Last year I bought five Sebastopol goslings and hand raised them myself. It was a spectacular experience. Out of all the babies I’ve had on my farm geese are my favorite to raise myself.
The goslings bonded to me within an hour of picking them up and from then on I was “mom”. They were funny, smart and listened well. They followed me everywhere. Prior to moving them outside in their own pen I kept them in a baby pool inside, away from the cold weather. When they got big enough to escape the pool they would come find me in the house. It made me laugh to see their little heads peek around corners looking for me. As cute as they were, I don’t like having animals in the house for long so I was happy to finally give them their own space outside. Eventually they bonded more to each other but still, to this day, allow me into their space and seem to respect my presence.
This year I decided to let Poppy, my sole female, hatch her eggs and raise the babies herself. Each day she laid an egg I would try to collect it before Luca and bring it inside for safekeeping. She laid 11 eggs. Two of which Luca found before I did.
When I suspected Poppy was ready to settle in and sit on her eggs I made a big nest of fresh straw inside an old dog house. The dog house only has a roof with no sides so she could see 360 degrees around her. I placed the nine remaining eggs in the nest, closed up her pen and watched from afar to see if she would take to the nest. It took almost an hour until I saw her fussing over the nest. She was in the zone, meticulously placing each piece of straw, woven along with soft, white down feathers she plucked from her belly. She continued making a circle around the eggs, building it as high as she could. When she finished her baby making masterpiece she gently rotated each egg then gingerly stepped into the nest. As she dipped her webbed foot into the pile of eggs I could see her shimmy and finally settle in.
Poppy sat and cared for her eggs for a month, rarely leaving the nest. Every day or two she would get up, take a bath and have dinner for a few minutes. During cold snaps she wouldn’t budge from the nest and stayed hunkered down low.
After the first week of sitting she rolled two eggs out of the nest. When I found them they were already cold. Usually this means the eggs weren’t viable or early quitters. With only seven eggs remaining and colder weather coming I was afraid it would be another failed season with no goslings. Waterfowl hatchlings seem to be difficult to hatch sometimes.
After a couple weeks of sitting I noticed her legs becoming paler, dry and weaker. I worried over Poppy the way she worried over her eggs. I started offering her food and water at her nest and she seemed happy for the assistance.
About a week before hatch I noticed Lucian, my Sebastopol gander, went into extreme protective mode and wouldn’t leave Poppy’s side. Prior to this he went onto the property by himself each day. He looked so lonely wandering around without his mate. I had to lock him out of the pen daily to keep the other animals from disturbing Poppy. Every evening I would let him in for dinner. As soon as he finished eating he’d sit near Poppy and sleep for the night.
At first I didn’t notice his new behavior. I made him leave the pen each day and finally noticed he was chasing all the other animals away and seemed to be standing guard around the pen. I could see he and Poppy chatting quietly to each other from their respective places in and outside of the pen.
Three days prior to the first hatchling I finally noticed his overprotective behavior and opened the door to the pen for him. He immediately went to his mate and stayed by her side or paced the perimeter, chasing away random chicken visitors and attacking any goats who had the nerve to come too close. He was like a nervous expectant father waiting on the delivery. This gave me hope.
Two days after the official, expected hatch date nothing seemed to be happening and I was losing hope. Then I saw Lucian walk over to check on Poppy. She lifted her wing and he stuffed his face under her wing. That’s when I heard the sweetest peeping. I went into the pen and she lifted her wing so I could see as well. I was touched she trusted me enough to let me see her little one. There, tucked inside her soft down was a newly hatched, drying gosling.
Lucian took another peek at his baby, a behavior he still did weeks later.
A day later Poppy held fast to her unhatched eggs. Her first gosling, a bouncing baby girl, was already out of the nest exploring with her dad. Lucian could barely keep up with his naughty little offspring and it was giving me anxiety too. This one day old baby was far too independent for both our comforts. I put her back under her mom probably thirty times before I finally gave up. Lucian followed her everywhere and doted on his tiny daughter while still constantly checking on Poppy. The poor guy was being run ragged.
Baby girl seemed justified in her confidence with her daddy as a personal guardian.
Lucian was her constant companion. It was adorable!
After the second gosling hatched Poppy was coaxed off the nest by her mate. Their two kids were a workout for all of us. Herding goslings is a lot like herding cats. They kept their parents very busy and me on the verge of having a heart attack. It turned out my goose pen wasn’t built for holding rubber ducky sized babies and they went in and out at their pleasure. I had no choice but to open the gate for their parents. At least the goslings would have some measure of protection as they explored.
After a couple days the babies started to communicate and listen to their parents (for the most part). I would let them out on supervised excursions around the property for short periods of time. At one point I walked to the pond and the geese followed me with their littles in tow. Luca and I watched closely as the parents tentatively allowed the babies to walk into the water and float around the shoreline. Poppy stayed on the shore and Lucian waded out to shield the babies from the deeper water. He let them paddle around the shallows for a couple minutes then nudged each little bum back to their mom on shore. After that they kept the babies away from the pond which was probably for the best.
For the first couple weeks of their lives I was a constant companion to this goose family and the babies acted as if I were part of them. They would cuddle and sleep with me and never objected to being held. Occasionally I would lose one only to find it under Poppy.
Each morning, after breakfast the babies would snuggle with their mom on the nest and take a morning nap.
Always with Lucian checking on them:
Each evening, after supper they repeated the process.
The babies used their parents as giant pillows:
And I was a warm place to nap as well:
Then I became very ill and barely saw them for almost two weeks – which changed everything. The dynamics of our relationship had been altered by my near-absence and the goslings weren’t so keen to have me around. I was bummed but understood.
Being able to observe this little family has been one of my favorite farm experiences. I had no idea how amazing geese are as parents and continue to enjoy watching the goslings learn about their little farm. xo