Cultivation and breeding of geese at home

Now many people are engaged in growing poultry in their household plots. Breeding geese at home is not only an aid in preparing meat for your family, but also an excellent profitable business, since it requires relatively little cost. With the first warm spring days geese can be transferred to the fodder. In addition, they are also beneficial because they are not afraid of cold weather, and already grown-up individuals can be kept in the poultry house on an unchangeable bedding, but with obligatory daily walking.

If you decided to do fattening of birds, then, perhaps, the best option for you will still be geese. The breeding, maintenance, care of them is briefly described in this article.

Benefits

Homemade geese breeding on the backyard is the second most popular after chickens. These large birds are characterized by their high precocity. Goslings grow very fast, and an example of this can serve as a fact: from diurnal and up to 9 weeks of age they can increase their living weight by a factor of 40. The weight of such a grown-up bird can be 4 kg or more. As is known, goose meat is famous for its high taste qualities, and the carcass itself consists of 60-65% of edible parts.

Birds as business

Like any other business, breeding geese at home will require some amount for the initial investment. The cost of purchasing usually depends not only on the number of heads, but also on their breed. Therefore, it is worth taking a more serious approach to this issue.

The most popular breeds of geese for breeding are Italian, Toulouse, Kholmogory, Kuban, and Legart and Gray. Birds quickly gain weight and are most resistant to various diseases. In addition, they have an enlarged liver, which is why they are valued and grown not only on household plots, but also in industrial conditions. If the emphasis is on high egg production, then the breed of Japanese geese will fit just perfectly. One such female can carry about 50 eggs per year.

Making geese breeding your business is a good option for people living in rural areas. To start this type of activity, enough and a small seed capital. It is not necessary to buy many heads at once, enough will be a hundred birds. For them, you will need to buy food, as well as build a room. If the barn is already there, then the initial costs for this business are immediately reduced by several times. It is also necessary to buy an incubator, which will cost about 10 thousand rubles. If you add up all the costs, taking into account the construction of the premises from scratch, you can meet the sum of 120 thousand rubles. And to sell finished products, you need to register with the tax inspectorate.

Such costs will need to be done in the first year of work, and in the next you can start breeding your chicks. Often farmers start breeding their own breeds, crossing several varieties of geese. As a rule, this activity improves not only egg production, but also the quality of meat itself.

In order not to buy goslings, but to get them from your own birds, you need to collect the eggs in advance and make nests for the hens or lay them in an incubator for a certain time.

Brief description of the most popular breeds

● Italian. Ideal for growing in households. Very quickly gaining weight. Eggplant per year is up to 45-50 eggs.

● Toulouse. This breed of geese is the most fatty. It is bred in France and is valued for its large liver, which can weigh up to 1 kg. Weight geese - about 10 kg, and a gander - 2 kg more.

● Kholmogory. A fairly large bird weighing up to 10 kg. Its distinctive features are folds under the beak and neck, as well as a bump on the forehead. The goose of this breed can demolish up to 40 eggs a year.

● The Kuban. It is considered a light species, since the weight of the bird is only 4.5 to 5.5 kg. However, it has a high egg production - from one goose it is possible to get about 70-90 eggs.

● Legart. These geese, the breeding and maintenance of which is believed to be of greatest benefit in growing, eat feeds 20% less than other breeds. Thus they quickly gain weight. So, goslings, which turned 2 months old, weigh up to 6 kg.

● Gray. Has good stamina and quite strong physique. Reaches a weight of 8 kg. Yaytsenoskost females - about 40 eggs per year.

Necessary equipment

Breeding geese at home will require the purchase of special equipment, which will be required for breeding chicks.

● Incubator. This is the most important device necessary to create the most suitable conditions for eggs.

● Ovoscope. A small device for determining damage to eggs. Translucent, he finds even small cracks in the shell. With the help of this device, the breeding eggs are selected for the subsequent removal of the chicks from them.

● Brooder. Here contain hatched goslings. The device heats the young in the first days of life.

Hatching

Breeding geese at home is done in two ways. The first of them is an incubator one. Most farmers prefer to use this device to get young animals. It allows you to make a large brood of chicks at one time. The first 14 days of life, goslings are fed with cottage cheese, mixed with greens and finely chopped eggs. Later in their diet mixed feeds are added. After reaching the 3-week age, the chicks are fed the same way as the adult birds.

