Each year since sorting my Pilgrim goose flock into separate breeding groups, I’ve changed my set up to address the previous year’s shortcomings and the new challenges at Lilac Hill. Lilac Hill is located in central PA in USDA hardiness zone 6b. In the cold months I focus on protecting the animals from sleet coupled with wind. Some years we can have snow on the ground for months and other years we barely get any.
We use mobile poultry pasture pens, built with some modifications to accommodate geese rather than a dedicated building for breeding. Our Pilgrims seem to thrive on the pasture set up with protection from the wind and shelter from precipitation. I use a snowblower to remove excess snow and straw for bedding to keep the geese comfortable. The pens and goose yards are set up in a fenced field and after the breeding season, the bedding is set aside for composting and the area seeded to a pasture mix.
Here’s some of the thoughts I had when I set up the breeding pens in the North Field this year:
The goose breeding area needs to be situated away from other livestock and regular human traffic from winter until late spring so the geese in breeding season aren’t disturbed and forced to behave defensively. The North Field greens up later than the Barn Field so I can delay rotating the sheep through in spring.
The water hydrant near the geese has to be reliable and the driveway hydrant hasn’t frozen since I adjusted it, yet.
Last year was the first year all the breeding groups were next to each other. I found that after the initial period of disruption caused by sorting and separating the Pilgrims into breeding groups, the geese settled quickly when they could see eachother rather than only being able to call across the farm to eachother. The field fence and gate between last year’s pens complicated chores, especially snow removal so this year the breeding pens are next to each other in one field.
Like last year, the access gates open out so after snow removal, I can get into the goose yards.
To improve on last year’s convoluted set up, the path from the yard gates to the pen doors is a straight shot to simplify snow removal.
This year we set the pens on sheets of roofing metal to prevent attacks by digging predators. Each night I lock the Pilgrims in their own pens and release them in the morning. I also added an electric fence around the pens.
To give the Pilgrims more yard space and to make refilling easier for me , the feeders are set up outside the yards and along the fence line. The Pilgrims have no trouble popping their heads through the 4” square fence openings.
As in previous years, I use deeper feed bowls for water and troughs for swimming. I dump the water every night and invert the troughs and bowls so they don’t freeze to the ground.
The North Field where the geese are located is within sight of my bedroom and on moonlight nights, the flock can be “chatty”. I like hearing the flock but neighbors and housemates might not so adjusting location when possible might be a good idea.
Not sure what issues I am not addressing, but I am sure that this breeding season will teach me plenty.
