Yes, we have geese at EEC Forest Stewardship! These heritage animals have been settling in since early Fall 2023, and are happily acclimated to their new digs. After hunting turkey last year, and loving the larger bird productivity, I began looking into larger avian options to host at the farm. Turkey were not my first choice of bird, as they are better suited to dry environments- hence living on the east side of the state- not here on the wet west slope of The Cascades. Geese are great in wet weather, but water fowl have not been successful in the past, leaving a wake of mess in our pond, which we could not keep them out of. The Cotton Patch is a terrestrial breed, meaning they don’t need a lot of water for swimming. They were developed to weed cotton patches in the south, adaptable to hot and cold weather, which suits them to Western Washington.
What else makes these geese awesome? They are docile and quiet, which is really not typical for geese- but this breed is so epic for being cultivated as an easy to handle, smaller goose in the bird world. Cotton Patch are also hardy and smart, self directed grazers, and parasite resistant. We’ve been hosting them for a few seasons, and are falling fast for this versatile and (mostly) easy going animal. I say mostly because it’s nesting season for many birds in late spring, and our geese are on the eggs. The female sits almost continuously for around 32 days. Her gander stands guard and really puts on a show of force to any who dare disrupt his lady’s brooding. I’ve got the grain and water right by the door to make the least encroachment; it’s a very sensitive time for an already sensitive animal. The learning journey has been profound, how wonderful to see our breeding pair settled in enough to build a nest and begin incubation.
Water birds are notoriously “bad” parents during the egg stage. Wetness and mug threaten even the most well placed nests. Eggs laid early in the brood period are usually buried during the early stages of nesting and not sat upon consistently enough to ensure viability. To help with the success rate of this rare breed, I gathered the first few eggs, and brought them into the house to keep in a cool, dark place. When the goose took to her nest full time, I put the 4 gathered eggs into the incubator here in the house to hopefully time the hatch with hers so the new chicks can be reintroduced to the nest before the gander can reject them. If this sounds like a lot of work, it could be, but so far, gathering eggs, timing the incubation, and monitoring the incubator is manageable. If I miss the timing on hatched goslings, it might be a long summer.
Geese imprint, and so do most birds. Chickens have the knowledge built in, so you can raise the chicks passively. Goslings need parents to teach them most things, so geese raised by other geese are ideal. If the goslings imprint to you, get ready to be a goose for several months, and watch how hard it is to introduce your human raised geese to other geese. Stay tuned, as there will be updates following the hatch at the end of May 2024. For now, cotton patch geese are nesting here at Leafhopper Farm.
EEC Forest Stewardship 