We have had two more geese hatch and 9 ducks now, our oldest goose baby we have named Grace or Gracie. We tried to sex it and the two others, they all looked the same and we think are girls. I am thinking their names are Grace, Hope and Mercy. One is very small...she is Hope, because I hope she gets bigger soon! Lol, she is half the size of the other one born the same day. I decided on Mercy for the other one, we moved all of the geese together in one brooder...we now know it was a mistake. My husband put Hope in the brooder with the newly hatched ducks because Grace was picking on her. We went outside to do some repairs and chores and he heard screaming...I didn't hear them because I was tilling. But soon after I came in the house to check on them...Mercy was soaking wet cold and her wing tip section was gone...she had a long tendon looking thing hanging off what was left of her wing. Mercy and Hope are one week old...Grace is three weeks old, she is larger...but we didn't think she would be a cannibal!
I washed Mercy and inspected her, she was shaking so I wrapped her in a towel and held her. She gradually warmed up, dried and I sprayed scarlet oil on the tendon thing that was left. I put her in a brooder by herself. Little did we know she would chew the tendon off! Geeze, I had no idea these cute fluffy balls of feathers could be so mean and cruel. The moral to the story is...do not put different sized baby geese together! Hope has a little damage, some of her down is missing, but no body parts, she and the baby ducks are the same size...so she is safe in with them. I ended up trimming off what looked like a string with a couple of tiny feathers off of Mercy...she is doing fine this morning. We moved Grace out to a brooder in the shed, she is by herself, but she has grown so quickly she quickly outgrew the indoor brooder in the house. She is in a small swimming pool with wire around the edge about 30 inches high. We tried to sex the 8 week old ducks, we think we might have three girls...I don't know, we really couldn't see any difference. We will know for sure in another couple of months anyway.
I got another cattle panel coop completed, it has been named The Stadium. Why you ask? Well, I made a roost for it that reminds us of stadium seating. The bottom section is open so the roosters housed in it can run around, dust bathe, and eat without problems. The "seating" part are 2"x4"s flat side up and stair stepped up with about 18 inches between the levels. I am hoping so they don't poop on each other...that they are far enough apart so their tail feathers don't get damaged too. Some of them roost on them a lot to keep from getting attacked by the other roosters. I have a couple of food dishes that I fill and set on the steps to make sure they get food, it is fermented feed so it has water in it too...in case some of the roosters are protecting the waterer and those aren't getting enough. I may hang a nipple type waterer high up so they can get to it too. After the roosters have been been in it awhile, I am hoping I can let them out to range in the yard and they will return to The Stadium. I can close that yard so hopefully they won't fly out and start trouble with other roosters or gang up on hens.
I also am working on tilling a big garden area in front of the house. I hate putting it out there, but it may be the only way to actually get any vegetables. I will have to move some plants and fence the area because of our rabbit issues, and the wild dogs and coyotes, oh and deer. I will have to move some fencing from other areas, but since the chickens ate my garden last year...I don't want them to be able to see what I plant. I may plant something specifically for them in my old garden areas...not sure yet.
Well...I must get busy, I need to remove my composted chicken poop from the big run...before it rains again, I need to move it to the front yard too. My husband got the tiller and the garden tractor out for me yesterday. I got about a 20 foot by 80 foot garden area tilled yesterday before the tiller had a flat. I also got Dormant oil sprayed on my fruit trees. I bought a few more trees from the feed store and need to finish planting them and some blueberries, along with transplanting blueberries, herbs and strawberries to the front area. Lots to do...
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