.
From what has been described, it follows that renting only premises for a goose barn does not make sense - who will give you a certificate for someone else’s grazing land? And you need to purchase young animals only from certified suppliers, otherwise how will you get a certificate for something that doesn’t yet exist? Certified young stock solves the problem at the start, but then your own will have to be certified separately.
We should talk especially about young animals. Most suppliers sell young animals prepared for fattening. Such birds are poor breeders and trying to breed them will be unprofitable. Considering the difficulties with certification, at the start you can limit yourself to rearing, and only after gaining experience, form your own breeding herd. If you take the matter seriously, a breeding herd is necessary for independence from suppliers of young stock.
There are few suppliers of breeding geese. Actually, pure breeds of geese in Russia are offered by three breeding plants: Pyatnitsky, Lindovsky and Priirtyshsky. If you buy for a breed locally or within reach, you must first make sure that the young animals are certified and meet breed standards.
Commercial prospects
Approximate business plan for breeding geese looks something like this:
- Premises with land, purchase or lease – 200-300 thousand rubles.
- Repair and equipment – 150-200 thousand rubles.
- Registration of documents – 15,000-20,000 (?) rubles.
- Purchase of young animals 1000 heads, from 10 rubles. for a daily gosling up to 50 rubles. for one ready for fattening – 10,000-50,000 rubles.
- Feed and operating costs for the year - 600-720 thousand rubles.
Total initial investment 975 – 1290 thousand rubles.
Now let’s calculate the income for the year from a herd of 800 heads of geese and 200 heads of ganders. The starting point is that one goose hatches 6-8 goslings per year, which produce meat worth 500-1000 rubles. depending on local prices, liver for 500 rubles. (liver is bought by manufacturers of canned pate and the price for it is stable), down and feathers for 20 rubles.
The total annual income is 960-1760 thousand rubles. After deducting taxes, we get a payback period of 1-3 years, depending on market conditions and local conditions.
It is also necessary to take into account that all authorities will pester the goose farm with inspections. This will require unexpected costs to correct deficiencies and comply with regulations. But it is impossible to indicate even their approximate value in advance.
It should also be noted that a good income from a large flock of geese can be obtained independently only by grazing. “Stable” housing is beneficial on an industrial scale for canned food or when fattening several dozen for holidays and celebrations. But this is no longer breeding, but another type of activity - fattening.
Grand total
In general, the following can be said about the goose business: if you are an experienced private agrarian and you have in mind a dilapidated cowshed or poultry house, or an abandoned estate with a couple of hectares of land unsuitable for arable land, a garden or a vegetable garden and with access to water, It is possible and profitable to take care of geese.
Otherwise, it is better to use your strength somewhere else.
In poultry farming there is such a direction as raising geese. It is not new and has been known since time immemorial. Geese are a historically significant bird; back in the fifth century BC they managed to save Rome from the Gauls, waking up the defenders of the capital at night, who repelled the attack. It is not known for certain when they came into the orbit of human activity, but the fact that breeding geese is profitable is indisputable.
These are the only domestic birds that can within two months of fattening, gain weight up to 4 kilograms. Delicious dietary meat has exceptional nutritional properties. Pilot ace of the Great Times Patriotic War I.N. Kozhedub in his memoirs shared a recipe for rapid wound healing, tested on personal experience. On the recommendation of doctors, the diet should certainly have included goose meat. The result was stunning; after two weeks the pilot was already in service.
There are legends about the demand for goose liver. In France, and not only, a lot of farms are engaged in this type of business. True, the geese now have a rival - the Muscovy duck of the mulard breed, which is also raised for foie gras liver. The number of mulards on farms in France 10 years ago was 35 million versus 800 thousand geese.
Healing goose fat and warm down, indispensable components of the growing process, are in steady demand on the market.
