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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 6, 2019 19:20:15 GMT -6
During a brief period of dry weather this week, I found time to take the goslings to the garden to try and do some weeding on the upper end, where it's not quite so muddy.
During that time, I found something these geese are really good at; they don't like to eat sweet potato leaves, so they go between all the runners and just pick out the narrow blades of the weeds that they see growing beneath the canopy. They really seemed to enjoy themselves, reaching in and nipping every tender blade of grass they could find growing in places where I can't even see without lifting the runners to look underneath their broad leaves.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 6, 2019 20:11:43 GMT -6
I took the goslings for another swimming lesson today, as the dry creek bed began re-filling with rainwater runoff. They are starting to get the hang of it now, but they still don't seem to enjoy any water that is so deep they cannot touch bottom.
They'll tiptoe out into the water, just until their toenails begin to slip off the bottom from the buoyancy of their feathers. Then, they'll paddle back and just anchor one toe on a rock or something that feels safe to them. They rarely venture into water over their head. Here are two females, just sitting in the water's edge. They are happy as long as the water is no deeper than they can reach to rest one foot on the rock bottom. Panic ensues if ever that one foot slips off the rock! Here, you can see this little goose in a paddling panic, because the water she waded into got over her head. If she'd stop floundering, she would float just like a cork, but their little brains don't know that yet, so she panics if she can't touch bottom.
I'll be glad when they learn to swim well enough to not be afraid to dive and have fun doing it. This goose reminds me of the old song, "Go Tell Aunt Rhody, the Old Gray Goose is Dead." And that one verse that reads, "She died in the Mill Pond, from standing on her head." This little goose scares the whole troop when she pops back up from under the water, flapping and peeping like something just tried to kill her. Then, they all take off running as fast as they can go!
That was the end of today's swimming lesson, back to the goose pen until it stops raining ...
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 14, 2019 2:49:54 GMT -6
These little geese sure can sock away a lot of weeds!!!
Every night, before I put them back in the goose run to turn in after weeding the garden, I pour out a 5-gallon bucket, brim full of weeds for them to snack on until morning.
Every morning, when I come back to turn them out to go grazing, the pile of weeds from the night before is completely gone! This is the bucket, so brim full of weeds I've hand pulled, that I can hardly pull up the bail to carry it home. These are the weeds, poured out in the goose run, for a light snack before turning in. This is all that's left each morning when I come back to fetch the bucket for another day of working in the garden. I can gather the clods to take back to my garden. They make great compost. If only 4 geese can eat that many weeds over night, think how many 25 of them could clear out of a cotton patch in a day's time! No wonder they drink so much! I always take a gallon pail of water to the garden while they are grazing. A goose can only eat so much grass and dirt, without some water to wash it all down. If I don't take water, they'll wander off to the creek to get a drink every few minutes. It's just easier to bring water with us each day, than to herd them back to their chores every half an hour; because like little children, they tend to get distracted and want to play all day if I don't.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 14, 2019 3:05:59 GMT -6
Here they are, robbing me blind. It sure is hard to fill a 5-gallon bucket with weeds, when Bonnie and Clyde, here; keep swiping them as fast as I can throw them in! Here the four of them are, grazing weeds away from the edge of the Plasticulture, where I can't hoe because the plastic is tucked under the dirt along both edges. Here is a photo of Bonnie and Clyde, working for a living, chewing weeds down to the nub before they move on. (note the clean, bare edge of the black plasticulture behind them). For all their shenanigans, they surely make up for it with all their hard work and great companionship. Because of these geese, I probably work in my garden twice as much as I would, if they didn't keep me company out there each day.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 20, 2019 11:46:01 GMT -6
I've been following the same routine each day so that my geese will grow up to be hard workers, rather than loafers.
We start off each morning, with a trip to the garden to hoe weeds. I hoe and they work alongside me; picking and devouring any kind of weed that I happen to miss.
They love it out there in my garden. I've experimented with them just to kind of get a feel for what they might or might not eat. This morning, I picked a handful of blueberries to munch along the way. I rolled a couple of blueberries across the bare ground in the garden and the geese showed no interest in eating them. I even picked the berries up and attempted to hand feed them to the geese; thinking they might enjoy them as a treat, but they had no desire to try the blueberries and turned their heads away.
