Geese are large productive birds, the weight of adults reaches 7-8 kg, the goose lays from 15 to 60 or more eggs weighing 150-220 g. From one adult you can get up to 6 kg of meat, 500 g of valuable fat, actively used in medicine and pharmacology, with an extremely low cholesterol content, and with special fattening – delicacy liver weighing up to 700 g. Geese are the only species of poultry from which you can get high-quality feathers and down, which are twice as resistant to wear resistance as chicken. Young gooses grow rapidly, the live weight of goslings increases more than 40 times in the first two months of rearing. Geese make excellent use of pastures, and in their absence, the bird can be fed any greenery. High productivity, unpretentiousness to living conditions, the ability to consume bulky feed with a high level of fiber are valuable qualities for those who decided to breed this bird.

Biological and economic features
Geese have some biological and economic features that distinguish them from other species of poultry:

• the ability to use pastures and consume a significant amount of green succulent feed with a high fiber content;
• Ability for long-term, economically justified use (more than 3 years), with a life expectancy of 20-25 years. A distinctive feature of other poultry species is an increase in egg production in the second and third years compared to the first;
• Young geese have a very high growth energy during the first two months of life. Moreover, in the first month, the growth energy is 200, in the second – 96%, in the third – 17%. This biological feature is used in intensive goose breeding, where broiler goslings are raised for meat up to 9 weeks of age;
• Goose feathers and down are characterized by elasticity, elasticity and strength, low hygroscopicity and thermal conductivity, which makes them valuable raw materials for feather and down production;
• Due to the dense and dense plumage, geese can tolerate a short-term drop in temperature to -25-30 ° C. An increase in temperature above plus 32-34 ° C causes shortness of breath in geese and deterioration of their general condition, so in hot summer they should be kept under sheds or on ponds.

The disadvantages of geese include:

• relatively low fertility and egg production, narrow sex ratio (1:3). If you can get 125-150 chickens from a pair of meat chickens, 50-60 turkeys from a pair of turkeys, then from a pair of geese you can get no more than 30-40 goslings;
• high percentage of fat in the carcass, at the age of three months and older, its content reaches 25-30% due to subcutaneous fat and up to 10% due to internal fat;
• late puberty (240–310 days). Light breeds of geese begin to lay earlier than heavy breeds;
• • Increased tendency to incubation (from 30 to 60% of individuals incubate);
• Egg laying outside the nest (up to 40%).

Breeds and breed groups of geese There are three groups of breeds
: heavy (meat-greasy), medium (decorative) and light (egg). The first includes all modern large breeds – Kholmogory, Emden, Toulouse, Land, large gray. The meat of geese of these breeds contains a significant amount of fat. They also produce fatty livers weighing 600-800 g. The second group includes ribbon or Sevastopol curly geese. Representatives of the third group are Chinese, Kuban, Adler, and Italian.

The Kholmogory rock was bred in the areas of the Central Black Earth Zone. This is the oldest domestic breed of geese with good economic and useful traits. The bird has a strong constitution, is hardy, and acclimatizes well. Young and adult birds have high vitality. With intensive fattening, by the age of 60 days, goslings reach a live weight of about 4 kg with a feed consumption of 3 kg per 1 kg of gain. Geese of the Kholmogory breed are bred everywhere in the central part of the country.

A large gray breed was created in the Tambov region by crossing Romny geese with Toulouse geese. Selection was carried out in the direction of increasing body weight and egg production. The body of geese is deep and wide. The physique is sturdy. The viability of young and adult birds is good. The weight of goslings at the age of 60 days is 3.5-4.0 kg. Geese are excellent incubators and raise goslings, are undemanding to the quality of water, graze well and eat carrion grain. Large grey geese are used as a paternal form when crossed with Pereyaslav, Kuban, Rhine and Chinese geese to produce broiler goslings.

The Kuban breed was bred by the staff of the Department of Poultry Farming of the Kuban State Agricultural University. Poultry of this breed has good adaptation to the climatic conditions of the Krasnodar Territory and high safety in the rearing of young animals (95-97%) and the maintenance of adult livestock. The weight of goslings at the age of 2 months is 3.5-3.7 kg. Kuban geese use pastures well and have a high egg production (up to 95-100 pieces) weighing 150 g.