Raising geese at home for beginners is not such an impossible task. Don't be intimidated by size and behavior adult bird. Geese are very attached to the people around them, and usually hiss and defend themselves from strangers. The advantages of breeding domestic geese of various breeds can be summarized in several points:
Having assessed the advantages, one can argue that the mulards have more tasty and lean meat, they are much clean and silent. But there is also significant shortcomings, leveling the advantages are slow growth, low weight. For example, a female mulard weighs only about 1 kg. Thus, by focusing on raising and caring for geese at home, more effective way use of food supply and time spent.
The goals of breeding geese at home for beginners can be two:
- content for receiving a one-time supply of food products
- keeping and breeding geese to obtain a breeding herd with long term obtaining meat and related products
The first differs from the second in that during the season all efforts are reduced only to raising birds. The final stage of the process is the slaughter and sale of meat or canning products for long-term storage.
The second option requires a more comprehensive approach to the issue of breeding and includes breeding work to form a productive herd.
How to breed geese
The first step on the way to breeding geese is selection of breed. The choice here is simply huge. Meat breeds are very widely represented on the market. These are Toulouse, Kholmogory, large gray, Lindovskaya. It doesn’t matter what breed, the main thing is to master the technology, breeding and nurturing techniques. Having gained at least some experience, you can further experiment and explore new horizons, even growing the same mulards to obtain delicacies.
Having decided on the breed, you need to choose the option of receiving goslings. You can purchase ready-made daily allowances in industrial incubators. Another way is to use a home incubator and hatch them at home. But for this it is necessary to select the eggs correctly, ensuring the maximum yield of young animals. The egg selection criteria are as follows:
By placing the eggs in the incubator, after 28–30 days we will get goslings, which must be carefully inspected. If congenital defects are revealed during examination, the goslings must be culled. Anything can happen:
- goslings cannot move independently
- one eye closed
- blind
- coordination of movements is impaired
Such goslings will not be able to fully develop in the general herd and require special care, but sooner or later their existence will end in tears, so why condemn them to torture.
How to raise geese
After the goslings hatch, you need to look after them take good care of. Place in a special place for them, where it is necessary to create a temperature regime in the first week of 30–32 degrees, in the second 25–28 degrees and after the third week with a temperature of 20–25 degrees they are transferred to the general mode. From the first day, goslings should be fed with a mixture of chopped boiled eggs and wheat or oatmeal porridge. Starting from the third day, you can introduce chopped greens into the diet, gradually switching to factory-made feed for young animals.
For two weeks, the goslings are fed mash and allowed to walk for 2-3 hours. After the third week, the young animals are grazed for a significant part of the day. Due to the fact that the goose is a waterfowl, it is necessary to provide access to water. It’s good if it’s a body of water, or at least a hole dug in the ground filled with water.
The room in which the geese will be located must meet the following conditions:
IN winter time optimal temperature indoors not lower than 0 degrees. It is easily achievable by insulating walls with any materials available on the market. The flock's own body temperature is enough to keep the building comfortably warm.
Geese find 70 percent of their food under their feet, so walking is an urgent need. Leaving the yard in the morning, the herd feeds on green spaces while walking, and if there is a nearby body of water, they spend the whole day on it, finding everything there required volume food.
It is a mistake to think that this is enough for them. Geese have great respect for grains such as corn, wheat, and oats. Therefore, a prerequisite after their return home from walking is the presence of such food in the feeders. When leaving the bird indoors overnight, do not forget to take care of the night food, since the goose, unlike other birds, is not averse to snacking at night.
Root vegetables are also not in last place in the diet of geese. In addition, the percentage of efficiency of feed use, for example, by chickens is 62%, while a goose absorbs feed energy by 75–80 percent, due to which it quickly reaches marketable indicators.
In winter, hay, bran, and grass meal can replace green food for geese. The latter are added to the mash when preparing the daily meal.
