Post by seedywen on Nov 30, 2010 16:08:06 GMT -5
I initially got geese when started to farm, along with pigs, chickens, laying hens and meat birds. We were also raising three children and had a lot of other kids came over. Our freeranging kids learned to be both wary and put the run on the geese but every new kid that came over...had to learn...and some never did!
Second time round with geese(different farm) I had visions of cornering the local goose meat and egg market. The idea of the geese being able to eat grass and weed between wide rows was economically and dreams of geese as a labor-savers had a great allure. There turned out to not(at that time) to be much interest in local goose meat. And the only reliable buyer of eggs, made them into hinged sculptures/jewelry boxes.
Weeding the market garden with the geese proved to be problematic.
Yes, they ate the weeds but also young corn/lettuce etc. Under the trees in the orchard and in the two acre hay field, found out that they eat young(tender)grass and spurn the older dry. Then a coalition of shift-working neighbours came and asked us to get rid of the geese, which are noisy creatures.
Ducks on the other hand are easy to sell for meat and eggs.
And are death to slugs, sow bugs etc. Mine eat a fair bit of grass as well as one flock, in particular is in the orchard/meadow all day. The other flock only gets access to the gardens four hours a day but when they come out, they go crazy for green stuff. It's a seasonal balancing act to allow them access to the vegetable gardens, but they have complete access to the driveway, perennial borders and other orchard rows all year during their 'time-out'.
Currently keeping Muscovies and Silver Appleyards.
Second time round with geese(different farm) I had visions of cornering the local goose meat and egg market. The idea of the geese being able to eat grass and weed between wide rows was economically and dreams of geese as a labor-savers had a great allure. There turned out to not(at that time) to be much interest in local goose meat. And the only reliable buyer of eggs, made them into hinged sculptures/jewelry boxes.
Weeding the market garden with the geese proved to be problematic.
Yes, they ate the weeds but also young corn/lettuce etc. Under the trees in the orchard and in the two acre hay field, found out that they eat young(tender)grass and spurn the older dry. Then a coalition of shift-working neighbours came and asked us to get rid of the geese, which are noisy creatures.
Ducks on the other hand are easy to sell for meat and eggs.
And are death to slugs, sow bugs etc. Mine eat a fair bit of grass as well as one flock, in particular is in the orchard/meadow all day. The other flock only gets access to the gardens four hours a day but when they come out, they go crazy for green stuff. It's a seasonal balancing act to allow them access to the vegetable gardens, but they have complete access to the driveway, perennial borders and other orchard rows all year during their 'time-out'.
Currently keeping Muscovies and Silver Appleyards.
