My two-and-a-half week old goslings are doing so well - eating, drinking, and enjoying all the sights and sounds of their new surroundings.
The six goslings are now down at the coops where they can be closely monitored until they are all big enough to join the other waterfowl. If you follow me on Instagram @MarthaStewart48, you may have already caught glimpses of them. As many of you know, I’ve had Pomeranian guard geese for many years. They keep watch over my chickens. I also have Sebastopol geese, Toulouse geese, and Brown African geese. They all get along extremely well and can always be found near each other in the coop.
Enjoy these photos and have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend.
The poultry complex down by my vegetable gardens includes four large coops and various hutches – all completely fenced and netted for the utmost protection. I keep my chickens, guinea hens and my geese down in this area.
These adorable goslings were hatched right in my kitchen and then housed in my Winter House for almost two weeks. Now they are in a brooder in one of the coops – half of the coop is sectioned off just for these babies until they are old enough and big enough to go outdoors and mingle with the others.
These goslings are very healthy and very curious – they love huddling near the entrance and watching all the activity outside.
Because they’ve been well socialized with humans since they hatched, they love visitors and are always eager to say hello.
At this stage, goslings need a safe place to sleep that is dry, but not droughty. Goslings also need to be kept warm for the first few weeks, until they have sufficient feathers to help maintain and regulate their body temperatures.
Geese are flock birds. They like the company and will always stay together in their group – this group will be great friends.
They have lots of fresh drinking water in their brooder – it is changed several times a day.
Goslings will eat starter food for several weeks. Afterward, they will get a pelleted growing food along with cracked corn and other grains.
It was hard to keep these babies from the camera – they wanted to peck at it.
Look closely, this gosling has bright, clean eyes – a sign of good health in a bird. Geese have a flattened beak covered with a thin skin and a horny plate at its end. The bill is tapered toward the tip to help in grasping grass.
Geese spend most of their time on the ground. Their legs are adapted to walk longer than other birds. They usually concentrate on areas of grain or forage. They are also equipped with webbed legs which are positioned farther forward than in swans and ducks, allowing them to walk readily, and to swim efficiently.
Here are two walking around the enclosure – always traveling with a friend.
These youngsters cannot fly yet, but they usually start to flutter their wings and go short distances at around two or three months of age.
Dawa, who oversees all the outdoor birds, checks on the babies several times a day. These birds are getting lots of attention.
Geese grow much more quickly than chicks and peachicks, so it won’t be long before the goslings outgrow this enclosure and move into another area with access to the outdoors.
On the other side of the complex are the parents, keeping watch over all the chickens. Do you know… a goose is actually the term for female geese, male geese are called ganders. A group of geese on land or in water is a gaggle, while in the air they are called a skein, a team or a wedge.
These are two of my Sebastopol geese. The Sebastopol goose originated in southeastern Europe and is named after the Russian city. Their plumage on the head and upper two-thirds of the neck is smooth, and the feathers on the breast and underbody are elongated and well-curled.
This is my pair of Brown African Geese – a breed of domestic goose derived from the wild swan goose. The African goose is a massive bird. Its heavy body, thick neck, stout bill, and jaunty posture give the impression of strength and vitality.
The tan goose is one of my two Toulouse geese I got from the Northeastern Poultry Congress. The Toulouse is a French breed of large domestic goose, originally from the area of Toulouse in southwestern France. Look closely and you can see that this goose breed has a dewlap – a longitudinal flap of skin that hangs beneath the lower jaw or neck.
This Sebastopol and Pomeranian are sounding off their “alarms” to let all the others know visitors have arrived.
And here are my two Pomeranian guard geese. Thanks to their loud honks, geese make excellent guardians for my many chickens. They can scare off many predators that otherwise would bother the hens. They are also known to be great at spotting aerial predators, such as hawks. All my geese do a great job. Keep following me on Instagram – I will share more videos of my growing gaggle.
Here in Bedford, New York, we’re expecting rain throughout today with temperatures in the high 50s - good weather for all the recent seeding we’ve done in the paddocks and hayfields.
When I moved to this farm, I designated three separate areas as hayfields and planted them with a mixture of timothy, orchard grass, Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, and clovers - all great for producing quality hay. These fields are also well-maintained. The same areas are regularly treated with agricultural lime to correct any acidity of the soil, eradicate any noxious weeds, and raise the overall health of the land. And, most recently, the fields were aerated and over-seeded by field-expert and farmer, Alan Keeley.
Enjoy these photos.
This is one of three large fields at my farm – I specifically wanted to use these fields to produce good, natural hay for my five Friesians, Fell Pony and five miniature donkeys.
Before aerating or seeding can begin, the fields are cleared of any leaves leftover from last fall. Here’s Dawa blowing the leaves and debris with one of our new STIHL backpack blowers. This blower is powerful and fuel-efficient. The gasoline-powered engines provide enough rugged power to tackle heavy debris while delivering much lower emissions. I have been using STIHL’s dependable equipment for years.
For the hayfields, I chose a seed mix that includes 85-percent orchard grass and fescue, and 80-percent timothy hay. These grasses make a higher quality hay product.