In goose breeding, it is advisable to use crossbreeding to obtain hybrid crossbreeds. As mother breeds, it is advisable to use Kuban, Chinese, Rhine and Italian geese, which have higher fertility, and as paternal breeds, it is advisable to use large gray, Landsch, Lindovian Toulouse geese, which have a high growth rate.

Content

The room for geese should be clean, dry, well ventilated, without draughts. Draughts and dampness reduce the productivity of poultry. If necessary, the floor is insulated and raised 15-20 cm above ground level. Windows are made at a height of 50 cm from the floor, illumination at floor level should be at least 15 lux. It is necessary to equip the poultry house with heating and ventilation, to provide for the possibility of dividing it, preferably with a mesh partition, into sections. The height of the room along the passage should be at least 2 m, near the walls – at least 1.7 m. The roof should reliably protect the bird from precipitation.
Excessive overcrowding of poultry is unacceptable, the room is quickly polluted, the microclimate is disturbed, intensive reproduction of microflora leads to an increased incidence of geese. In the northern and middle zones of the country, geese are built with the façade to the south so that the sun illuminates the room more, and in the southern zone, where there is an excess of solar radiation, to the southwest or southeast.

Litter has a huge impact on the well-being and health of geese, the condition of which depends on the temperature and humidity of the air. A wide range of materials is used as bedding: sawdust, shavings, straw, sphagnum peat, crushed corn cobs, sunflower or millet husks. The bedding should be dry, clean, hygroscopic, and free of mold. Bedding made of plant material, in addition to its hygienic purpose, insulates the floor. In autumn and winter, warm litter is used – straw, peat; In summer, sand and sawdust. For one adult goose per year, it is necessary to prepare up to 40 kg of bedding material.
It is unacceptable to keep geese on damp litter – in this case, the feather becomes dirty, becomes ruffled and does not retain heat well. In this regard, the productive use of feed deteriorates, the body’s resistance decreases, which leads to colds. It should be remembered that clean plumage protects geese from hypothermia. With the onset of cold weather, before laying deep litter, it is desirable to sprinkle a dry floor with hydrated lime or fluffy lime at the rate of 0.5-1 kg per 1 sq. m of area. Then lay a bedding of small shavings, crushed corn cobs, sawdust, cut straw with a thickness of at least 5 and no more than 15 cm. Deep litter is changed when the batch of geese or the season changes (autumn or spring).

Low temperatures, especially during the breeding season, can drastically reduce the egg production of geese, the temperature should not drop below -4-5°C. Lower temperatures can lead to a decrease in egg hatchability due to freezing.

In order for geese to get used to laying eggs in a designated place, nests are installed along the wall indoors, no later than a month before the start of egg-laying, at the rate of one nest per 2-3 geese. If there is a shortage of them, geese can lay in secluded places. The same bedding is used in the nests as in the goose coop. Since geese lay in the morning, in order to avoid contamination of the eggs, bedding should be poured into the nests in the evening. It is not recommended to place nests close to cold walls and in places with bright direct lighting. The internal dimensions of the nests are as follows: width – 0.4-0.5 m, length – 0.65 m, height – 0.6-0.65 m, nut height – 0.01 m.

Feeders for geese are made in such a way as to avoid large losses of feed. They should be light and comfortable. They can be made from boards, plywood, or other materials. There should be enough feeders to avoid crushing the geese during feeding. For mineral supplements, feeders with several compartments are used: for gravel, lime, shells. Feeders are hung at a height of 20 cm from the floor. Nursery-type feeders are made for feeding the green mass. All inventory should be kept clean at all times.

Troughs, buckets or other containers are used for drinking bowls for adult geese. To avoid splashing water, the drinkers are placed on baking trays covered with metal or wooden mesh. In winter, to prevent the water from freezing, the drinking bowl is insulated or hot water is periodically poured into it. Insufficient amount of water, especially in hot weather, leads to mass diseases of poultry.

The enclosure is installed on the south side of the building, it should have canopies from the sun and rain. A suitable container is adapted for bathing geese, periodically adding water to it to a constant level. The area for one bird should be at least 1 sq. m – for goslings,
5 sq. m – for young animals, 15 sq. m – for adults. With excessive overcrowding of poultry, the room quickly becomes dirty, the air regime deteriorates, which can cause a mass disease of geese. But at the same time, the rate of planting density also depends on climatic conditions. In the southern regions, where the bird spends almost the whole day on the paddocks, the stocking density can be increased to 2.5 heads per 1 square meter of the floor area of the poultry house.