I've heard Cotton Patch Geese are good for weeding strawberries, but after raising ducks and chickens all my life, I could not imagine how that might work out. After seeing them turn up their noses at fresh, sweet, blueberries; I am beginning the think they will not eat fruit. My happy little goslings, racing me to the garden each morning, anxious to eat their fill of weeds! The funny thing is, they'll run past all this lush, green, grass, just to get to the garden where they know there will be fresh, weed seedlings and plenty of them! They are content as can be, just searching out any tiny weeds I may have missed while hoeing. I know the photo does not show detail very well, but this gosling is nipping at a flush of newly germinated weed seedlings that have been popping up everywhere after the heavy rains. (A weed eaten at half an inch tall, will never grow to be a weed that is a foot tall.) Here are 3 of the four goslings, happily and busily searching out weed seedlings to nip out. (They love tender plants as much as we do) and prefer the seedling weeds over mature plants. Notice, my guard dog, off to the left, keeping an eye out, while relaxing in the shade of a tomato plant. He's the boss and he knows it.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 24, 2019 22:11:06 GMT -6
I know my little geese love me now ...
Our creek has been flooded from all the recent rains and the goose run is located within its flood plain if we get about 10" or 12" inches of rain in one storm, as we did in both 2015 and 2017. It seems like lately, we've been getting our "100 Year Flood" about once every two years.
We had 5.51" inches of rain Saturday night, through Sunday morning, and last night's forecast called for even more heavy rain. I was worried that another heavy rain like we had Sunday morning might trap the geese against the fence of the goose run and could drown them.
Because of the forecast, I went to the goose run after dark, in the pouring rain, with a flashlight, and called the geese. At first, they didn't recognize me because I was wearing a hooded raincoat and it was dark outside.
When I called them, they all ran away from me, until I took my hood off and shined the light on my face ... Once they recognized it was me, they all came right back.
Once they were headed my way, I opened the goose run door and called them along behind me while shining the light, so they could see where we were going. It was raining hard and I was headed straight for our wooden footbridge.
These geese are afraid of my wooden bridge, don't ask me why? They just have a phobia of it and will not step one foot on it. Last night, the water was roaring under that bridge, plus it was pouring down rain, so it was a lot noisier than usual and it became very hard to communicate with the geese to keep them calm.
Soon, they began running in tight circles all around my feet but would not come to me, nor would they step one foot nearer to the bridge. The rain was coming down in sheets now, and I was beginning to get worried that I might not be able to get them back across the creek to safety on higher ground.
Finally, Sweet Pea ran by me; as soon as he came close enough that I could grab him by the wing to arrest his flight, I scooped him up and took him across the bridge first, where I set him down, so I could go back and catch another goose. I did that as quickly as I could, but the bridge is about 30' feet long, so it takes a bit to run the full length of it twice ... When I got back to the spot where I had caught Sweet Pea, there were no geese to be found!
I shined the light up and down the swollen banks, then at the roaring water, and finally saw three little geese swimming like crazy against the strong current and getting swept away down the stream. Seeing this, I ran back across the bridge, to the side where I had set Sweet Pea down and began calling them from the high side.
When they saw the light shining, they began flapping their wings and got their feet above the water; this extra horsepower allowed them to overcome the current and they all came flying and swimming to me in the pitch black of the downpour. Once they were safely on the uphill side of the creek, I walked along the path to our house and called them along behind me.
My Daughter has a dog kennel that will hold a full grown German Shepherd. She keeps the kennel stored beside our barn; so I dragged it over by the back door of our house and opened it up. I put the geese inside and put a some lumber over it to keep the rain off.
This morning, when I came outside, my little geese sure were happy to see me. When I turned them loose to go with me to the garden, they all stopped short of the flooded creek and stood there waiting, until I crossed the bridge ahead of them.
Once I got to the other side, I called to them and they all four came running and flapping their wings ... This time, they already knew how to overcome the current, so they never even slowed down until they were all safely across.
