Feeding geese at home is especially beneficial due to the unique ability of this unpretentious bird to efficiently digest coarse fiber and increase its weight on low-nutrition feeds, which is not available for other poultry species.
This feature of feeding on vegetable rough and succulent feed significantly reduces the cost of poultry rearing, allowing you to partially replace the expensive end feed with grass, hay, silage and root crops.
With proper feeding of young, getting a good start from the very beginning, geese are able to gain weight well, spending whole days on pastures. An adult bird can eat and digest, transforming into meat, from 2 to 3 kg of greens per day.
Rules and diet of goslings from the first days of life
Although geese are undemanding in fattening, feeding goslings has its own characteristics, and in the initial period it is important to provide the young with all the necessary elements.
In order to get good gains and the rapid development of healthy birds, it is important to start feeding the young with quality nutritious foods with high protein content as early as possible.
Goslings are fed immediately upon withdrawal or arrival at the household. The first five days feed set up to 8 times a day every 2-3 hours, maintaining constant lighting. Already by 10 days the number of feedings is reduced to 4-5 times per day.
Later, with pasture fattening, which starts from the age of 30-40 days, they limit themselves to giving a small amount of grain feed in the morning, stimulating grass eating, and in the evening, feeding abundantly, compensate for the lack of nutrients.
The optimal solution for feeding small goslings up to ten days of age is the starting complete feed for young stock in the form of small granules with a protein content of 19-22%. This feed is first poured into trays, attracting chicks to food, tapping with your fingers or sprinkling granules on top so that the little goose can notice the movement and grab the food.
After ten days feed feed is administered. In addition to the availability of quality feed for young stock, the owner’s task with such intensive feeding is to provide the goslings with optimal housing conditions, grazing and fresh water if possible.
In the absence of feed, from the first days you can give a personally made mixture of feed and products available in each household.
For the first five days, they offer a wet mash consisting of the following ingredients: finely chopped boiled steep eggs, corn, wheat, barley (crushed barley without films), with a small amount of semolina added, which will make the mixture more crumbly.
To the same mash is added the powder preparation tricalcium phosphate as a source of calcium and phosphorus, necessary for normal growth and development of geese. In this case, the young will not "fall to their feet", which is a frequent occurrence with the rapid fattening of the bird.
Calcium is possible by adding calcium chloride or calcium gluconate to water, at the rate of 1 tablespoon of the drug per 1 liter of water for the first ten days, and then powder or chalk is added.
When keeping youngsters indoors and feeding them with a homemade mixture, it is necessary to introduce vitamins into the diet — Tetravit in feed or Chiktonik in water.
For the prevention of avitaminosis, these same vitamins are drunk for 7-10 days and when fed with complete feed.
Be sure to have visibility of geese, a box with a crushed shell or small gravel. Fine sand is not offered to youngsters.
20 minutes after giving a wet mash, the remains are removed, otherwise such perishable components like eggs contaminated with crow's feet and beaks, in a warm environment will quickly begin to decompose and lead to poisoning.
From the fifth day cottage cheese is added to the mix, replacing or supplementing the eggs, crushed sunflower oil cake, boiled mashed potatoes, greens are introduced.
Green feed is introduced gradually - in small quantities, starting with crushed young yarrow, dandelions and knotweed. Entering a large amount of grass is undesirable, because geese, who are very fond of grass and will always prefer juicy, low-nutritional leaflets and blade of grass to other, more valuable feed, will soon begin to weaken and lose their growth rate.
An important task in the first stage of fattening is to set a good start, initially to “raise” the young stock, in order to use this stock in the future to get excellent gains. Therefore, savings in this period will lead to losses in the future.
From the fifth to the seventh day, in the absence of cottage cheese and eggs, you can compensate for the lack of protein by adding soy concentrate, crushed soaked peas, meat and bone meal or fish meal.
Knead the wet feed mixture, making it more nutritious and healthy, in sour milk or salmon, meat and fish broth.
Starting from a week old, on sunny, windless days, youngsters are released for walking. If the goslings are grown under the hen, the goose with offspring is released into the protected aviary from the third day of cultivation.
Approximate diet for feeding young animals aged 20-60 days:
- Corn, wheat, barley oil - 200 g
- Wheat bran - 100 g
- Chopped peas - 100 g
- Sunflower cake, soybean - 70 g
- Chopped greens - 500 g
Estimated feed demand per one goose for the period of 1-60 days:
- Grain feed and waste - 8-9 kg.
- Soybean and sunflower cake - 3 kg
- Greens - 25-30 kg.
Grown up youngsters older than one month of age are fed twice a day with whole grains, shredding or wet masses, offering plenty of green fodder for grazing or mowing the daily rate of grass and spreading it in a manger.