For the warm season, you can equip mobile houses of a lightweight type for keeping 15-50 geese. The frame of such a house is made of bars or a corner, the walls are sheathed with board or plywood, the floor is laid with wood, the roof is covered with plywood or boards. A very simple summer poultry house can be made of mesh, roofing material and film. The frame is made of bars or boards, a mesh is fixed on it, and a roofing material or film is strengthened on top of the mesh. The roof is made of slats, with a gap between them of about 0.3 m, covered with roofing material or film. The dimensions of the house for 15 geese are 2.5 x 2.5 m, the roof is single-pitched, the height along the façade is 2.1 m, at the back wall – at least 1.4 m. The semi-open summer poultry house is built in the same way as the previous one, only the façade is covered with boards to a height of about 0.6 and from the floor, and above – with a fine-mesh mesh. In summer, such a poultry house is much more convenient, since the geese are in the fresh air all the time.

Molting has a significant impact on the physiological state of the bird. Day-old goslings are covered with down. At the age of 3 weeks, the down of goslings begins to be replaced by the primary feather, and at the age of 10 weeks, juvenile molting occurs. At this time, the growth rate of young animals decreases, the feed consumption per unit of growth increases. The rudiments of new hemp feathers formed on the body of the bird are difficult to remove from the carcass during processing, so it is advisable to kill goslings for meat before the beginning of the juvenile molt or after its end. By the age of 4 months, young geese are completely covered with the feathers of an adult bird, after which the geese molt 2 times annually – in summer and autumn. At the end of the spring breeding season in May-June, egg production stops, the intensity of spermatogenesis in gander decreases, and their body weight decreases by 20-30%. Geese have a summer molt, during which, in about 2 months, the entire plumage is completely replaced. However, 3 weeks after the end of the first molt in early autumn, geese molt for the second time, with not all the plumage changing, but only the small and medium feathers.

250-300 g of feathers are removed from the carcass of one goose, including 50-60 g of down. The feathers and down of geese are considered to be the warmest and best. It is preferable to breed geese with white plumage, since gray goose feathers are estimated to be 20-30% cheaper than white ones. To increase the collection of goose feathers and down, it is possible to carry out two (during the warm season) lifetime plucking of geese, and in the southern regions, the 3rd timely and correct partial plucking of geese allows you to increase the yield of small feathers and down by almost 2 times. In many countries with developed poultry farming, feathers are plucked twice a year, taking into account the time of natural molting, the age of the bird, and the physiological state. Skillful plucking does not hurt geese. At the same time, only down and small body coverts are plucked from geese.

Reproduction

Geese have a clearly expressed desire to create stable family pairs, so the distribution of gander is made before the beginning of the breeding season on the basis of one gander – 3-4 geese. The load on young gander is reduced. The duration of use of geese in a flock depends on the breed and the number of eggs laid. Breeds with low egg production and preserved instinct to incubate eggs are fertile for 5-6 years. Geese with high egg production and heavy breeds are fertile for 3-4 years. The lifespan of good, proven gander can increase to 10-12 years.

A good gander has two small feathers (scissors) and ten flight feathers of the first and second order on the wing, the same number of tail feathers on the tail should be the same. The yield of young animals largely depends on the sexual activity of the ganders. Active at the beginning of the breeding season (from February to June), the gander remain active until its end. Moreover, the sexual activity of gander may increase in the second and third years, which should be taken into account.

It is important to avoid inbreeding in order to avoid degeneration of the herd due to inbreeding. Where purebred breeding is not used, when crossed, it is possible to obtain hybrid young stock with well-expressed economically useful traits.

Those who want to keep two or more nest families in their household should know that it is desirable to place families in different sheds and paddocks, otherwise the ganders may fight. During the breeding season, ganders can remain hungry for several days, guarding their females from other ganders.