Formation of a breeding herd
To create a herd that can effectively work to create healthy offspring, you need to put in a lot of effort. Geese become sexually mature quite late, compared to another bird. This moment occurs after 8–10 months. The positive thing is that despite this delay, the productivity of females remains stable for 3–4 years. Once you have created a breeding herd, you can be guaranteed to obtain healthy offspring during the specified period, through incubation or hatching of eggs.
To carry out fruitful functions, it is recommended to select geese with a weight 10% more than the average for this breed. Select the number of ganders in the ratio of one sire per three geese. True, there may be exceptions in one direction or another. There are possible options for the existence of just a couple. Thus, they are formed families. Depending on the disposition of the heads of families, if they are calm, they can be kept in the same room. Otherwise, separate them into different fences, eliminating the fight for territory.
If there are several breeds of birds in the flock, they must be separated for purity of the species.
Having thus ensured peace and tranquility in the territory, one can hope for good results on the fruitful breeding of geese of various breeds.
Attention, TODAY only!
Among poultry special place occupied by geese. If chickens are bred mainly for the purpose of obtaining eggs, then geese are raised for tasty, juicy meat.
Although it is inferior in dietary characteristics to chicken due to its high fat content, it is still very healthy. It contains trace elements and vitamins A, C, B, including B12, which is deficient for many, and mineral components - iron, zinc, manganese. Goose meat is especially valued for its amino acid content., from which our body produces antibodies against viruses.
In this article we will take a detailed look at breeding, keeping and caring for geese at home for beginners. Let's find out whether goose eggs can be eaten, how they are useful and how much they can cost. After reading all the information, you will be able to raise healthy and strong birds.
First, let's talk about breeding geese at home. The specificity of keeping geese is that they cannot be raised in cages like chickens. This explains that their population is much smaller. It is advisable to breed this bird if there is a nearby place for them to walk - a pasture with a body of water (river or lake). Geese need space. They should walk a lot and move. Because of this, their meat is darker than chicken (there are more blood vessels in the muscles).
Breeds of geese for breeding
The most common breeds are as follows:
Large gray geese- weigh 6-7 kg. Egg production 37-47 eggs. The eggs are large - 150-200 g. Very hardy.
Chinese geese - live weight reaches 5 kg. Egg production - 50-60 pieces per year with a weight of 130-170 g. Hardy, but aggressive by nature.
Lindovsky breed– weight of adult geese is 7-8 kg. Egg production is 45-50 eggs with an average weight of 120-140 g.
Kuban is a domestic breed. Egg production - 80-90 eggs per year. Average live weight is 4.5-5.5 kg.
Kholmogory - weigh more than other breeds - 8-10 kg. But egg production is 30-40 eggs per year, but their weight is more than 200 g. They are calm and non-aggressive.
Italian geese- characterized by high meat productivity. Live weight – from 6 to 7 kg. Egg production - up to 50 eggs per year.
Toulouse- French breed. It is considered the largest with a weight of 10 kg or more. Egg production is 30-40 eggs per year with an egg weight of 190-210 g. They are calm and inactive, fatten well and quickly.
Emden geese weigh 8-9 kg. Egg production is low.
Rhineland— bred in Germany. Their characteristics are similar to those of Emden.
Breeding geese on a farm. Different breeds.
Eggs with a hen
It is better to hatch geese chicks from eggs using a hen, than in an incubator. However, if there is only one hen in the poultry farm, then the brood gets a maximum of 13-14 birds, since the eggs are large. If you still choose this method of obtaining chicks, then first create necessary conditions. Temperature indoors supported at 14-15 degrees.
It should be dry and well ventilated, but without drafts. The goose's nest is made spacious. Be sure to separate it from other livestock and fence off the nests with partitions (if there are several hens). The brood hens are kept separate from the rest of the geese. This is due to the fact that geese can, during their absence expectant mother lay eggs into an already hatched clutch. Thus, the period of receiving goslings will stretch over time, which is very bad for their further development.