Below is a table of green and concentrated feed costs.
Feeding geese at home - feed consumption
With intensive fattening, goslings of productive breeds will weigh 4–4.5 kg by the age of 2.5–3 months, and at this time, after juvenile molting, they can be slaughtered, producing a high-quality dining carcass with tender, small-fiber, moderately fat meat.
With grazing, fattening is completed with the onset of cold weather, getting a fatter carcass weighing up to 5-6 kg by October-November.
Feeding of adult geese
The geese contained in the tribe, in the autumn-winter period and during the completion of egg-laying, can be fed with grass, root crops, and rough, non-nutritious fodder, given their ability to perfectly digest fiber.
To do this, the feeding includes grass, corn stalks with leaves, garden waste, root crops and bult crops, sugar beets, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin and others. In winter, hay, dust and silage are introduced into the diet.
At the same time, the lack of nutritious feeds is compensated by giving a small amount of grain (wheat, corn, barley) or grain waste. During this period, the condition of the bird is monitored - if the geese start losing weight, the grain cottage is increased, if possible, oilseeds are introduced or the products of their processing are sunflower, soybean meal and meal.
Before the start of egg-laying - from the end of January or early February, geese are offered a balanced diet, taking care not to overfeed a productive bird and not cause obesity - this will negatively affect the quality of eggs.
At this time, they should receive at least 220-270 grams of concentrated feed per day, and during the peak of egg-laying, enter meat-bone or fish meal, sour milk or reverse feed. Be sure to provide sources of calcium - chalk, tricalcium phosphate, crushed shell.
Below are suggested rations for feeding adults in the pasture season - from the second half of spring to October and during the closed housing period from October-November to May, this same ration can be used for poultry kept in the warm season without pastures.
Feeding adult geese - approximate rations
Geese, culled for various reasons from broodstock, are fattened before slaughter. To do this, the bird is released on pasture and fed at night with grain or grain waste.
With the closed content for feeding prepare wet mash of vegetables and vegetables, pumpkin, zucchini, boiled potatoes - the components are crushed and flavored with crushed grain and bran. Set nourishing mash three times a day. The bird is fattened for 2-3 weeks, after the end of fattening the keel should not be felt, and the carcass will be round, with a noticeable fat layer.
Keeping and feeding geese without grazing
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Kinds of geese feed
The diet of geese is significantly different from the menu of other species of birds. Geese can easily do without grain, so it is used as an additional component of nutrition. At the same time, greens are an essential component of the geese ration. Access to fresh green geese is essential for proper growth and development.
Depending on the purpose of cultivation, there are three types of feeding geese:
The basis of the diet for each of these types of feeding are the following components:
- Root crops and their tops.
- Grass and silage.
- A fish.
- Pumpkin and cabbage.
- Converse and whey.
Depending on the type of feeding, certain components are included in the diet:
- Dry type is the most budget option. All ingredients are mixed and poured in dry form in the feeders. The disadvantage of this type of feeding is the slow weight gain of the bird, so dry feeding is used during the non-productive period. Dry food consists of grain mixtures: millet, rye waste, wheat, millet, corn, barley. All components in equal quantities are ground and mixed.
- The wet type is the preparation of mash, which give the geese three times a day. Mixtures prepared immediately before feeding, as they quickly deteriorate and can cause upset gastrointestinal geese. To prepare the mash, the ground grain mixture is taken and diluted with water or backed up in a ratio of 1 kilogram to 1.5 liters. 5 grams of fodder yeast is added to the mix. The mixture is infused for 6 hours in a wooden container. Then it is added in a chopped form of beets, carrots or potatoes. Before pouring the mash into the trough, fresh chopped greens are added to it.
- The combined type of food is a combination of dry and wet food. Rough food is easier absorbed by the body of the bird, if it is given in combination with wet mash.
Vitamins and minerals in the diet of geese
Proper nutrition of geese suggests that you need in the amount of vitamins and minerals. To improve digestion and as mineral dressings, shells, chalk, bone meal and salt are mixed into the feed. But it is impossible to be limited to these additives.
For quick and proper growth of geese, vitamins are needed that are contained in special premixes for poultry.
Of the 50 naturally occurring vitamins, geese need A, D, E, B2, pantenonic and nicotinic acids.
When choosing additives, it is necessary to pay attention to the presence of these components in them. Premixes are not given to geese in pure form, they are mixed with feed.
Features of feeding in the summer
In the summer, special difficulties with the organization of feeding geese, as a rule, does not arise. If there is the possibility of free grazing of geese in the meadows and natural water bodies, the geese independently find food. On the pasture, geese eat cereals: rye, oats, couch grass, bluegrass, sedge, cuff, and others. Two kilograms of grass eaten during the day by the goose is enough to cover the daily dose of green fodder.