Egg production of geese is from 10 to 50 eggs per year. Basically, geese of light breeds reach sexual maturity from the age of 6 months, heavy breeds are ready for breeding only from the age of 9 months. The weight of a goose egg ranges from 150 to 190g (170g on average). Intensive egg production lasts 3.5-9 months. The duration of incubation of goose eggs is 28-30 days.

The fertility of geese is influenced by: air temperature, the sequence of day and night, the length of daylight hours. Light stimulates: the growth and development of birds, the onset of puberty, molting, the beginning of egg production, and has an impact on the end of egg production.
Long daylight hours accelerate the sexual maturation of birds, negatively affect the quality of shells and the weight of eggs. A sharp reduction in daylight hours causes premature molting and cessation of egg production.

In addition, during the breeding period, spermatogenesis in gander usually begins 1-2 weeks later than egg production in geese, so the first eggs, as a rule, remain unfertilized. The increase in the length of daylight from 8 to 14 hours, which began about 7-10 days before the start of egg production, accelerates the preparation of the gander for the beginning of the breeding season.

Under normal conditions, in natural light, geese begin to lay in late February or early March. If necessary, you can shift the start of egg-laying to the end of January – the beginning of February, if in January you create an optimal microclimate in the goose coop, i.e. maintain a positive temperature in the room and increase the daylight hours to 14 hours, using artificial lighting. This regime should be maintained until the natural daylight hours are equal to 14 hours. In some cases, the geese are induced to have a second, autumn egg-laying cycle, which allows them to increase their fertility by about 2 times.

Geese lay every other day, so even the worst bird will lay for at least a month. So, if you plan to get chicks, then you need to focus on 30-40 days. It is necessary to remove eggs from the nests in time, put them in boxes in a single layer, preferably on shavings or sawdust. It is better to mark the eggs collected from the nests – from which goose and the date of laying. It is better to store eggs in a cardboard box at a temperature of 7-13°C, turning the box on its side in the same direction every day. With this storage, the embryos in the eggs remain alive longer.
How many eggs will it take? As much as the goose can heat, usually 11-13 pcs. Put more under large geese, less under small ones. It is important that the hen covers the eggs well.

Now the main question is: how do you get a goose to incubate eggs, especially if the hen herself is from an incubator? The ambient temperature should rise – this is a signal for incubation. In the goose coop, you need to turn on the heater, increase the air temperature, at least slightly. When the geese are settled, the heater can be turned off.

Another important detail: goose nests must be arranged immediately once and for all, that is, where the geese lay, there they should incubate. Old litter must be burned along with the parasites. Pour a new bedding into the nest, do not forget to add wormwood, put a large goose feather on top of the nest. When all the geese sit on the nests, let them sit for 2-3 days. For incubation, it is necessary that there are at least two or three eggs in the nest. These can be low-quality eggs – irregularly shaped, with a bad shell, old, etc.

An increase in air temperature, as well as eggs already lying in the nest, will contribute to the fact that the goose will stay in the box a little longer after laying the egg. The eggs lying in the nest irritate the receptors on the goose’s abdomen, which, in turn, awakens the incubation reflex. If you create these conditions in the poultry house, the result will not be long in coming. When the geese sit down, that is, sit tightly on those 2-3 eggs, they can be replaced with high-quality eggs stored in cardboard boxes. From this moment, the calculation of incubation time begins. It is better to put eggs in the evening, 13-15 eggs under each goose, depending on the temperature outside and indoors, the size of the geese and eggs, but so that the goose completely covers the laid eggs with its body.

When incubating, the goose should have free access to water and food in the paddock or barn. During feeding, the nest is inspected, crushed eggs are removed. After cleaning the nest and eggs, when launching the goose, we make sure that they do not sit in other people’s nests. To increase the yield of goslings, it is better to put eggs under the goose-hen no later than 10-12 days after their laying, optimally – 5-7.

Some try to make sure that all the geese sit down to incubate at the same time. This makes it possible to get broods of geese of the same age, which begin to lead goslings in a common flock. Others prefer to form nests with hens as eggs accumulate, thus increasing the total number of eggs hatched and eggs suitable for incubation in terms of shelf life, in particular.

If a young goose sat down to incubate, and then its instinct faded and it abandoned the nest, do not rush to cull it. Next year, perhaps, it will be a good hen, and the geese lay 15-20% more eggs in the second year than the young ones. The “talent” of incubation in geese is inherited. So, having identified even one good hen, you can always increase their number, leaving the daughters of this goose to the tribe. And good hens, with proper care, will serve you faithfully for several years.

