Georgie, is the type of goose that gives all geese a bad name. He hisses, pulls out chicken’s feathers, pinches the dogs, and me! It is unfortunate that he has such an ill temper, because on days like this, he does make me laugh with his playfulness.
The gate to the chicken’s run lets chickens in and keeps Georgie out! The item he is playing with is the scoop I use to dispense the scratch grains… Georgie loves chicken scratch. 😉
Tonight, as every night after the sun goes down, I went out to put away the chickens and geese. As it often happens, there is no photo-op to capture the moments that happen at “Duck-butt Thirty” of an evening, and so I am left to tell you what happened tonight in the dark…
As stated, each night after sunset I grab a flashlight and head out to put everyone to bed. I start on the north end of the property and work my way south. First I put away the girls using my torch to light the way into their goose chalet. Lately this has been a battle because for some reason Georgie and Frellnick run opposition and chase the girls away from the entrance and into the paddock. So usually I have to chase them out first, and then guide the girls to bed.
Tonight I had little resistance from them so went about getting the girls in and then walked away to pick up a few things that had blown about in today’s high winds. When I turned around the boys took off and began dashing at, and biting, the side of the well house! I had seen this behavior before but never really caught on to what they were doing. That is until tonight…
They are trying to chase away the big, black geese that are invading their territory! I turned the light away from the walls and then back again to see if I was right in my theory. Well, sure enough! They stretched their necks, and ran at the walls hissing and trying to bite those big black geese again!
So now I am wondering…
Are they seeing their shadows and mistaking them for interlopers? Perhaps this is the reason they have been “chasing” the girls at bedtime? I will have to pay closer attention tomorrow at Duck-butt Thirty and report back in my next post.
😉
I have been taking advantage of all the almost perfect weather (it’s been a bit windy) to do a bit A LOT of gardening. Suddenly I realized that it has been two weeks since my last post!
So, without further adieu,
I share my progress with you!
In no particular order…
Want the weeds to go away? Leave the oak leaves in place! Herbs, roses, and old-fashioned posies all vie for my affection.
I have forgotten this little girls name, but I love her simple pink petaled face.
The geese chewed this one down to the ground, and look! You’d never guess!
Even my chicken yard is sporting roses! They make a nice foil for the ugly storage shack in the neighbor’s yard, don’t you agree?
The native bees were finding these delightful in the morning
Look at all those buds! The Mermaid is going to be stunning for the first time since I planted her! Covered in big, yellow, seven-inch blooms everywhere! She has wicked red thorns…
But the chickens find her shade inviting!
Well, it’s chicken and goose thirty and I need to get busy! I will post more tomorrow…
What’s growing in your garden this spring?
One day my goose Polly honked at me through the back door. She climbed right up the stairs to the mudroom door and honked loudly until I finally went to see her. Then she hopped down and began to walk away! She did this many times.
On this particular day I was cold and I looked out the window to see what was up…
She must have heard my footfalls on the wooden planks as I walked over to the window because when I looked out this is what I saw.
She looked at me as if to say: “Well, I’m waiting, com’on out will ya, I got something to say!”
Well, when she put it that way, I donned my Crazy Chicken Lady attire and went out to see what she wanted.
Seeing me she quickly turned and waddled to the gate by the barn and began to rub herself back and forth along the gate.
She reminded me of the prisoners who rattle their cups along the bars in the old movies. This was a signal I immediately recognized, and so I opened the gate for her.
Quickly she continued on
Waddling as fast as those little flappy feet would take her.
They are quite fast this morning because she is a goose on a mission!
Polly wants to lay an egg!
~*~
I open the kennel fence and she goes over to the bales of straw. Clipping the twine allows a flake to fall to the floor and she immediately begins to tear it apart moving it and arranging it to her liking. While she works I put up a blockade to keep her out of the other side of the barn where she might get herself into trouble.
When I am done I leave and pull the kennel fence shut so the cats and other animals can’t get in to disturb her.
In about a half an hour I return to let her out, but whoopsie! She’s not done…
Laying an egg is strenuous work. She looks at me as if to say, “Hey, a little privacy here! Come back later!”
And a bit later…
There it is!
~*~
An interesting factoid for you: One goose egg is equal to three chicken’s eggs.
One goose egg will make any cake you bake the best you have ever eaten! Now don’t feel too bad that I am taking Polly’s eggs to make cake… You see, her eggs are not fertile this year, because I have no ganders. I thought I had a gander when I got the three baby Hueys, but it turns out they were all girls! (You can read all about the arrival of the Hueys HERE)
Oh, but never fear. I have new baby Pilgrim ganders arriving on April 30th, and next spring it will be as it should be!
~*~
Now, because she is done, and ready to go join her friends, I open the kennel fence and we walk back to the side of the yard where the rest of the geese are eating and swimming. They honk greetings all around and then continue their grazing.
Polly has been telling me when she needs to lay an egg for about a month now. Last week was the first time she came calling at the back door for me.
Strange, smart, amazing goose!
~*~
ADDENDUM: Because so many of you have remarked on Polly’s intelligence, I have added a link to a 2007 article from the Boston Globe entitled,
Eggheads: How bird brains are shaking up science <— Click
This article is on the intelligence of the avian species! They really are quite remarkable in their thinking and reasoning abilities. Far more than we have ever given them credit for.
So, from now on when someone calls you a “birdbrain” you may just take it as a compliment!
Life on the Farmlet 