All if the possibility of organizing grazing does not exist, feed with corn and beet potatoes is included in the ration. Green fodder geese are also needed, so the owner will have to mow the grass and pour it into the feeders.
A sample summer menu for geese contained in pens is as follows:
- Green food - 700 grams.
- Vegetables and root vegetables - 500 grams.
- Herbal flour - 300 grams.
The organization of feeding in the winter
Winter feeding of geese should be especially nutritious, so that the bird has enough energy to heat its own body in cold conditions. In the poultry menu in winter, grass flour and boiled vegetables are always included.
At particularly low temperatures, wheat germ, which is rich in vitamins, is included in the diet. As a source of vitamins and minerals, every goose in the winter should receive:
- yeast - 40 grams,
- curd and eggs - 40 grams,
- phosphates - 2 grams,
- salt - 1.5 grams.
It is useful in the winter to add food to the bird feed silage, which contains carbohydrates, carotene and amino acids. The source of protein in the winter is hay dust and flour, meal and cake.
Signs of improper feeding
Illiterate feeding of geese certainly affects their health and proper growth.
The bird begins to lose appetite, grows slowly, gaining weight poorly. Diseases of geese are also a consequence of malnutrition.
Improper feeding of geese is manifested by the following symptoms:
- Diarrhea speaks of an excess in the diet of greens and succulent fodder. The problem can be solved by transferring the birds to granulated feed.
- Cough, impaired breathing occurs with the abuse of dry food with a lack of greenery. In this case, the transfer of geese to wet mashes with the addition of shells and river sand is required. If it was not possible to solve the problem in this way, a small amount of water is poured into each goose forcibly down the throat.
- Diarrhea and poor feeling of the goslings may indicate that they ate while walking poisonous herbs. Adult geese are well aware of which herbs to eat. Goslings sense of smell is still underdeveloped, so they can be poisoned. In case of digestive disorders, the goslings wash the stomach with a forced infusion into the throat of water.
To equip the floor content of layers, you need to purchase special equipment. Read more about this in our article.
What diseases can occur in layers? Find out about it here.
Diet and feeding rates
A typical daily goose menu should include:
- 2 kg. - fresh grass,
- 1 kg. - root crops,
- 300 gr. - grain mixes,
- 10 gr. - a piece of chalk,
- 25 gr. - mineral feed.
Proper nutrition of geese is as follows:
- The third part of the grain mixed with the flour mixture and a third of the feed (100gr.) Is given out in the morning.
- Boiled or chopped root vegetables, mixed with the next third of the grain and flour, get geese at noon.
- Leftover vegetables, silage, remaining grain, and beans are poured into geese feeders before bedtime. The half-eaten food remains until morning, so that at night the geese have something to eat.
Feeding of hens
Special nutrition is required for geese during the laying of eggs. The diet of laying geese is very different from the nutrition of young animals grown for meat. laying hens should be the most balanced.
During the laying period, mealy and cereal feeds can cause obesity and a deterioration in the health of the goose.
Change of diet should occur a month before the start of egg-laying, normally it occurs in February. At this time, the share of greens in the diet increases, the amount of grain is reduced to a minimum.
The fodder of the hens includes fish, meat and bone mince, oilseeds. Grain layers are given in germinated form. Useful feeding clover, meadow hay, alfalfa. 7 days before the start of egg-laying, the number of meals is increased by up to 4 times, trivitamin is introduced into the diet.
Fattening geese for meat
When growing geese for slaughter for meat, the organization of their intensive fattening is necessary. A special diet allows the bird to quickly gain muscle and fat mass in a short period. Such nutrition also implies restriction of bird movement by keeping it in special cages.
Grain flour is used for intensive fattening:
- 20% corn,
- 15% - wheat,
- 25% - oat,
- 20% - barley,
- 19% - wheat bran,
- 1.5 gr. - salt.
From this mixture by soaking in water they prepare a ball, which they force-feed to the bird. With this diet, weight gain is up to 120 grams per day. Usually this technique is used two weeks before the slaughter of the bird. The bird is fed twice a day, 3-5 balls the size of a goose egg.
Meadow nourishment for meat
Meadow feeding is the most economical option for a private farm. The main part of the day the bird is spent on the water or grazing in the meadow. At this time, it is important to select the places most rich in various herbs for grazing. In reservoirs, geese supplement their diet with small fish, algae and clams.
In the autumn, two weeks before slaughter, feeding of geese should be intensified. Troughs are constantly filled with grain, corn, legumes and flour mixtures. В это время гуси должны есть практически круглосуточно. Для этого на ночь в птичнике оставляют приглушённый свет.