That's a scary place for a two-month-old- baby goose to have to cross in the dark! I'm glad I moved them to higher ground before it got this bad or even worse.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 27, 2019 21:34:58 GMT -6
My little Cotton Patch Geese never cease to amaze and amuse me. They didn't use to like to eat bugs, but here lately, they've developed an acquired taste for them. My two ganders have gotten to where they'll eat anything that moves, (especially, earthworms and caterpillars). They've learned that if they stand over a weed clump and peer down on it while I pull it up, who ever gets there first gets the worm!
This makes it kind of hard to see what you're doing, while trying to pull weeds with two ganders craning their necks to see which one will get the worm. They're pretty comical to watch as they vie and jockey for the best worm catching position.
Today, I was trying to pull a fairly good sized Lamb's Quarter that had gotten about 3' feet tall. (Some people call this plant, "Goose Foot"). I had both hands on it, pulling with all my might, when both ganders reached over my forearms with their long necks, from opposite directions and placed their heads as close to the root clump as hey could get ... I had to stop what I was doing and move them back from me, so I could pull it up without hurting one of them. As it turns out, there was no worm to be had, but I did find out that geese love eating goose foot almost as much as they like eating worms.
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Post by macmex on Jun 28, 2019 6:20:13 GMT -6
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 29, 2019 13:26:24 GMT -6
These little Cotton Patch Geese are wonderful companions in the garden ... A dog or a cat might follow you to the garden each day, but they only go there to keep you company ... The whole time you're out there, they would really rather be somewhere else, but they'll hang around out of loyalty, just until you're ready to go back inside.
Cotton Patch Geese, on the other hand, really enjoy the garden and would rather be there alongside you, working, than to be anywhere else. This is Violet; I believe she genuinely enjoys working with me in the garden; being how there is no fence around my garden and freshly mowed grass is always within sight ... She could walk away at anytime, but instead, she chooses to stay and help me pull these weeds. This is Clarence; he could be leisurely munching away on tender blades of grass over in the shade of a wild cherry tree, but every day, he chooses to hang out and help me in the garden instead. This is Petunia; being a pest. Most of the time, my gang of geese are hard workers, though; sometimes, they are just as content to stand around and untie your shoelaces instead.
(I suppose I'll have to take time someday to teach this goose how to re-tie those shoe laces, but today, I'm just too busy pulling weeds). This is Sweet Pea; being a camera hog. I think he's trying to tell me that it's not polite to talk with your mouth full.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 29, 2019 14:14:54 GMT -6
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 29, 2019 14:23:50 GMT -6
After any good coffee break, some antics are in order. Hmmm, a sleeping watch dog ... Sweet Pea gets an idea. "Here's the plan, I'll sneak around this side and distract him, you go in and grab the goods." Buddy wakes up from his nap ... He knows something is up; "Theses geeses are being too quiet." I reach to put my hand on Sweet Pea's back ... "Hey there, Sweet Pea ... Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Sweet Pea backs away, and Violet steps in to lull Buddy back to sleep with one of her signature massages. (Cotton Patch Geese are very affectionate and enjoy interaction and play time with other pets). Buddy is enjoying this. Now, there, big fella, lets get those knotted up shoulders. Just you relax ... and remember ... you are getting verrry sleeepy ... To be continued ...
Now, that Buddy is sound asleep again, notice, Sweet Pea, quietly sneaking back in from the left of the frame ... There is a reason they call him, a "GOOSE!!!"
Poor Buddy ...
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 2, 2019 19:51:59 GMT -6
I've been having a blast with my Cotton Patch Geese all season. They go with me to the garden, twice each day, to pull weeds.
After spending nearly 3 months training my goslings to go straight to the garden, instead of grazing on grass in the pasture, they know the routine and race me to the garden every day.
Today, they cheated, passing me by like I was standing still; flying at about shoulder height, and honking with great excitement!
What a surprise! I had never seen them get more than a few inches off the ground before! When I finally caught up with them, they all encircled me, with great exuberance; their necks craned forward as far as they could stretch, while chortling and chittering to no end, as if to say, "Wow! Did you see that?! That was awesome!!!"