If 7 days before hatching the eggs are placed in a basin with hot water (35-40°C) so that they float freely, then the eggs with live goslings begin to swing after a while. Selected live eggs are placed equally under the geese. On the 28th day, some recommend sprinkling the eggs with water. In geese of light breeds, pecking begins on the 27th day of incubation, in large breeds – on the 28th – 29th, and on the 30th – 31st day – full brood.

If it is cold indoors, the incubation time can increase to 30 days, it happens that biting and hatching begin only on the 31st day. Ambient temperature plays a very important role in the life of a bird.

Now you need to decide whether you will take the goslings into the house or leave them under the mother.
If the hen is heavy and clumsy, and the chicks are hatched unfriendly, that is, some have already dried out, lead an active lifestyle for the whole day, and several eggs are still lying under the bird, then, first of all, it is necessary to make sure that under the shell there are live chicks, having lowered the remaining eggs into the water, they should move, behave as if alive. Hatched goslings, after they dry out, it is better to take them into the house. The activity of the hatched chicks makes the goose rise above the nest so as not to crush the babies, and those that are still in the eggs are certainly cooled and can die altogether. It is better to keep the chicks warm, in a cardboard box, where the temperature is about 30 ° C and wait for the rest to hatch. Weak goslings are placed in a heated box, where the temperature is maintained at 35 ° C. Strong goslings are equally placed under the wings of geese at night. Goslings cannot be kept apart from their mothers for a long time – having got used to humans, they do not approach geese. They let goslings near the geese, watching the behavior of the mothers. Until nightfall, the goslings will get used to it and distribute themselves among the geese. If there are a lot of them under one of them, select several goslings and place them under the wings of other geese. In the future, it will be a friendly herd guarded by all geese and ganders.

Well, if your hen behaves carefully and skillfully in the nest, then there is no need to worry – not a single chick will be forgotten or hushed up by the mother. At this time, you will only have to make sure that the goslings can freely leave the nest and come back. To do this, you need to organize an accessible exit and entrance to the nest for them. Within sight of the brood, not far from the nest, it is necessary to place a drinking bowl and a small tray with food for the babies, grain and a bucket of water for their mother. Bucket – so that the goslings cannot get into a container with water and drown in it.
A good goose keeps a close eye on the children, warms them up in time after meals, calling them to the nest. The nest should be left for a week, then removed, and a large armful of dry straw should be thrown in its place. The brood will be placed on clean litter with great pleasure. If it is already warm outside, then the goslings with their mother can be let out on the grass as soon as they are confident on their feet. If there are several geese, then you can drive them out to a common pasture only after the mother and children remember each other well. Because sometimes goslings can inadvertently climb to warm up under someone else’s mother. Some geese sometimes behave very aggressively towards other people’s chicks, they can even injure small goslings.

Goslings have a high growth rate, and grow especially quickly in the first month of life. If at the daily age the live weight of goslings is 100-120 g, then at the age of 30 days – more than 2 kg. For 60-70 days of rearing, goslings with good feeding and maintenance increase their initial live weight by 35-40 times, reaching 4-4.5 kg.

There are two opposing views on where the gander should be. Some people believe that during incubation and hatching of baby ganders, it is better not to let the geese approach. In calm, warm, sunny weather, the young with their mothers are let out on the lawn to “sunbathe” in the sun and let the gander approach, watching how it behaves. Others do not move the gander to another place when the geese are sitting on the eggs, believing that it never bothers them and is very sentimental. Hearing the squeaking of the chicks, he comes to the nest, sticks his head inside, is interested, never offends the goslings. It is very happy when the goose begins to leave the nest with the goslings.

