How to feed goslings from the first days at home

Breeding geese is beneficial. By 4-5 months, one individual can weigh up to 5 kg (live weight). But food cannot be the same for all periods of life.

In this article we will consider such pressing questions as: what to feed the goslings? how to feed goslings in the first days of life at home? How to give fish oil to goslings? What are the nuances of successful cultivation? Which is better: incubator or natural incubation? Is there a difference what to feed from the first day and after a month? And what should be the food for each age period?

Proper maintenance and feeding of newborns, weekly and monthly goslings at home

The incubation of a goose egg usually lasts 30 days. The temperature during the incubation period is maintained around 38 degrees. But sooner or later, newborn babies will leave the warm, cozy incubator and then the question of further maintenance will appear.

The temperature regime is most important for goslings in the first 10 days, since thermoregulation is not yet developed and heat is not retained in the body, it is impossible to keep small goslings outside. This results in heat loss and the risk of brood loss. To avoid such incidents, the temperature must be maintained artificially and sufficiently high.

Temperature conditions and care for offspring raised in an incubator in the first days of life

The first three days are heated more intensively. The temperature is maintained in the region of 28-30 degrees. The temperature will be comfortable for goslings if:

• babies spend most of their time near the feeder;
• rest on a mat without trying to curl up more compactly near a heat source;
• chicks have normal appetite and thirst.

Then, by 3 weeks, the temperature is gradually reduced to 20 degrees, or even 18. In terms of temperature, geese are more adapted to the environment. Unlike other poultry, the heating period for goslings is shorter, only 20-30 days.

If the heater is not enough and the temperature is lower than required, you can use infrared lamps (fix at an angle).

Warm air is very pleasant, but do not forget that any heater dries the air, which means you need to take care of humidity. The humidity indicator, for the first 10 (15) days, should not be less than 70%, then it should be reduced to 60%.

To maintain the required humidity level, it is necessary to spray the floor of the room in which the animals live; if necessary, to lower the humidity level, they resort to ventilation.

Naturally raised offspring (brood hen)

The laying hen warms and protects the eggs during the entire period of hatching goslings. If the incubator turns eggs on average once every two hours, then the hen does it up to 50 times a day, which is 4 times more often. The result of her efforts is immediately visible - the hatching of the young is higher. The temperature and humidity under the goose are optimal for the eggs.

It is laid down by nature so that the brood hen provides uniform heating, periodic ventilation and does not dry out the eggs. But, as elsewhere, there is one drawback - no more than 15 eggs can be put under the goose, otherwise the quality of incubation decreases.

Having entrusted the incubation to the brood hen, all that remains is to take care of the bird itself. It is necessary to provide free access to food, water and the opportunity to swim. There were cases when especially impressionable hens were afraid to get off the nest and reach the feeder, which could lead to the death of the hen, if not for forced feeding.

The importance of daylight hours for chicks up to a month

Regardless of how the chicks were bred, it should be borne in mind that the length of daylight hours directly affects the development, the intensity of weight gain and the health of the goslings.

The first days (about 7 days) should provide round-the-clock lighting of the chicks' dwelling, this will allow you to quickly get comfortable and easily find food and water. It is still worth separating day and night, albeit without turning off the light, but only dimming, but there should be a difference.

After a week, daylight hours can be reduced to 16-17 hours. But not abruptly, but gradually, daily, reduce the time of intense lighting by about 30-40 minutes. By bringing the period of the day to 16-17 hours, you can adhere to such a schedule up to sending for slaughter.

When should chicks fledge?

The plumage of goslings occurs gradually. From the moment of hatching to full plumage, it takes about 75-80 days.

The first 20 days, the babies walk covered with fluff, the next 10 days you can observe how the tail feathers appear (on the tail), after another 10 days the wings fledge, these feathers are called terry, then gradually and more or less evenly by the age of 2-3 months, complete feathering occurs ...

How to feed and water daily goslings

So, the goslings have hatched, the troughs and water are ready, the room is warm and light, but how to fill the troughs? The feeding period for goslings begins immediately after they are dry.

First feeding should consist of food already familiar to their body - this is egg yolk. The yolk should be hard-boiled, lightly diluted with boiled water and carefully chopped. This is the diet for the first 3-4 days. Then you can offer young green onions. It should be thoroughly chopped and mixed with the yolk. If the pieces are larger than 2-3 millimeters, the goslings may not swallow their food.

Weekly and fortnightly complementary foods. For the first 10 days, babies are fed at least 7 times a day, taking a break for the night. After some time (a week and a half), you can begin to introduce high-calorie feed, about 15% of the total diet.

The feed should be rich in fiber, this can be:

• stirrer from:
  
  crushed grain;
  
  bran;
  
  grated carrots;
  
  finely chopped eggs;
  
  green clover;
  
  nettle;
  
  alfalfa;
  
  legumes;
  
  cereal grasses;
• boiled porridge (wheat, corn, millet);
• boiled potatoes (no more than 10% of the daily value).