When they finally settled down, we all got together and pulled the last 5-gallon bucket full of weeds in the entire garden, then took our bucket and went home early ... I officially ran out of any more weeds to pull, at about 8:00 pm this evening. I guess starting tomorrow, the geese will just have to graze the grass that they have been walking past to get to my garden each day.
No weeds in the tomato patch. No weeds in the okra patch. No weeds in the potato patch ... This is Violet; a very happy goose, washing down the last weed in the entire garden. Starting tomorrow, she'll be more than happy to graze all that green pasture behind her ....
Truth be told, they could graze pasture every day, but they prefer to follow me around everywhere I go; pulling and hoeing weeds, instead. This evening, when we ran out of weeds, all of the geese but one, wandered off to get a drink of water and started grazing around the fence line.
Sweet Pea was the only one left; He looked at the other geese, then jumped up on my knee and started tugging at my shirt collar. It was like he was trying to tell me, "Come on over here with the rest of us, where there's something good to eat." They sure do grow up fast! It seems like just a few weeks ago, they were having to live inside my well pump room because it was still too cold to spend the nights outside.
I noticed this evening, that the burlap coffee bean sacks that I used to line their plastic tub with, are just about all composted down now. I used them as naturally fertilized mulch around the base of one of my young, Wells variety Pawpaw Trees. That tree sure has prospered from the much needed mulching.These geese are still just as affectionate today, as the day they were hatched. This is Sweet Pea's way of saying, "I want to be your friend forever." He still says it, the same way, each day. He loves snuggling his head up to my hands, so I can rub his beak. Kind of how a dog likes being scratched behind their ears. Sometimes, when I'm crouching along, pulling weeds on my hands and knees; he will stick his whole head inside my shirt pocket to snuggle.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 15, 2019 21:31:17 GMT -6
Re-purposing Cotton Patch Geese
After we ran out of weeds to pull in the garden, it took me a few days to think of where to go from there.
This morning, I got the idea of re-purposing the geese, to help me pull the weeds from around my air conditioner and from around my Elderberry bushes and from around my blueberry bushes, where it's hard to nearly impossible to get with a mower.This is Sweet Pea, pulling weeds from around the air conditioner. Here is the whole gang working in unison, to pull all the weeds from around my Irrigation pipe, leading to the blueberry patch. These guys get to work in places where even a weed eater can't be used. They are awesome! And very dedicated workers too. No task is too big or too hard for them, as long as I'm there with them for company. They are wonderful, for cleaning up around Elderberry bushes. Sweat Pea, and Clarence, working side by side to clear out under the Elderberry bush. These guys are all business when it comes to eating weeds. They have a real sense of duty; going where ever I direct them. I've been working with these geese daily, since the day they arrived as day-old-goslings. They are pretty special birds. Whenever I call them, they come running or sometimes flying to the task. They never complain and are eager to be of assistance. It's rare to find even a dog who is as loyal as these little Cotton Patch Geese are.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 25, 2019 5:25:31 GMT -6
Lately, when I walk the geese to the garden every morning, a lone robin accompanies us; walking a few yards to one side of us, almost the entire distance. I talk to it as we go along, but it doesn't fly away.
Sometimes, I wonder what it thinks of birds, like geese, who walk along beside me wherever I go?
I have a cot out under a shade tree, by the garden, where I took a break yesterday, to let my poor, aching back rest after picking okra for about an hour. I laid down there with my straw hat over my eyes for a few minutes. After a while, the geese just couldn't stand it any longer and one of them grabbed my hat by the brim and pulled it off my head. Then, they started nibbling at my fingers, then my water bottle. Before long, I just got up and pet them on their curious little heads and followed them back to the okra patch.
There is no rest for the weary with these guys, they love their time in the garden, but not without me to follow around all day. They are pretty sweet birds, sometimes reminding me of a restless terrier I once had.
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Post by macmex on Jul 25, 2019 5:55:49 GMT -6
Reading your posts bring the Hymn, "All Creatures of Our God and King" to mind. That's one of my favorites, written by Saint Francis of Assisi. Many times, when I go out to care for the chores during the cool of the morning, this is what runs through my head.
Youtube: All Creatures of Our God and King
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