first goslings 1997

Today is my 20th goosiversary.  I received my first goslings on this day in 1997.  Above is the photo of them.  Like with my chickens, I went crazy taking too many photos.  Here is photo of them a little bit older.

goslings growing up 1997

and a little older yet.

gosling with feathers 1997

teenage goslings

I got them thinking mistakenly that they would eat slugs.  They do not eat slugs.  I even tried mixing slugs with grain to try to get them used to it.  So it turns out they were no use to me, but I have had them in my life ever since.  Here are the first geese grown up.  There are four Toulouse and 3 Pilgrim geese.

goslings all grown up with Honky in background

I had one of my first heartbreaks of farming when in April of 2000 I was tired from work and forgot to lock them into the barnyard.  My favorite Sweetpea went missing that night, presumably eaten by coyotes.  Geese are pretty tough though.  We lost 2 geese in 2004 after we moved but it is rare for a goose to die.  

We did hatch 9 goslings after we moved to our new farm and here they are, a mixture of Toulouse and Pilgrim geese.  

goslings 6/2006 with Honky

goslings 6/2006

 Honky, my original white male Pilgrim goose, died in the cold weather in 2008.  You can see him in the preceding photos.  

Geese have interesting faces:

goose face 2/2009

They do great in cold weather (unless they are old):

geese in snow 11/2010

They guard the inside of the barn:

geese and sheep eyes 1/2011

They enjoy puddles:

geese swimming in pasture 1/2011

They patrol the barnyard:

geese 4/2011

They have amazing feathers:

goose feathers 4/2011

They like pumpkins:

geese and pumpkins 11/2012

They have amazing necks:

goose 1/2014

They have huge (and tasty) eggs:

goose egg 4/2015

They do not mind flooding:

geese in flood waters 11/2015

They like baked goods:

Chickens and geese 7/2015

And they fight off bald eagles trying to eat our chickens:

attack geese 4/2016

So, all and all, I like having geese round.  They are loud and annoying, but they also make me smile and defend their barnyard.  They seem to live forever and mostly eat grass.  So I cannot complain about my 20 years with geese, even if they do not eat slugs.