The second way - the breeding of the youngest goose. One hen can produce up to 13 chicks. The withdrawal period lasts about 28 days. Since geese are rather wayward birds, it is not recommended to disturb a poultry on eggs, at any moment, it can refuse to incubate them. For the nest is a quiet, clean, dry and slightly darkened place.

Feeding advice

In the diet of geese, in addition to plant and grain feeds, even meat ingredients can sometimes be present. But you should also remember some limitations. For example, in order to avoid a decline in the egg-laying of geese, it is impossible to give them barley and corn in pure form. Otherwise, the bird quickly becomes fat and badly rushes. Also, egg production can be significantly reduced and due to feeding with meat waste.

Feeding geese at home is somewhat different in summer and winter. In the warm season, green mixtures of juicy herbs, as well as various vegetables: beets, carrots, beans, boiled potatoes should be included in the diet of birds. When the cold comes, it is better to give preference to mixtures with tuber-root crops, various mixed fodders and oats.

Feeding during laying

To get a high-quality hatching egg, it is necessary that the bird's body is provided with all the necessary set of mineral substances, because somewhere in February-March the goose begins the period of breeding oviposition. Therefore, special attention should be given to their proper feeding at this particular time. For this, the breeding poultry is transferred to a more intensive diet one month before the indicated period. It should be noted that the goose can not lay a lot of eggs if it is weakened and depleted. For a full feed in the food add hay, premixes and raw crushed potatoes. In addition, if possible, good use also of quality mixed fodders, containing in their composition a whole range of useful microelements and minerals necessary for the bird body.

Contents in winter

At this time of year, in the absence of grazing for geese, special rooms are being built. It is not necessary to heat them, but the building must be of high quality. Wintering geese at home requires that the house is well insulated and completely free of drafts. To do this, equip the tambour. In addition, the entrance doors are further insulated with cotton. Planks are usually placed on the floor, but the earthen flooring is also suitable. The main thing is that it rises above the ground level by about 25-30 cm.

Care for the geese, although fairly simple, but requires in some cases, special attention. If the bird is kept in a relatively small room, then in no case should the litter be dirty or wet. Not only will this ruin a valuable feather and feather, but it can lead to serious colds. If the litter is dry, the geese can perfectly survive even the most severe frosts. As it can be used as sawdust and large chips, and ordinary straw.

To ensure that the eggs are clean and not trampled on by birds, they should be placed along the walls of the board. Top of them put a fresh litter. With such equipment of the poultry house, the goose will get used to riding in the same place. As for the litter, it is better to change it in the evening, so that in the morning you can collect clean eggs.

Care of the bird involves fighting against skin parasites. For prevention in the room, where there are geese, every 2 or 3 weeks put a trough filled with a mixture of sand and ash. They bathe in it and thus not only get rid of various parasites, but also clean their feathers.

Additional lighting

To cultivate geese at home was the most productive, you need to take care of the artificial increase in daylight hours. This will have a very beneficial effect on the egg-laying of the goose. For example, if you turn on the light in the house every day at 6:00 and turn it off at 20:00, then the birds will not start riding in February or March (in the presence of natural light), but in January.

Contents in the summer

In the warm season, the breeding and cultivation of geese takes place in specially equipped enclosures, where it is impossible to walk them to pasture. The countryside must necessarily have a canopy protecting the birds from the burning sun and cold rain. To make them feel good, the average area of space for one goose should be about 8-10 square meters. M.

An ideal option for birds is an enclosure with an artificial pond. Hygienic standards require that the water in them change daily. It should be noted that the maintenance of geese at home does not require the mandatory construction of a reservoir. As studies have shown, its absence does not affect egg production or growth.

Realization of a bird

The breeding and keeping of geese at home as a business is almost a waste-free production. Farmers with experience know that you can sell not only eggs and poultry meat, but fluff. If the goose carcass weighs up to about 8 kg, its value can reach 1200-1300 rubles. With one bird fluff comes out somewhere 600 g, and it will cost about 1200-1300 rubles. And if you still make pillows and other products yourself and implement them! In general, you get a pretty good income.