How to feed goslings from the moment they are born?

Despite the fact that geese are quite unpretentious poultry, for the normal development of the body of newly hatched chicks, it is very important to properly build a diet and choose high-quality products, because it is the first month of life that is decisive for their health.

Nutrition from birth

There is a certain order of feeding, and the amount of nutrients needed by the birds is strictly adjusted based on their needs. Such a nutrition system is suitable for incubator and hatched goose chicks.

There are three ways of feeding chicks – wet, dry and mixed. Best of all, a combined diet is suitable for geese, including plant foods such as grass and vegetables (carrots, cabbage, potatoes, rutabaga, pumpkin). In addition, grains, legumes, fresh fish meat, skim milk and whey are given to birds.

They drink only boiled water, to which vitamin solutions are added, for example, Chiktonik. They are necessary to strengthen the immune system and prevent the lack of proteins, fats, valuable nutritional components.

First feeding

For the first time, food is given when the goslings have hatched and dried out. This must be done as soon as possible so that they do not die. To do this, hard-boiled egg yolk is slightly diluted with water and thoroughly crushed. It should be borne in mind that large pieces (more than 2-3 mm) may not be swallowed by the gosling. Based on the fact that for about ten days complementary foods are carried out from 6 to 8 times a day, excluding the night, the amount of food should be such that the chick can digest it before the next meal, that is, in about an hour or two.

There is an opinion that daily goslings on the first day can be added to the yolk with greens, finely chopped corn grits or grains. Some owners, in good warm weather, release them into the corral almost immediately, where they can peck grass on their own.

Feeding from 2 to 10 days

Starting from the second day, the arrangement of chicks in an open enclosure is fully justified. In addition to eggs, finely chopped green onions, unpeeled, crushed grains, clover, and dry milk powder are mixed into their food. Since goslings can trample on food, food is poured into a low tray. It is believed that these birds do not need to be offered fermented milk products, like chickens, however, cottage cheese, milk can be part of mixed, wet feeds and provide them with calcium and other important substances. But they should always have fresh water in the drinker.

From the third day they no longer give eggs, from greens you can add alfalfa, young nettles, grasses of cereals and legumes, carrots to the feed. From the fourth day, boiled beets and potatoes, cottage cheese and crushed peas, previously soaked in water, are introduced. To replenish the menu with vitamins, yeast is added to the feed.

From the age of one day to 5 days of life, the approximate daily diet for a gosling is:

  • grain – 15 g;
  • greens – 5 g;
  • wheat bran – 3 g;
  • carrots – 5 g;
  • milk – 25 g;
  • lime – 0,3 g;
  • dry food – 2 g.

From 6 to 10 days of life, food can be supplemented with vegetables, and then the diet will look like this:

  • grain – 15 g;
  • greens – 30 g;
  • wheat bran – 5 g;
  • animal feed – 7 g;
  • milk – 50 g;
  • chalk, crushed shells – 0,5 g;
  • raw cake of root crops – 4 g;
  • boiled potatoes, beets – 20 g.

Sunflower cake, and even better, rapeseed, must first be soaked and then finely chopped. Also, the menu of birds during this period may include boiled cereals from millet, wheat and corn. When they turn 7 days old, they are transferred to six meals a day. The next stage is characterized by rapid growth, and the chicks require more protein food, and split peas are the best for this.

Feeding from 10 to 21 days

After the tenth day, it is important to introduce more high-calorie foods into the diet of birds, but their amount should not exceed 15% of the main feed. Regarding potatoes, it is not recommended to give it more than 10% of the usual food per day.

Beans, beans, and peas are soaked before cooking, and then ground and combined with cereals, turf, grated carrots and bran. Two-week-old young animals are transferred to a five-time diet, specialized compound feeds are added to food – PK-30 or feed for chickens – PK-2, PK-5.