Alan is a very experienced and knowledgeable farmer. He brought his own tractor and aerating and seeding equipment for this job.
This machine is called an AERA-Vator. It comes in 40-inch, 60-inch, and 80-inch widths, with or without a seed-box or hopper.
The AERA-Vator allows one to aerate and seed at the same time which increases the odds of germination.
This hopper holds about 400-pounds of grass seed. Alan can go around the fields multiple times before having to refill. Alan makes periodic stops to recheck the seed supply. The hopper can be adjusted to drop more or less seed depending on the field’s needs.
These are the seed tubes. The grass goes through the tubes and onto the surface as the machine aerates the field.
On this side of the AERA-Vator are the vibrating tines that loosen and penetrate the soil, with nine holes per square foot. As the AERA-Vator runs over the field, these finger-like tines push into the soil making the holes.
On the other side, the rotary bar helps vibrate the tines to break up the soil and loosen the roots. This helps to push the seeds into the soil, and increase water absorption.
The tires of Alan’s tractor are specifically designed for agricultural use. The extra-large tread pattern allows the vehicle to stay above the soil without getting stuck, especially in moist patches.
Alan takes the AERA-Vator through different turf conditions. Some areas are wetter than others.
Here is what is left after the AERA-Vator goes over the grass. Here, one can see the holes left behind by the vibrating tines. Look closely and you may even see a couple of grass seeds.
Alan goes up and down the field from north to south.
And overlaps his passes, so he doesn’t miss any areas. Aerating also greatly increases oxygen to the hay roots and provides better air circulation.
Here he comes again after another pass. The tractor will make many passes up and down the field before it is finished.
And here is a wider view of the area that has been aerated and seeded – it is easier to see here, where Alan has gone.
The best day to do this is when there is little to no wind, so the application can be done as evenly as possible. The weeping willows look so beautiful in the distance.
Alan also covers the back hayfields.
Here he comes around for another pass.
And he also does the paddocks. For the paddocks, in addition to orchard-grass seeds and timothy hayseeds, ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass seeds are increased for better summer grazing.
I checked in with Alan while out for a ride on Rinze, one of my handsome Friesians. I am looking forward to seeing how the fields look come summer.
The vegetable garden here at my Bedford, New York farm is almost ready for planting.
Having a really good vegetable garden where I can grow lots of fresh, delicious and nutritious produce is extremely important to me. I share the vegetables with my daughter, my grandchildren, as well as other relatives and friends. Every year, we spend a lot of time preparing the soil for planting - tilling the earth, adding natural fertilizers and building raised, well-aerated beds. Yesterday, I was out in the garden to check on its progress.
Here’s a video I did explaining this year’s garden layout - please enjoy it and the photos that follow.
Building up the soil is the most important part of preparing a garden for growing vegetables and flowers. Deep, organically rich soil will encourage and support the growth of healthy root systems. This is one side of the vegetable garden where we are building small, manageable rectangular beds.
Ryan uses wooden markers and jute twine to tie from one side of the garden to the other – the twine will mark the raised beds so they are all aligned perfectly.
Our beds are done differently every season to practice succession planting and to improve the overall growing room for the vegetables.
Here, one can see the twine stretched lengthwise as well as widthwise.
Using a simple spade and the twine as a guide, Phurba begins to create the raised beds. At one end, he removes some of the soil to create the footpath separating the sections.
The footpaths in between each bed are only as wide as the spade.
Here is another view showing another area where the footpaths surrounding each bed are more pronounced.
In all, this side alone will have 50 beds – it takes time to build them perfectly.
Phurba works lengthwise from one end to the other and then creates the cross paths.
I have three hose bibs in this garden – one on each end and one in the middle. Phurba places stone pavers down in front of each one making sure they are also straight and in perfect alignment with the twine.
Here is the main footpath between the two sides. This aisle is also measured and lined with jute twine.
We’ve worked hard to prepare this soil. Before any planting begins, we amend the soil, till the earth twice and then begin making the beds – it is a big process.
If building a new vegetable garden, test the soil to gain more knowledge of its pH, phosphorous, lime, potassium, soluble salts, and soil texture. Soil testing kits are available at garden centers, or through a local cooperative extension.
Next, Phurba rakes the soil on top of each raised bed until it is level. Raised beds warm more quickly in springtime and maintain better aeration and drainage.
While raking the raised beds, Phurba is careful to mound it neatly, leaving the newly made paths in between intact for walking, weeding and cutting.
Each bed is raised several inches off the ground in a very straight and even mound.
The width of each bed is just wide enough to grow two rows of vegetables and still reach them at harvest time. When building raised beds, be sure every part can be reached without standing on it. Let this be a number one “ground” rule – never step on the soil within raised beds.
No matter when the soil is prepared, only start planting when the soil is warm enough to be worked. The soil temperature for planting cool weather vegetables is about 40-degrees Fahrenheit. 50-degrees Fahrenheit for onions and leeks, and at least 60-degrees for other warmer and tender crops. This area looks great – thanks, Phurba.
Now onto the other side, which will have longer beds for all our tomatoes. I’ll be sure to share some of those photos when it is complete. I hope you’re able to start thinking ahead and planning your vegetable gardens. Share your comments with me below.
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