The live weight of geese has high genetic variability, that is, it is well inherited. A goose breeder, if desired, can quite successfully increase the live weight of the geese he breeds by selecting large eggs for incubation and leaving large geese for the tribe. Large day-old goslings will be hatched from large eggs, from which large young geese will grow. If a goose breeder completes a breeding herd with them, they will lay large eggs, and so on. As a result, the live weight of bred geese will increase rapidly. However, it should be borne in mind that at the same time in this flock the fertility of the bird will be adequately reduced: egg production, fertilization and hatchability of eggs. This is due to the presence of an inverse biological relationship between the live weight of the bird and its fertility: egg production, fertilization and hatchability of eggs, therefore, when breeding geese, the poultry farmer should choose the optimal live weight of the bred poultry, which does not prevent the manifestation of high fertility, and complete the parent flock with young individuals of the appropriate size. It is equally important to leave individuals for the tribe from geese with high egg production and gander with high sexual activity.

All geese eggs are used to produce goslings, so their fertilization and hatchability should be maintained at a high level by all means. In order to obtain complete hatching eggs, geese should be fed nutrient-balanced diets, especially protein and vitamins.

Feeding features

Goose is a grazing, herbivorous bird. Geese willingly consume large amounts of fresh grass, and pasture serves as the cheapest source of food. The use of pastures and reservoirs has a positive effect on the general condition of the geese’s body. They are able to eat up to 2 kg of green mass per day. Adult geese are released into the pasture immediately after the end of egg-laying. For grazing geese, you can use flood and dry meadows, ravines. Where it is not possible to let geese out to pasture, they are kept in pens.

There are three ways to feed geese: dry, wet and combined.

With the dry type of feeding, the poultry receives dry or granulated feed, consisting of mixed feed or grain mixtures. This method of feeding requires full provision of the diet and enrichment of the feed mixture with vitamin and mineral additives. Its daily rate can be set once – in the morning through bunker automatic feeders, without fear of spoilage. In the wet feeding method, the crushed concentrated feed is moistened with water, dairy processing, liquid food residues, kitchen waste, chopped juicy food, meat and fish washes. Moistened feeds (mashes) are easily susceptible to souring in the summer and freezing in the winter. Therefore, they are placed in feeders just before feeding. With the combined method, the ration consists of both dry and wet food, while dry food can be in separate feeders permanently, wet food is distributed once or twice a day.

Compound feed is a complex homogeneous mixture of various feed products and microadditives cleaned and crushed to the required size, which provides complete feeding of poultry.
Complete compound feeds (PC) are produced in loose and granulated form, mixed feeds-concentrates and mixed feed semolina. PK is a mixture that fully provides poultry with energy, nutrients and biologically active substances without additional feeding of other feeds and microadditives (Table 1).

Granulated feed does not stratify during transportation and distribution, poultry does not have the opportunity to choose individual particles of mixed feed, the balance of feeding is not disturbed, its mechanical losses due to scattering and dust are reduced. Granules better preserve biologically active substances, especially carotene and vitamins; In the process of granulation, due to pressure and temperature, the digestibility of nutrients increases and some inhibitors (substances that reduce digestibility) of protein are destroyed.
Compound feeds are enriched with micro-additives – premixes.

Cereal fodder occupies the main part of the diet of geese only during intensive fattening. Corn, wheat, barley, oats, millet, sorghum, chumisa, rye, buckwheat cereal waste and grain waste are used in backyard poultry farming (Table 1).

Geese absorb the nutrients of green, juicy and roughage well, due to which their needs are satisfied. During the day, the goose is able to eat a large amount of greens, which satisfy a significant part of its body’s needs for nutrients and vitamins. In late autumn, winter and early spring, geese are given up to 300 g of good hay meal per day. It is well digested, which has a beneficial effect on the content of vitamins in eggs and on the quality of day-old goslings. Grazing geese on green pastures allows you to reduce the consumption of concentrated feed per unit of gain by 2 times, reduce labor costs and the cost of meat. Bulky feeds such as crushed corn cobs, millet or oat mash, 200 g per head, can also be actively used. The consumption of dry roughage by geese is best and greater if it is flavored with concentrated feed with the addition of sugar beet and boiled potatoes. Geese digest the fiber of barley, oats, and peas well. Since high-fiber feeds tend to be cheaper, this reduces feeding costs and the cost of poultry meat. In the muscular stomach of geese, there is a mechanical grinding of this large volume of food. This is possible if there are small pebbles in the stomach, which can be up to 30 at a time. Further, in the cecum, as a result of the activity of various microorganisms, mainly the parts of plants rich in fiber are broken down. The absorption of fiber from the feed in geese is in the range of 45-55%, which is significantly higher than in other types of poultry.