Feeding goslings

As practice shows, during this period the best food for young goslings is greens. For some time, birds can eat grass in the pen, which they find themselves, and they look for plants and roots that are useful for themselves. Experienced farmers at this time, in general, stop giving them food, with the exception of mineral supplements and clean water.

As soon as the amount of grass on the pasture decreases, crushed grain, cereals, and legumes are used. Goose weight gain also occurs due to the consumption of root crops and pumpkins, which, at the same time, allows saturating the bird’s body with B vitamins, carotene and ascorbic acid. Raw cereals and grain goslings digest without difficulty, but they should be no more than 20% of the usual feed.

Feeding goslings after 21 days

From the age of three weeks, birds should be fed no more than four times a day. They require a lot of green food, which makes up to 70% of their daily intake. It can be dandelion, sorrel, euphorbia, thistle, alfalfa, knotweed, other plants and tops of root crops. Up to 200 g of grass should fall on one gosling per day.

In addition, the following products should be included in the daily diet of the gosling during this period:

  • bran – 40 g;
  • grain – 35 g;
  • vegetables (beets, carrots, potatoes) – 120 g;
  • ground shell rock – 3,5 g;
  • cake – 25 g
  • animal feed in the form of meat and bone and fish meal – 30 g.

Also, young geese are mixed with a little salt, leftover food and bread crumbs, of course, these products must be fresh.

With a large livestock, it will be cost-effective to purchase grain waste directly from the mill. Despite the very high price, such grain contains a sufficient amount of flour and calories, so the geese will gain weight well.

When feeding with grain crops – wheat, barley, millet, the products must contain a minimum amount of harmful impurities, 0,1% chaff, 0,25% cockle and 0,05% ergot are allowed.

Within three weeks, young goslings are covered with fluff, but after 10 days you can see how their tail feathers begin to grow, after another week the wings plumage occurs. The bird is completely feathered by three months. It is believed that until this time geese should not be allowed to natural reservoirs.

Gosling nutrition

Feeding regime

You can feed the bird on time, that is, at certain intervals. However, some farmers choose to feed on demand, where goslings decide when and how much to eat. In fact, this means the absence of any regime whatsoever. The disadvantage of this approach is that the chicks very often overeat, and the result is obesity.

Appetite in young birds mainly depends on:

  • heredity;
  • certain breed;
  • health conditions;
  • sex – females eat much less than males.

When growing breeding geese, a special feeding regimen gives good results, when one day the chicks are fed greenery, and the other day – cereals or compound feed. In hot weather, three-week-old goslings are given wet types of food in the morning and evening, and grain waste or crushed grain at night. If young animals feed on the pasture almost all day, then feeding is carried out only in the evening.

Having chosen a certain feeding regimen for chicks, it should be adhered to constantly, and feeding should be reduced as the population grows, gradually shifting the time limits. Proper organization of feeding is the main condition for the geese to grow up healthy and well-fed.

What food is strictly prohibited?

The food in the bird feeder should always be fresh – if a certain amount is undereaten, the food must be removed in a timely manner, as sour foods lead to mold, which is unacceptable when growing young birds. The grass offered to the chicks should also be fresh – they simply will not eat sluggish, as well as plants with rough, hard leaves and stems;

Feeding goslings only dry food is unacceptable, as this leads to intestinal obstruction. A sharp transfer of chicks from one type of feed to another is also undesirable; this can only be done gradually.

Birds can be given different foods, but some foods are dangerous for them:

  • low-quality supplements of plant and animal origin;
  • doubtful with an incomprehensible composition of feed;
  • potato tops, its fruits, if the skin on them is green;
  • freshly harvested rye;
  • any moldy food;
  • from herbs – ambrosia, sedge, lily of the valley, hemlock, cuff, quinoa and crow’s feet.