We monitor the dryness in the nest. An accidentally broken egg must be urgently removed and the rest of the survivors wiped. The need to make partitions between nests is explained by the fact that in the absence of one hen, the other rolls several eggs to itself, since their maternal instinct is very developed.
An excess number of eggs in one nest will make it impossible to heat them all at once. In addition, there is an additional risk of damage.
We make sure that when the hens return to the nest after the necessary exercise, food intake and water procedures, they occupy their nests and do not confuse them with neighboring ones. During incubation, we change the water in the expectant mother's drinking bowl daily to avoid diarrhea and feed only selected grains. The hen herself will take care of all the processes during incubation.
She herself rolls the eggs in the nest for even heating. If for some reason the goose does not return to the nest after eating within 20 minutes, it is driven into the nest. This happens mainly with birds sitting on eggs for the first time.
The first chicks appear on the 28th day. After this, they are taken from the nest, placed in a separate box, and illuminated with a lamp, creating the desired temperature. After all the chicks are born, they are returned to the goose. In the first two days, the mother can be given several chicks from eggs hatched in an incubator. They do this in the evening.
Eggs in the incubator
Hatching geese chicks in an incubator harder than chickens. This is due to the fact that goose eggs contain a lot of fat and are large themselves. If more than 70% of the chicks hatched from one egg, then this good result. Several features of incubating goose eggs:
- are taken away them within 10 days - no more;
- 3-4 hours before booking the incubator is warmed up with a fever of 39 degrees;
- are taken away only healthy ones perfect shape eggs;
- you can't wash them, but can be disinfected by spraying with a light solution of potassium permanganate;
- the first 4-5 hours after setting the temperature in the incubator maintained at around 38 degrees. Then they reduce it to 37.8. The last couple of days it has been reduced to 37.5 degrees;
- eggs are turned 6-8 times a day to avoid sticking of the shell to the mesh or mold and for uniform heating;
- to prevent harmful gases from accumulating, the incubator should be periodically laid after 15 days open for 10 minutes for ventilation.
How to care for, raise and maintain goslings
Caring for goslings at home from the first days of life is extremely important.
With the beginning of life, the immune system of the goslings’ body is formed and strengthened. That's why It is important to have a balanced diet so that a large and healthy bird grows. For each period of growth and development, its own diet is prepared. Feeding newly hatched goslings is also extremely important.
Caring for goslings in the first days of life
When caring for goslings at home, it is useful to give the chicks the yolk of boiled eggs for the first 5-7 days. It is well absorbed by the fragile organism of goslings. When feeding, it is recommended to add greens. Better yet, eat this green onion. It is finely chopped and mixed with the yolk. During the first two days, hatched goslings are fed 7-8 times a day.. This is what determines whether you will be able to raise healthy geese.
The drinking bowls are chosen to protect the brood from the risk of choking or drowning in it.
We make sure that the enclosure where they are kept is dry.
Care in the first weeks: how to raise healthy geese
Gradually we diversify the diet with forbs and increase its presence in the feed. In addition to green onions, they give alfalfa and clover. We monitor availability clean water in drinking bowls. We gradually introduce boiled potatoes and corn porridge into the diet.
Drinkers are replaced with larger ones so that the goslings can swim in them. They turn into small ponds. To do this, use basins or bowls, but with low sides. This is a must.
Presence in food required quantity nutrients and vitamins will be provided by chopped root vegetables and vegetables. If we prepare porridge for goslings, it should not be too liquid. It is recommended to give more dry food.
Three-week-old goslings are gradually transferred to pasture. It is advisable that they graze in an open air pen. Along with grass, they eat feed and crushed grain..
We introduce new food into the diet in a small volume, gradually increasing its presence in the total feed mass.
Care in the first months
How to care for goslings at home? Starting from this period, the goslings are intensively fed with mixed feed, grain, sunflower cake and herbs. They are grazed in an open small body of water without a strong current. In addition to grass, they eat algae, which has a positive effect on the development and increase in live weight.