Питание родительского стада
Содержание родительского стада для получения гусят состоит из двух периодов: продуктивный и непродуктивный. В продуктивный период кормление должно быть обильным. Количество грубого корма в рационе в это время сокращается. To make the transition to a new diet you need to gradually, reducing one component and increasing the other.
The ideal nutrition of the parent herd during the productive period is as follows:
- 150 gr. - concentrated feed,
- 100 gr - grain mixture,
- 30 grams - protein feed (fish and fish waste, dairy products, reverse),
- 500 gr. - succulent feed.
For feeding prepare mash on fish and meat broth, which are added boiled vegetables, hay flour and dust. At night, corn and beans are poured into the feeders.
Special food is organized for huss, as fertility of eggs depends on them. They need special meals from January to July. Each of them is fed in addition to the basic diet:
- germinated grain (oats, wheat) - 100 gr.,
- chopped raw carrots - 50 gr.,
- protein feed - 10 gr.,
- yeast, fish oil, trivitamin.
In the unproductive period, the parent flock receives a normal diet.
Proper organization of nutrition geese makes keeping them at home economically beneficial and will help prevent the occurrence of many diseases of geese. In a short period, you can get a large amount of tasty and nutritious meat, which is used to feed your family and for sale.
Agricultural value of geese
Poultry is estimated by several parameters: the types of profit it can bring, the cost of maintenance, the number of problems with breeding or fattening. Geese are distinguished by good endurance, even to fairly harsh natural conditions, they do not have any special content requirements, they do not have serious vulnerabilities to diseases or external aggressors. When a farmer or owner of a private farm reflects on how to feed the geese, the ability of these birds to receive a significant share of food during free grazing can be a considerable advantage. The amount of green mass in the diet of goose herds is quite large, and this allows you to significantly save on concentrated feed or grain.
There are problems, perhaps, with a large herd, when grazing becomes problematic. We have to solve the problems with the supply of green mass, with the premises and bird walking. However, the simplest calculations make it clear that the maintenance of geese is beneficial, especially if everything is carefully thought out.
Cultivation of geese in private farmstead
In the subsidiary farm geese are often bred as natural as possible - they contain a family of a male and several females. Provided that all geese are good chicks, every year one bird will be able to incubate 10-13 geese at a time, up to three broods in the spring and early summer. It is possible to increase the number of chicks by using an incubator or by attracting hens from the side - goose eggs can hatch and turkeys.
With this approach, it is not necessary to think about how to feed the geese in such an amount. Grown up chicks willingly buy other private farms for fattening; this is a good profit.
Economically sound regulation of the population of geese
The calculation of the diet for the year will not be uniform - it is impractical to keep a large herd in the winter. Young animals are fattened for meat in the season, when there is a lot of cheap or free greenery, and in winter only maternal livestock is left with the males. Based on the regulation of livestock, the question of how to feed the geese at home should be considered in the annex to the change of seasons.
The stock of feed for the winter is calculated on the maternal livestock, in the spring should be left stock with the expectation of the appearance of young stock. In addition to concentrated feeds, it is also necessary to stock up hay and vegetables, this allows the bird to provide with vitamins and green fodder necessary for geese to develop normally and maintain active reproductive functions.
Buying goose for fattening
If the owner of the farmstead does not have the intention to breed geese in his own farm, you can buy baby feeds for the purpose of obtaining commodity carcasses. Intensive fattening lasts an average of three months; longer is economically inexpedient.
It is important not to miss the timing of molting. The first happens at the age of 10-11 weeks, hence the question: what to feed the geese in 2 months? Chicks changing baby feathers to the plumage of an adult bird require additional feeding, enriched with mineral supplements, vitamins, proteins. Special premixes, containing all the necessary complex, showed themselves remarkably. These compounds are added to the grain mash, which geese actively eat in addition to green food. It is not recommended to add premixes intended for pigs or cattle: feed additives are not interchangeable.
How to feed geese for quick weight gain?
Intensive fattening means a quick weight gain, for which the bird is moderately limited in mobility with an increased caloric intake. However, it is easy to overdo it, carcasses will become too fat. Despite the full value of goose fat, this is a disadvantage, so it’s better to understand than to feed geese for meat.
In order to have a moderate amount of fat in the carcass with the maximum amount of muscle tissue, it is recommended to make a diet of poultry from juicy greens, grain mixture and proteins. This composition must be enriched with a premix, then it will be as balanced as possible. Such feed has the highest efficiency, in this case it is a gain per unit of feed spent.
Geese features and feed costs
Unlike other agricultural birds, geese require a very large proportion of green food in their diets. That is why the question of how to feed the geese in the summer does not even rise for the owner of the private farmstead: the bird is at free pasture. In this case, it is often possible to do even without supervision, adult geese responsibly approach the raising of goslings, lead the flock in a disciplined manner on the meadow or on the shore of the reservoir and bring them back in an orderly manner. It is necessary to look after the herd, if the terrain is generally unfavorable, there is a risk of attacking wild animals, stray dogs or people who are ready to steal birds for their own purposes.