Up to a month, goslings are not given grass with traces of dew or rain, and they also do not walk around a wet corral, as the birds have a weak respiratory system, and they can catch a cold and die. Therefore, even the water in the drinkers should be supplied so that they do not splatter the breasts. They also cannot swim for up to 3 weeks, until the fluff is replaced by feathers.

Caring for weak goslings

Despite the unpretentiousness of this poultry, the mortality rate of the brood can be quite high. Some chicks do not eat well and stand uncertainly on their paws, this is a reason to sound the alarm and urgently nurse weak goslings. The causes of this condition may be the wrong diet, poisoning, the presence of parasites and other factors. Such individuals need, especially, careful care and special nutrition, in addition, they are placed in a separate enclosure.

The following remedy will help put the baby on his feet:

  • a special mixture is prepared from 120 ml of milk, to which 1/4 of a small spoonful of granulated sugar and a fresh egg yolk are added;
  • after carefully mixing the composition, biomycin or penicillin is placed in it.

During treatment, sick birds need a temperature of at least +28 degrees, if the chick has reached a week of age, it is reduced to +22-23 degrees.

Many novice farmers are wondering if it is necessary to use fish oil for young geese? Should it be added to food? It is necessary to give it to chicks, as it contains vitamins important for the bird. They begin to mix it from the tenth day of age.

You can talk about a healthy brood if the chicks have a good appetite, they drink a lot of water and spend most of their time at the feeder. Sometimes goslings can rest on the litter, while they do not curl up and do not get crowded.

Weak goslings

Proper care affects appetite

In addition to a varied menu that provides for certain nutritional components and is literally scheduled according to the days corresponding to the age of the gosling, it is important for kids to fulfill other requirements regarding their health and full development:

  • Within ten days after birth, they are kept indoors, as they can quickly die on the street, because their body is not yet able to retain heat. Therefore, it will be necessary to artificially maintain a temperature of + 28-30 degrees for the first three days.
    When the heating is organized correctly, the birds show a good appetite and move freely around the aviary. The temperature is reduced systematically for three weeks from birth to + 18-20 degrees. In colder air, the babies tend to huddle together, which can cause some of the chicks to suffocate and die. If it is too hot in the aviary, this will lead to the lethargy of the birds, their lack of appetite, and, as a result, the growth rate of the livestock will noticeably decrease.
  • The light regime is no less important, so the first 7 days the goslings are provided with constant lighting. It is muffled only at night – this is done so that the young can easily get to food and water. A week later, a 15-hour light day is established in the house, but this is done gradually, with a daily decrease in lighting time.

Read more about how to breed geese at home.

Useful Tips

When feeding goslings, you should pay attention to the following points:

  • when mixing various components into the feed, it is necessary to monitor its consistency – it should be juicy, moist, and crumbly, but not viscous, sticky food clogs in the sinuses of goslings, which further leads to illness;
  • only clean water is provided for the chicks, you can take it from the water supply, but it is better to filter it;
  • next to the feeder, you need to keep an additional tray with chalk, sand, dry ground bones, shells or gravel, since goslings need minerals, some owners add these ingredients directly to the feed;
  • it is very important to understand the taste preferences of the bird and take these features into account when preparing a combined mash;
  • the cleanliness of the room and the dishes from which the goslings eat is extremely important, in addition, every two days they need to change the bedding;
  • a little potassium permanganate is put into the water in the drinking bowl to prevent digestive disorders and diseases;
  • the weakest and sickest individuals are given a mixture of milk (100 ml) with yolk and biomycin to strengthen the body and recover.

If the geese are choking and coughing, this may mean that dry, mealy components predominate in the feed, and water or wet sand should be added to the food. At the same time, the chicks should be fed solid plant food all day long, as a rule, this time is enough for them to clear the esophagus.

You can understand that the feeding is correct, and the birds are healthy, by the way the chicks look and behave. If they are active and developing well, this indicates that their digestive system is working normally, so you can continue to maintain the same diet and menu according to the chosen scheme.

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Anna Evans

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