Gosling Care
By; Mama Gozzard

I have raised so many baby goslings that I can’t even begin to give you a number of them. I have always truly enjoyed keeping them, and found it to be one of the most enjoyable tasks I have. I guess the first question that people ask is what do I need to raise them with the minimum amount of trouble? There is really no need for special buildings or fancy houses to brood these fuzzy little creatures. You can brood them in a small area in your home, carport or barn. I’ve raised them in small brooders in my living room for many years . Just in the last few years, I added a room on to my house to brood any breed of babies in. The most important part of rearing goslings is to keep them dry, warm, and in clean sanitized conditions. This can be quite a chore with even small numbers of geese. They tend to be quite messy with water. I cover the bottom of my brooder boxes with about 5 inches of pine shavings, mixed with just a touch of cedar shavings, (you don’t want to overdo it with the cedar due to inhalation of fumes from large amounts, becoming wet). Adding just a touch of cedar will help in keeping the ammonia smell down. When using this amount of shavings, I find that I can stir or turn the shavings daily and keep their bedding clean for about a week, until they are around 3 weeks old. It is ok to brood your babies on other materials such as straw or shredded paper. Whole sheets of paper tend to become slippery when wet and can cause the babies to become spraddle legged. I find that other types of litter tend to soil and need to be replaced much quicker than the shavings do, making maintenance a bit harder. It’s not quite as easy to keep the wet spots cleared out and the bedding free of mold. Heat lamps are a source of radiant heat for brooding small flocks in an outdoor building without a major heat source. Use a 250-watt lamp for each 25 goslings. I prefer to use the infrared bulbs. I seem to have less stress and a better brood with these lamps than the bright light bulbs. Inside my home I use a simple 100 watt light bulb and take care to keep them in a area free from drafts, from open windows, or the central heating or air conditioning unit. I understand that when using hover-type brooder, it is suggested to brood only about one-third as many goslings as the rated chick capacity of the hover. Since goslings are larger in size, with some brooders, it may be necessary to raise the hover 3-4 inches higher than for baby chicks. Have the temperature at the edge of the hover 85 to 90 degrees F when the goslings arrive. Reduce the temperature to 5 to 10 degrees per week until 70 degrees F is reached. Confine the birds to the heated area for the first 3 or 4 days with corrugated paper or wire mesh fence. The behavior of the birds is an indication of their comfort. They will move away from the heat source if they are too warm, or may crowd together at corners or under the brooder if too cold. If there is no light at the heat source, a dim light on the birds at night tends to discourage crowding. Crowding and piling is another reason why I prefer to use the infrared bulbs. They tend to be less stressed and are less likely to participate in these fatal activities. Remember that keeping them in extremely high temperatures for too long will result in slower times for feathering and growth. They are really tough and normally used to lower temps under their mother. Heat is usually not needed after the fifth or sixth week, and in good weather, the young geese can be taken outside to graze in the sunshine. In warm weather, goslings can be let outdoors even at 2 weeks, but must be sheltered from rain. I find that they grow and develop much quicker when they are able to be outside and doing what they are naturally suited for. There is nothing more joyful to me than watching some 2 or 3 week old goslings walking around the yard, clipping grass blades, and soaking up the sunshine on a warm spring day. It’s like you can almost see them growing. When outside, you have to remember to keep them dry, but still have access to water. When goslings are hatched in an incubator, they are not born with the natural oils that they normally get from their mothers in hatching. ** I have to add here, that it is a common mistake that people have been led to believe that goslings "MUST" have water enough to swim or bathe in. Many times I have consoled a new hobbiest that has simply given the goslings too much water to play or “swim ” in, because they were told they had to. The goslings became saturated with water and drowned. ** Raising young goslings can be such an enjoyable and rewarding pasttime, by just using this simple step: Keep them warm and dry and give them lots of love . Mama Gozzard This article was written for use on The Gander Gab Perfect Pets sites ONLY and is for educational purposes.