The diet of the goose, which has the ability to walk freely in a meadow or near a reservoir, consists of a large amount of vegetable food, up to two kilograms per adult. Along the way, birds willingly eat worms, slugs, snails, this is an additional protein diet.
Summer Goose Flock Diet
To give the geese an extra incentive to return home in the evenings after the free-range, they are fed up with a wet crumbly mash of crushed grain. You can also use special feed. But the viscous mash is better to thicken, such compounds are poorly eaten, clog the nasal openings in the beak, the birds begin to sneeze, and often rinse their beaks in the drinking bowl.
Many owners are interested in what to feed the geese at home in the summer, if it is not possible to release the bird on the meadow or on the shore of the reservoir. In this case, the diet has to be increased, necessarily providing the herd with green fodder. Mowed grass can be given fresh, well go leafy vegetables, shredded root vegetables, zucchini and cucumbers.
The dependence of the quality of the goose carcass from the diet
Which grain is better to use as the basis of the diet and than to feed the geese, so that they gain weight faster? In the private courtyard, you can use almost any cornmeal. Geese are equally eager to eat crushed wheat, barley and oats. But coarse corn is better to steam with boiling water, it becomes somewhat softer, and then it can be used to make mash with boiled or simply chopped vegetables.
The quality of goose meat is directly dependent on the diet, protein feeds contribute to building muscle. Adding peas to the diet has a positive effect on weight gain, it is the cheapest type of legumes. The greens of clover and alfalfa are also related to legumes, and geese gladly pluck these plants.
Different types of goose ration
Depending on the conditions of detention and the type of fattening, a diet is also compiled. Intensive fattening is aimed at the rapid receipt of the commodity carcass, this requires a more abundant feeding, while walking is not provided. Extensive fattening in most cases means the most economical fattening for maximum results. This type refers to seasonal, it takes no more than four months with the full use of the opportunities of the warm season. Choosing what to feed the geese at home in the summer, you first need to decide on the type of fattening, it will allow you to adjust the diet logically, to use the currently favorable type of feed.
What to feed the geese in the winter?
After the seasonal slaughter of young stock in the farm, as a rule, only the parent and maintenance livestock are left. Depending on the gander's temperament, an appropriate number of geese is left, on average, 5-7 females per male. For peace in the house, it is recommended that each goose family be given a separate room. It remains only to calculate how to feed the geese in the winter at home, when the possibility of free grazing is excluded due to natural conditions.
In addition to concentrated feed and grains, enriched with vitamin and mineral supplements, it is desirable to stock up on vegetables for the winter, including cabbage, nettle brooms, high-quality hay. Some farmers successfully feed the geese with silage, providing the necessary amount of green mass. The amount of greenery in the winter feed is desirable to maintain at least 30% of the total mass, in the summer diet - up to 50%.
What profit can be obtained from breeding geese?
Regardless of the type of fattening, breeding geese was and remains a very profitable occupation. In addition to the carcasses of meat, goose liver, valuable fat, fluff and feather deserve special attention. Farm and private farms also make a profit by selling goslings and grown young stock alive, for fattening, or as a maintenance livestock. The pedigree breeding of purebred geese can be called especially valuable, their youngsters are valued much more than simply intended for poultry meat.
Goose eggs can be considered quite valuable food, but they bring more profit if they are intended for incubation, and not for culinary purposes. The adult bird is also sold live: in any farm you may need a new male or female of reproductive age. This is faster than growing a bird from a goose, with very vague prospects.
Keeping geese can be expensive or very budget. It all depends on the terrain, the possibility of safe free-range walking, the availability of cheap food supply. But to keep the geese are not as demanding as other poultry. They are less sensitive to cold and not as defenseless as the same quail. An adult gander is quite capable of driving away a dog or a stranger, vigilantly guards the flock and does not give offense to chicks. So the breeding of geese is not as difficult as it is customary to imagine.
Feeding geese in the summer
In the summer of special difficulties with the selection of food, as a rule, does not arise. If there is a reservoir and a meadow nearby, the flock can be released for free range, where she herself will get food.
On the pasture, birds can eat cereals - oats, rye, couch grass, bluegrass, sedge, cuff. If a goose grazes about two kilograms of grass, it is enough to cover the daily need for green fodder.
If there is no place to graze the flock, then it is kept in a pen and food will have to be cooked by yourself. Then in their diet you can add food with grain, corn, beets, potatoes.
When the content of geese can do with inexpensive mixtures of simple ingredients such as vegetables, as well as meadow herbs. Geese eat soybeans, alfalfa and clover with pleasure.
