2005apr06. The geese and ducks have arrived. The ducks are only staying the night, then the 4-H Club gets ’em. Unfortunately one of the geese was sort of crammed upside-down in a corner of the mail package and may or may not have spraddle legs. Because it’s the runt of the group, it gets picked on the most, so we’ve been occasionally putting it in its own little heated area when the pack is active. No matter what I do to prevent them from getting their feet in the feed and water, they somehow manage it, but it’s mostly the ducks. It’s not that they’re clumsy, they just want the best angle of attack and that’s to have the food or water directly under them. I raised the waterer with some AOL mailers so they could only use their heads to get to the water, but now they’re using the corners of the mailers to jump into the water. Frickin’ AOL ... I tried building a feeder with an adjustable smaller food access “hole” but now I’m not sure the bigger geese can get their heads in it.
There’s one goose that is clearly the most inquisitive and best-fed of the lot, it follows you (or really, your head) as you move about above the pen whereas the other ones are mostly sleep-food-water-run around-repeat. Tonight they get a playpen because the pen I’ve constructed for them has walls that will be easily jumped after they grow another few inches. They’re all mostly little acrobats, if they find the opportunity.