A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi i would like to breed geese for the table for myself friends and family, can anyone tell me how much land i need for about 15 geese and the best breed to get?
Tim
Administrator
Hi there homebird.
Embden crosses are usually used for meat. Commercially, they stock them at about 40 to the acre. You can buy goslings from people like Norfolk Geese or Gullivers Geese. Personally I wouldn't stock at this density though.
They are quite easy to look after - you do need a fox proof field for them and using of the same land for too long can lead to gizzard worm if you're not carefull.
Norfolk Geese have some good tips on their website - under the Goslings section.
Embden crosses are usually used for meat. Commercially, they stock them at about 40 to the acre. You can buy goslings from people like Norfolk Geese or Gullivers Geese. Personally I wouldn't stock at this density though.
They are quite easy to look after - you do need a fox proof field for them and using of the same land for too long can lead to gizzard worm if you're not carefull.
Norfolk Geese have some good tips on their website - under the Goslings section.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Do geese need access to water Tim?
And how would you fox-proof the field - is electric fencing ok?
And how would you fox-proof the field - is electric fencing ok?
Tim
Administrator
Yes, they do need water - a reasonable sized tub that you can tip out is useful for small numbers of Geese.
My tubs are about 3ft diameter and a foot high and I can turn them over fairly easily.
Commercially I believe they take the access to water away at a certain point and keep them inside on pellets only for the last 6 weeks or so to prevent the meat from becoming too tough (not 100% sure on that though, it's a while since I read about this sort of thing).
An Electric fence is the way to go. A 4 ft pig wire fence with a separate electric wire strand on stand offs - 6 inches off the ground, 2ft and 4ft will normally stop the foxes. The fox can't dig and to jump over has to put his paws against the wire before jumping and will touch the middle or top wire.
The trick then is not to shoot foxes in the local area - they will learn once they touch it not to try to get in again. Foxes are territorial and if you shoot them, new foxes will move in to the area and challenge your fence, maybe getting in this time...
You need to keep the grass short / test the fence to make sure there are no shorts to earth that make it less effective. Since it's such a high voltage, even a small branch or some grass can short it out and make it useless.
My tubs are about 3ft diameter and a foot high and I can turn them over fairly easily.
Commercially I believe they take the access to water away at a certain point and keep them inside on pellets only for the last 6 weeks or so to prevent the meat from becoming too tough (not 100% sure on that though, it's a while since I read about this sort of thing).
An Electric fence is the way to go. A 4 ft pig wire fence with a separate electric wire strand on stand offs - 6 inches off the ground, 2ft and 4ft will normally stop the foxes. The fox can't dig and to jump over has to put his paws against the wire before jumping and will touch the middle or top wire.
The trick then is not to shoot foxes in the local area - they will learn once they touch it not to try to get in again. Foxes are territorial and if you shoot them, new foxes will move in to the area and challenge your fence, maybe getting in this time...
You need to keep the grass short / test the fence to make sure there are no shorts to earth that make it less effective. Since it's such a high voltage, even a small branch or some grass can short it out and make it useless.