From juicy and green fodder, poultry is fed silage, carrots, pumpkins, sugar beets, potatoes, cabbage, legumes, cereal grasses and forbs. Roughage (hay, grass dust and flour, tree leaves), as well as green fodder, is rich in vitamins. Their daily intake depends on the species and age of the bird.

Freshly mowed green mass is fed to geese from separate feeders, and crushed – added to the mash in the amount of 40-50% of the diet. Geese pay attention to the color and smell of the food. They are more favorable to the green color of the food, they eat well plants with persistent leaf plates: horsetail and carrot tops, from aquatic plants – duckweed. As for cereals, they like wheatgrass, meadow bluegrass, young oats and rye; legumes – alfalfa and clover.
Geese have very sharp eyesight, so they can eat food even in the dark. At night, and especially at dawn, they are able to consume more feed than during the daytime, so goose breeders leave food in feeders overnight, which is very important, especially during the breeding season.

Table 1. Composition of compound feed for geese

Components

Complete Compound Feed

Compound feed with low protein content

Maize

40

43

Wheat

20

20

Barley

7

9

Oats or millet

3

–

Sunflower meal

10

7

Fodder yeast

2

4

Wheat bran

2

2

Fish meal

3

2

Meat and bone meal

1

–

Herbal flour

4

4

Shell flour

3,5

4,5

Chalk

3

3

Salt

0,5

0,5

Vitamin preparations

1

1

Total:

100

100

Table 2. Approximate norms of geese need for feed (g per head per day)

Stern

Cold Period

Warm period

Grain

50

–

Whole peas

50

40

Wheat bran

50

50

Crushed peas

100

100

Grass meal, haylage, silage

500

–

Beets, carrots, potatoes

500

–

Greens

–

1500

Shell, chalk, limestone

15

10

Salt

2

3

Geese prefer sweet food. The concentration of carbohydrates is also important. By rejecting fructose concentrations of 1.5 and 3 percent, they do not reject 10 and 20 percent solutions. With a low calorie intake, poultry absorbs sweetened feed more appetizingly.
Spent grains are fed to geese at a rate of 30-35 g per day. Dry, baker’s and brewer’s yeast can be introduced into the diet of young animals from the fifth day of life. Dry beet pulp can be given in an amount of up to 10% of the weight of concentrated feed.

From animal feed, meat, meat and bone, fish and blood meal, milk powder, buttermilk and buttermilk, fish and scrap meat, fresh blood, animal technical fat are used. Dry food of animal origin should not exceed 7% of the volume of mixed feed.

Depending on the adopted method of feeding, the appropriate preparation of feed is carried out, which makes them more available for eating, improves digestibility and digestibility.

Root tubers are cleaned of dirt, washed and crushed before feeding. Part of the grain feed is also crushed. When grain is crushed, its nutrients become more available for digestion and use by increasing the contact of their surface with the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and juices. In addition, the components of the diet mix better with each other.

The degree of grinding depends on the species and age of the bird. The following grinding fractions are distinguished: fine grinding – 0.2 mm, medium – 1 1.8 mm, coarse – 1.8-2.8 mm. Finely ground feed passes quickly through the digestive tract of the bird and is therefore less digestible.

It is desirable to give coarse (medium) grinding fractions to adult birds, medium (fine) grinding fractions to young birds. Green and juicy fodder is crushed to fractions of 2.5-3 mm.

Other methods of preparing feed for feeding include heat treatment, yeast and germination.

Moisture and heat treatment. In order to replenish the protein balance of the diet, waste after slaughter, meat of culled animals is often used in poultry feed. As a rule, they are fed boiled in combination with wet mashes. The turf of leguminous crops is subjected to heat treatment by steaming, which increases the use of feed protein.
Grain affected by fungi or mold also requires heat treatment. Treatment lasts for 2 hours.
Do not cook or steam feed mixtures enriched with vitamins, trace elements or other biologically active substances.