To improve digestion in the summer, a shell and small gravel will be useful for geese.
Recipes winter and summer feed for geese
The approximate diet of one goose contained in the pen, in the summer:
- 700 g of green fodder,
- 500 g of root vegetables and vegetables
- 300 g of herbal flour.
It is important to remember that goslings like to have a snack at night, so their feeders should not be empty. This will allow them to gain mass faster. And so that they can find food at night, you can leave a little lighting.
Features nutrition geese winter
On cold winter days, you can’t do without nutritious feed so that geese can compensate for the cost of heating the body. They need to be fed twice a day.
AT composition of feed for geese in winter Herbal flour and vegetables should definitely be included.
Moreover, one individual in the diet should be included:
- 40 g yeast,
- 40 g eggs or cottage cheese,
- 2 g of phosphates,
- 1.5 g of salt.
In January, when the lowest temperatures are observed, it is recommended to add sprouted wheat rich in vitamins to the feeder. A good source of vitamins, carbohydrates, carotene and acids is silage.
To compensate for the need for protein in the winter, geese give rot and hay flour, as well as meal and cake.
What kind of food to feed the little goslings
Feeding little goslings requires special attention.
In the first weeks of life, babies cannot do without the following products:
- corn,
- barley,
- wheat,
- oats,
- bran,
- beet,
- boiled potatoes,
- cabbage,
- meat and bone meal.
Wet food should contain vegetables and fresh herbs. This will allow to receive further high-quality tasty meat.
Goslings do not refuse granulated feed, you can buy it in specialized stores. Granulated food is used as a supplement to the basic diet two weeks after birth.
Meals from 0 to 2 weeks
In the first two weeks of life, chicks need greens and cottage cheese, as well as cake, fish meal, corn.
Food, as a rule, is kneaded from boiled eggs, fine grains, bran and grass - alfalfa, clover, cereals and legumes. Four days after birth, you can replenish the diet of goslings with yeast, grass meal with vitamins.
Food in 3-4 weeks
At this age, you can partially replace the grain in the feed on boiled potatoes. In the morning and evening, besides the mixed feed, babies are given mash beans, while in the daytime they put vegetables and chopped greens in the feeders.
When the goslings reach the age of one month, three times a day they will put germinated grain and fresh greens in the feeder.
Meals in 4-8 weeks
During this period, it is necessary to increase the number of cereals by 10%, while reducing the volume of meal and cake by 15%.
Featured chick feed proportions depending on age in grams:
- 1-3 weeks: 35-100 g,
- 3-5 weeks: 110-270 g,
- 5 - 7 weeks: 270-330 g,
- 7 - 9 weeks: 330 - 340 g.
It is important to know: any vegetables should be chopped up to 2 cm for chicks up to 20 days old and up to 5 cm under 60 days old.
How much feed you need to grow a goose - the norm
The average diet of geese should include 500 g of vegetables, 700 g of green fodder, 500 g of root vegetables, 300 g of grass meal.
The daily menu is recommended to include:
- 100 g of silage
- 300 g hay flour,
- 700 g of cereals and legumes,
- 1 kg of potatoes
- 500 g carrots.
An approximate diet for one bird may include:
- 100 grams of oats or barley,
- 45 g of wheat bran,
- 30 grams of corn
- 400 g beets,
- 20 g of herbal flour,
- 3 g legumes,
- 100 g potatoes
- 8 g shells,
- 3 g of feed fat.
The table with the approximate amount of feed geese in grams per bird per day:
When feeding with a wet mash it is necessary to provide three meals a day. For the first time, geese are given food in the morning, then in the afternoon and in the evening.
During the breeding period, the gander needs to be fed three times. In the morning and afternoon, the birds are fed with wet mash, in the evening they give grain.
When developing a diet it is important to consider the following biological features:
- in the breeding season, due to the reduction in feed intake, it is necessary to increase the calorie
- high egg production (more than 60%) requires the addition of feed fat in the amount of 3-5%,
- in the summer, when free-range, they feed only in the evening, so that the pack will return home at night,
- so that the geese do not become fat, their diet should be monitored more closely to prevent a decrease in egg production,
- if geese are fattened by an intensive slaughter program, it is necessary to limit their movement, and add barley, oats, wheat and corn to feed,
- for geese bred for meat, the daily ration should consist half of the greens, to which is added sunflower cake, beans, ground grain.
- Even before the start of egg-laying, roughly one month, coarse and green fodder begins to be given (the number of feedings can be increased up to four times per day).
Choosing the right diet and adjusting it during the year, you will certainly be able to get the maximum income from breeding poultry by selling delicious meat, eggs and fluff.
