After some trial and error, I finally have the geese penned up in pairs that look to be working. No eggs yet, Getting excited for the breeding season to begin!
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I took advantage of the nice weather last week and set up my pens inside my poultry barn. I'm still letting my geese out daily to free range within the fenced in area and putting them in their pens at night. I'm watching the pairs to make sure they are getting along. So far, there is only one pair that was not working out as planned. But to make it work, I have to rearrange about three pairs. Once I start seeing eggs, then they will be kept in for the duration of the breeding season.
These green tubes are goat pen panels that I use to separate my geese. Because the males can still fit a head through to "fence fight", I also set up puppy play yard fencing which helps stop fence fighting. Since this is the first time using this poultry barn and being inside, I decided to not set up their individual pen tubs of water. Instead, I'm going to try setting up the pool outside and since I have more panels yet, I will use the panels just outside of the barn and let out one pair at a time to enjoy some pool time. We shall see how that works out! Today I decided to set up my breeding pens. Since we are in a new location, I may have to adjust them, but time will tell. This is the first time in years that I will be able to put up my pens inside a barn. I'm thrilled about that. I'm using an existing 40'x40' barn that, I was told, used to house turkeys and chickens. My husband power washed it twice the year before we brought down the animals. The original owner visited and said he had never seen it so clean.
Eventually, we will build a poultry barn back where we will build the house, but for now, this works great. I use 8' and 4' goat panels to make my pens. These were much easier for me to move by myself. My first year I used 12' horse round pen panels. That was a bear to move. I only use my panels during breeding season. Once breeding season is over, I take the panels down and store them and the geese are able to free range in a fenced area once again. I like to set up my pens as 8'x8' squares, but being inside and having to work around posts, some of my squares are trapezoids. Also, I will have to do some 4'x8' pens to fit everyone. My 17 geese that we brought down are doing great. Actually, I have not lost any of my poultry since the move. I was so afraid that being in a new place and with lots of predators around I might lose some. However, our four dogs who share the same fenced area seem to help at keeping predators away. And the fact that I now can lock up my geese, ducks and chickens at night is a definite plus. I decided to pair up all of my 17 geese, thus needing 9 pens. The males all like having their own female. So I made my list of pairs, but I like to watch and see who is naturally pairing up with whom. So I did adjust my list a little. We shall see how it goes. Even though my pens are now set up, I left all the gates open so the geese can go in and out and get used to the new set up. I don't lock them in the pens until I see eggs being laid or a lot of breeding going on. I have seen neither so far, so I wait. That's fine with me because it is more work when they are penned up. Here's to hoping for a great 2019 breeding season!!! |
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