Complementary feeding at the age of 1 month. Closer to one month old, you can begin to practice walking and feeding in the fields (pens). For this, it is important to choose a place where the grass is not trampled or eaten. Geese themselves will find suitable leaves or roots. In this case, it will be possible to completely abandon the additional dry food. It is important to consider that greens should form the basis of the diet.

Subject to a normal reaction to food, you can start feeding goslings with beets, carrots and pumpkin from 4 weeks of age, fresh vegetables are rich in vitamins and trace elements that will only benefit.

The period from 4 to 8 weeks will determine the profitability of the entire goose breeding concept. It is from the 4th week of life that the gosling's body is already accustomed to different high-calorie and not very food, which means it is ready to assimilate and grow. The basis of weight gain is the core of the grain (a storehouse of calories and flour). If you don’t skimp on this, albeit expensive, but very effective food, then 2-3 kg per month the children will gain accurately and as a result - a high weight gain in a shorter period of maintenance.

It does not hurt to pay attention to the especially favorite food, try to give the food that they like and mix in there various high-calorie additives (bone meal, wheat, vitamins). You can give sunflower cake, mixed with their usual food in a ratio of about 25 grams of cake per 100 grams of feed (1 time in 3 days, otherwise there is a risk of indigestion)

Table of feed norms for goslings of different ages

The feed largely determines the correct rearing of geese. It is important to take into account the needs of the body and ensure the intake of a sufficient amount of vitamins and other nutrients and food. For this, there are recommendations regarding the daily diet and feeding schedule: the daily volume of fresh herbs should not be less than 2 kg for each goose.

Approximate consumption rates for greens and grain per individual (daily calculation)

The daily feeding schedule during the cold period looks like this:

• 6-7 hours - ⅓ grain norms and dry flour mixture;
• 14-15 hours - feed mixture with the addition of vegetables: sugar beets (chopped), mashed boiled potatoes, etc .;
• 19-20 hours - ⅔ grain norms with dry flour mixture.

In addition to beets and potatoes, you can dilute the diet with products such as:

• vitamin hay or dust;
• flour (fish, meat and bone);
• carrot;
• mineral feed;
• beans;
• soaked peas;
• flaxseed, sunflower, soybean meal;
• blood;
• boiled and chopped fish;
• cottage cheese;
• milk.

River sand and gravel should be an obligatory ingredient, they should be poured directly into the feeders. Plus, be sure to water the kids.

The daily feeding schedule in the warm season is much simpler, the main diet is greens, which they themselves find, you can additionally feed them with fresh chopped vegetables (vegetable waste), 50-70 grams per head per day will be more than enough.

Euphorbia and nettles: what herb can you give?

By smell, adult geese can identify dangerous grass and bypass it, but young individuals can sometimes make a mistake and eat a leaf of another dangerous herb, which will cause you digestive problems and poisoning. To prevent such problems, the young animals' access to prohibited plants should be fenced off, and green potatoes and potato tops should also be protected from eating.

You can give:

• young nettles, especially freshly picked (but can be replaced with ascorbic acid, a teaspoon per liter of water);
• knotweed;
• beet leaves;
• carrot tops;
• spurge;
• alfalfa;
• dandelion;
• sorrel;
• yarrow;
• sow thistle;
• horsetail;
• wheatgrass;
• meadow bluegrass;
• young oats and rye;
• marsh duckweed.

Should I give fish oil and how?

Fish oil can and should be given to goslings.It is especially necessary at a time when it is not possible to give the bird juicy food. Fish oil compensates for the lack of vitamins.

For feeding poultry, preparations are provided for Trivit and Tetravin, recommendations for feeding are indicated in the instructions for use. It will be necessary to know exactly the age of the goslings to calculate the norm. It will turn out to be about 1.5-2%.

Diseases of two-week-old geese

Diseases attributable to geese can be divided into several categories.

1. Non-communicable diseases these include vitamin deficiency, rickets, diarrhea and the like. For the treatment of such diseases, it is necessary to look for the cause in the daily regimen and in the diet and maintenance. They can manifest themselves both in one individual and in several, but an epidemic should not be expected, since they are not contagious.
2. Diseases of the genitals this is yolk peritonitis, it is treated with careful care of the reproductive system and careful care.
3. Infectious diseases, such as: aspergillosis, salmonellosis, cholera and others. Such diseases are either difficult to cure or not curable, and you need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to kill all the infected bird, and thoroughly disinfect the room in which the geese lived.
4. Diseases caused by parasites. Whether it is cutaneous parasites or those living inside the body, it is necessary and desirable to carry out preventive actions to get rid of them.
5. Diseases provoked by toxic substances (poisoning). To prevent poisoning, you need to ensure that there is no mold in the feed, there are no prohibited plants on the pasture, and you need to watch out for chemicals that can also cause poisoning.

Healthy goslings are the joy of the farmer and the prospect of a good income. They are not particularly whimsical in grooming, and watching a yellow lump hatch from the eggs, which then grows into a healthy, strong goose, is a real reward for any livestock breeder.