Types of feedings
Of course, the menu of geese, like any other economic bird, should first of all be as diverse as possible. Such birds are grown in the compound using the following types of feed:
- dry concentrates
- green meadow grass and duckweed,
- vegetables,
- dairy products
- fish and meat waste.
There are only three types of feeding such a bird:
The owners of private household farms in most cases use the second scheme of feeding geese. При применении такой технологии при относительно малых затратах можно добиться довольно-таки высоких показателей прироста веса. Сухую и комбинированную методику обычно используют только на больших птицефабриках, специализирующихся на выращивании водоплавающей птицы.
Особенности пищеварения гусей
Шея у этих пернатых, по сравнению с другой хозяйственной птицей, как известно, очень длинная. Сухой корм такие водоплавающие поэтому в больших количествах за один раз съедать не могут. In this case, the poultry may even become blocked with the esophagus, which will cause its death.
Geese are usually eaten as follows:
- stuff a portion of food in the throat (in the goiter),
- push it with water or something edible, but very moist, into the stomach,
- stuff the throat with another serving.
Grass or vegetables in the esophagus in geese do not get stuck. Each previous batch is simply pushed next. With dry food, the situation is slightly different. His geese must be washed down with water.
When using a wet feeding scheme, problems with the esophagus in such birds usually never occur. In this case, the answer to the question of what is the best way to feed the geese is the mixture of grain with chopped vegetables. Such food turns out to be quite moist and eagerly eaten by a bird.
What concentration should be in the mixture
To test the suitability of the mash for feeding geese, owners of houses usually:
- take a handful of the mixture in the palm,
- squeeze it hard.
If after this the food remains crumbly, it means that it is quite suitable for the bird. It is these mash bags that are the best answer to the question of how to feed geese at home. Designed for such waterfowl food must also not be viscous. Otherwise, the geese will get clogged noses.
How do mash
Wet mixes are made using this feeding scheme using the following products:
- cereals - in the amount of not less than 70 g per head,
- carrots - 100 g,
- rot of hay - 150 g,
- beets or potatoes - 500 g,
- mineral supplements - 25 g.
On grain for geese to save in any case is not worth it. In the presence of such food in large enough quantities, the bird gains weight much faster. Some owners of farmsteads advise to give concentrates in the amount of 180-200 g per head per day to purebred meat geese.
In this case, the basis of grain mixtures is recommended to take oats. About 60% of the total amount of concentrates used is usually added to the washer. The remaining ingredients in the mixture are added:
Many owners of farmsteads are interested, of course, in what they feed the geese before laying. Products containing too much protein are not recommended during this period. Otherwise, geese will fatten and will not lay eggs. In February - March, it is not so much a mixture of cereals that is added to such mash fishes, but only oats.
Owners of homesteads who are interested in how to feed geese before laying eggs, should also think about how to offer poultry foods that contain large amounts of calcium. This may be, for example, bone meal.
Fish and meat waste
Such ingredients are also often mixed in geese when using a wet scheme. In this case, the answer to the question of how to feed the geese can be, for example, such products:
- small, chopped junk fish,
- meat and bone mince,
- shredded fish, etc.
If desired, the geese mash can also be prepared using a small amount of fish or meat broth. To give the desired consistency in the feed in this case, usually bran is additionally added. Mushrooms in broths is a good answer, including the question of how to feed the geese in the winter at home. Such food at this time of year will be very suitable for them.
In addition to proteins and vitamins, geese, of course, must receive with the feed and sufficient for their body the amount of minerals. Therefore, a little chalk is usually added to the mash. You can also add special purchased vitamin and mineral supplements to this bird's feed.
Sometimes earthworms, mollusks, etc. are added to geese mash, among other things. Some pebbles and river sand are also usually added to the feeders before laying the wet mixture. It is necessary for good digestion of food in the body of the bird.
Number of feedings
When using a wet scheme, goose food is usually given three times a knock. For the first time, the masters are laid in the feeders early in the morning. The second time the bird is fed at lunch and the third - in the evening.
The combined method of growing geese is considered quite economical. However, in this case, the owners of the farmstead have to carefully count the amount of food offered to the bird. Sour the wet mixture in the feeders, of course, should not. In this case, and leave the geese hungry, of course, also impossible.
Willingness mash when feeding geese is determined as follows:
- take a handful of the mixture,
- squeeze it hard in the palm of your hand
- Spread food in any container.
If after that the mixture is scattered, it means that it is suitable for use.
In the summer, the number of feeding geese is allowed to be reduced to two. At this time of year, the bird is usually allowed to graze next to the house on the grass. This significantly reduces feed costs. If there is no suitable grazing near the house, the goose mowers will mow the grass of the farmsteads separately and simply throw a bunch of them in the walk. At the end of the meal, the remnants of greens are removed. In the summer of cut grass, of course, you can also just add geese to the mash.