Feed yeast increases the biochemical value of proteins, enriches them with B vitamins, improves their taste, increases appetite and helps to increase the productivity of geese. Baker’s yeast is diluted in water heated to 30-35°C: 10-20 g per 1 kg of mealy feed. The prepared solution is poured into a container at the rate of 1-1.5 liters per 1 kg of feed. Yeast is better in the presence of sugary feed (corn turf, sugar beet). The fodder mass is stirred every 2 hours, maintained at a temperature of 24-25°C. After 6-8 hours, under optimal yeast conditions, the mass is ready for feeding. It is forbidden to yeast compound feed, cake, meal, pea turf, meat and bone meal, blood meal and fish meal.

Germination of grain. This method increases the content of B vitamins and vitamin E in the grain. Grains of wheat, barley, oats, millet are used, which have retained good germination. The grain is soaked in a waterproof container and left for a day, after which it is poured into boxes in a layer of 30-40 cm. The temperature in the grain layer is maintained within 22-25 ° C. When sprouts appear to the size of the germinated grain (and this happens on the second or third day), the grain is fed. For uninterrupted germination, it is necessary to have 2-3 boxes.

Geese of the parent flock are fed to their heart’s content about a month before the breeding season and during the breeding period, without fear of obesity (they provide free access to feed). Geese will grow fat and lay unfertilized or low-quality eggs if they are fed only grain feed and kitchen waste.

To get a full-fledged egg from geese, in addition to grain feed, a significant amount of good meadow hay, dust, dried young nettles, silage and root tubers (potatoes, beets, carrots, rutabagas, turnips, pumpkins) should be added to their diet. If the hay is large, then it is chopped, steamed with hot water, sprinkled with bran or other concentrated feed. During this period, a decrease in the live weight of geese should not be allowed, since with good fatness, there is usually a high egg production. In the event of a decrease in live weight, it is necessary to improve feeding. One adult goose should be fed 400 g of feed in terms of mixed feed, and at least 600 g of various feeds in volume.
Ganders, whose live weight decreases in the productive period, in addition to the general diet received together with geese, are introduced additional feeding, the following composition (per head per day, g): sprouted grain – 100, grated carrots – 50, protein feed of animal origin – 10. From animal feed, you can feed reverse, sour milk, cottage cheese. The feeding procedure is as follows: the goose is let out for a walk in the morning, and the gander (the head or wing is painted with paint) is left indoors and fed.

The addition of gravel to the poultry diet increases the digestibility of feed by 10-15%. It should be kept in the feeders at all times.

It should always be borne in mind that feed affects the organoleptic characteristics of poultry meat. When fed to geese with carrots, alfalfa flour, corn, nettle and red pepper, a pleasant yellowish color of meat, skin and fat is obtained; When fed with barley, oats and soybean meal, white meat.
The high content of corn in the diet creates soft fat, while barley creates hard fat. In order to obtain good quality fat and meat, these two types of feed should be given in the correct proportion.
Feeding fish gives poultry meat an unpleasant fishy taste. Therefore, this type of feed is excluded from the diet two weeks before slaughter.
A typical bird-like taste of meat can be obtained by feeding poultry grains without additives.
Before slaughter, in the last week of life, geese are fed 50-60 g of crushed corn, which improves the presentation of the carcass.

Approximately, for the winter time, you need to prepare up to 35 kg of juicy fodder and 10-15 kg of hay for a goose. In addition, it is good to have up to 30 kg of sugar beets. Of the juicy fodder, mainly carrots are stored. These two types of feed fully provide the bird with vitamins. Forbs, alfalfa or clover are used for hay. They are dried in the shade or in the attic, crushed or hung at a height accessible to the bird before use.

Backyard poultry farming is of no small importance in providing the population with full-fledged organic food. Physiological features of poultry make it possible to keep poultry seasonally in the absence of appropriate resources, in fact, to fatten young animals purchased on poultry farms in the spring-autumn period. Breeding goose farms improve the productive and breeding qualities of existing and develop new highly productive breeds, lines and crosses, contribute to the organization of the production of hybrid geese and their full provision of the needs of goose-breeding collective farms and state farms, as well as household farms. In conditions of year-round keeping, especially in the presence of pastures and reservoirs and the possibility of organizing walking, goose breeding can become an essential part of the household economy with a high level of profitability.

Geese have always been held in high esteem in Russia. Geese have earned popularity among the population for their unpretentiousness to the conditions of feeding and keeping, meat precociousness, and the variety of products obtained from them.