The proportion of greens to all other feeds should be 1-1.3: 1. That is, they give more greens. In this case, keeping goslings will be cheaper and this will not affect the gain of live weight.
Conditions of keeping and feeding
In addition to food and water, goslings need appropriate temperature environment, sufficient room volume, lighting.
Choosing an aviary for goose farming
Depending on the number of livestock, we select the appropriate premises. In the first days, the goslings are kept in cardboard boxes on the veranda, in summer kitchen. Then they are given a place in a poultry house or barn. It must be well ventilated (ventilation) and warm, drafts are unacceptable. It is necessary to exclude the possibility of penetration of predatory animals, primarily rats.
Straw and chaff are used as bedding. We change the litter every 2-3 days to keep it dry. This will protect the still fragile chicks from illness and hypothermia. Having a window into the room is a must. Geese like to be in enclosed dark spaces only when sleeping.
After three weeks of life, we provide the goslings with an outdoor run, since during this period they are transferred to pasture.
After 40 days, they are grazed near water bodies. But until they have become stronger and are not able to defend themselves, the presence of a person is mandatory. As soon as the live weight reaches an average of 2 kg (depending on the breed), Geese are released to graze on their own.
It is better to do this in the early morning - the grass is then juicy and nutritious. Geese find their own food. They are well oriented in space, so they can easily find their way home. Adult geese have their wings clipped to prevent them from flying away.
Daily temperature and lighting
In the first week of life, we maintain the temperature at 28-30 degrees. If the natural ambient temperature is not enough, heating with heating pads or lamps, which, in addition to light, provide heat to the room. We measure the temperature at the litter level.
We gradually reduce it to 22-24 degrees. And after three weeks, if the weather permits, we transfer the goslings to a lifestyle in natural conditions. In general, adult geese are quite hardy birds due to the presence of fat, large live weight and warm plumage.
They can easily withstand temperatures down to minus 15 degrees. Lighting should be sufficient to maintain normal conditions with increased daylight hours (more than 14 hours). Lamps are used for this purpose.
Conditions for breeding and keeping geese Room dimensions
The main condition for the size of the room for goslings is that it should not be crowded.
Provide free access to food and water. When the young animals grow up, it is recommended to release them into specially fenced pens in the fresh air during the day. At night they are in the barn (goose barn).
Geese rearing period
Now we’ll find out how long geese grow. If day-old chicks weigh only 100 grams, then after 5 months their weight reaches 5-6 kg. On average, this bird gains more than one kilogram per month. In order for geese to be healthy and live weight to reach good weight indicators, you need to carefully and carefully monitor their diet.
Weight of adult geese different breeds varies from 4.5 kg to 10 and above. If you plan to breed geese for meat, then it is advisable to keep them until they are two to three months old. During this period, they gain 50% of the weight of an adult one-year-old bird. Then weight gain stops.
Goose eggs: how many can you eat and what are the benefits?
Depending on the breed, geese produce from 30 to 90 eggs per year. They are distinguished by their size (up to two hundred and twenty grams) and thick shell. They can be eaten and are healthy, but due to the fact that they contain a lot of fat, they should be eaten in moderation. Our ancestors consumed goose eggs as food 7 thousand years ago. This is the first domesticated bird.
In 100 g raw eggs contains 185 kcal, including proteins and fats - more than 13 g. They contain vitamins K, D, E, A, B, micro- and macroelements. Their use has a positive effect on brain activity and the genitourinary system, and the elimination of toxins. Goose egg widely used in cooking and cosmetology.
Now you know that breeding and keeping geese at home is profitable. After all, in addition to the quick return of meat, geese provide us with eggs and down. To successfully raise geese, it is advisable to have pasture and open water. In this case, with sufficient care and proper nutrition, their maintenance will pay for itself many times over. Perhaps even in the future, goose farming will become the main source of your income.