What you should know
Grass such birds, as already mentioned, are very fond of. Greens, of course, - the best answer to the question of how to feed the geese in the summer. If desired, such a bird in the warm period can be produced both on dry pastures and on areas with lush green grass. With adult individuals, the owners of household plots usually do not have any problems with their pasture maintenance.
However, little geese on grazing, unfortunately, sometimes I can eat some grass harmful to them, for example, nightshade or hemlock. In this case, the affected chick should definitely do a gastric lavage. Sometimes digestive disorders occur in the young of this economic bird, having access to a natural reservoir. The reason for indisposition is usually eating too many shells in large quantities.
What to feed the geese at home: healthy foods
In addition to vegetables, herbs, and concentrates, when using a wet feeding scheme in geese heats, owners of households often also add:
- cake,
- bone or fish meal,
- boiled legumes,
- berries (usually mountain ash or hawthorn).
Such products are also just an excellent answer to the question of how to feed the geese. In winter, instead of grass, this waterfowl is usually offered pre-chopped spruce or pine green needles.
And, of course, geese are also given compound feed.
How to feed the geese: feed
Such food for this bird is also used quite often. Mixed feed, as well as cereals, to the group of concentrates. Of course, the owners of suburban areas should choose such mixtures intended specifically for geese. On sale today there are three main varieties of this feed:
- null, designed for very small goslings,
- compound feed for older birds
- mixes for adults.
Compound feeds are, among other things, a good answer to the question of how to feed geese in the winter at home. They, like grain, at this time of year, you can replace part of the succulent feed. Getting rich in protein food, geese, like any other economic animals, it is much easier to tolerate cold.
What is the composition of feed
Grain is most often added to the mash of such an economic bird as concentrates. Compound feeds for this purpose are rarely used by their owners in their pure form. The fact is that such food for geese is quite expensive. Mixed feed in the mash is usually added in very small quantities, simultaneously with the grain. The composition of such mixtures intended for geese, may be, for example, such:
- corn - 13%,
- wheat - 15%,
- barley - 40%,
- bran - 9%,
- Meal - 3.5%,
- fodder yeast - 2%,
- fish meal, herbal, bone meal - 15%,
- chalk - 1%
- salt - 0.5%,
- premix - 1%.
The diet of young chicks
Than to feed domestic geese adults, we, thus, found out. But what should be the diet of young? Homestead owners usually do not feed their newly hatched goslings for the first 10 hours. During this period, the chicks still do not need additional nutrients and simply will not eat the food offered to them.
After 10–15 hours after hatching, babies are usually offered chopped boiled egg. Cut this product should be as small as possible. An egg for feeding very young chicks is allowed to use both goose and chicken (preferably not shop).
Starting from the 4th day after hatching, the chopped green grass is gradually added to the babies in a minced egg. In the subsequent dose of this feed is gradually increased. Sharply change the composition of the proposed goslings can not be food. As a green feed for chicks, dandelion or clover are great, for example.
Food for goslings is usually offered in wide containers with low sides. Just ideal for feeding such chicks, for example, fits a lid from an old 2-3 liter pot.
At 6 months of age, if the weather is good outside, the goslings can be taken out for grazing for the first time. To do this, cut the bottom of the cardboard box. Next, install this capacity in the area with short succulent weed and placed in her chicks. Greens goslings love. And most likely, without any actions by the owners of the estate, they immediately after they move away from the first fear, begin to tweak the grass themselves.
From about 2 weeks into the diet, goslings are usually injected with feed-zero. The amount of such food in the kids menu also increases gradually. At about 1.5 months, it is already possible to add crushed grain to the goslings. By 2 months, this product is usually completely replace the feed. At the age of 2.5-3 months, youngsters can begin to feed and whole grain.
So, what to feed the geese in winter or summer, and how many times a day you need to do this, we found out. Food when using a wet feeding scheme such a bird give three times a day. Water for these birds, both adults and small ones, should always be freely available. Big bird drink is usually poured into car tires cut in half.
For the little goslings, the drinkers are made from plastic bottles. At first, the chicks are given only boiled water. They learn to drink goslings like this:
- bring to the watering of several kids,
- poke their nose in the water.
Usually, the goslings selected for training quickly understand what is required of them and begin to drink. Behind them, after a while, the rest of the little ones also pull up. Herd instinct in geese, like in many other birds, is very well developed.
At first, vitamins are often added to the chicks to reduce lunge and better development. This may be, for example, the drug "Revit". This additive is used within 4 days after hatching of babies. One tablet of this vitamin is diluted in 1 liter of water. On the 5th day, the chicks can no longer be given vitamins. For 5 days it is allowed to offer water to gooses not boiled, but raw.
