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WILLOW'S FLOCK

Behaviors: Digging in the Mud

5/28/2021

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Anyone who owns waterfowl likely knows about their hobby of digging. As to why geese do it I am not completely certain but my assumption is that they are doing it for two reasons. One of those reasons is because it is simply fun to do so. Geese often do things that seem quite enjoyable to them but also offers them food. Such as pecking at tree bark or digging up grass so that they can get the roots.

So while they are digging a hole that might eventually hold some water which is very practical in itself they may also be finding things. The likeliest thing that they are finding are bugs. 

If where they are digging is very moist such as around a pool or around their water bucket they can make pretty sizable holes. If they see a puddle of water they are often attracted to it to dig it even larger. They really enjoy getting mud all over themselves and destroying the ground! 

They also seem rather persistent in digging holes along the edges of buildings. On the inside it makes sense because they want to get out of the building as geese do not enjoy being trapped in a building but they have dug along the outside of the building. Perhaps they want to get in? Sometimes their favorite nesting place is taken from them. But I believe that is not always the case and they still dig alongside the outside part of the building even if they have access to their nesting spot. Maybe they know that I do not want them to dig there. I suppose if once they start digging somewhere they like to continue their work there. 

As aforementioned, I am not certain about why they dig. Usually it seems like it is simply for enjoyment.

​My geese since they are in the woods will dig in the leaf litter and eat plenty of things, usually the leaf litter, but perhaps other things are being eaten by them? But while working for that food they are certainly enjoying it!

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Goose Entries: MoRE on THe WHiTe Geese

5/21/2021

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In General
My white geese have quickly proved themselves to be my best layers.
​They are all gorgeous geese.
They are the most addicted geese to grass. With their obnoxious behavior they are also the geese who get most of the grass because no one can stand in their way.
They have always been rather willing to try new plants. 
They often quarrel about ganders.
They will challenge a gander and even get into a fight with one!
They have already given me exciting goslings such as full banded goslings, half banded goslings, and goslings with a spot on their back (Batch #030 had a very obvious one!)
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Southern Magnolia
Southern Magnolia is one of my favorite white geese. I think she is one of the prettiest of the group although they are all beautiful. As a gosling she was named Pompeia. She is currently the goose of Ohio Buckeye, my biggest gander. Magnolia is a bossy sort of goose and will tell everyone even me what to do while bringing her gigantic gander along.  
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Blue Jacaranda
Blue Jacaranda is one of my sweetest white geese. When any of my white geese are sweet they are very obnoxious. They do not exhibit the same shy but sweet manner that my older geese have. This obnoxious sweetness is often tiring to be around. It involves a lot of screaming of head bows. Some of which are rude head bows! Her gosling name was Buttercream.

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The Legend of WIllow's Flock: News of Two White Goslings

5/14/2021

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One sunny, hot May day Cliffrose was spreading news among the older group of geese that there were going to be two new geese in June. 

Most of the geese did not care or believe what Cliffrose was telling them so they did not inquire further. Eventually the news spread even to the younger group of geese.
The white geese who were always very curious and bossy desired to know what Cliffrose was talking about. Part of the group consisting of Jacaranda, Snowbell, and Tulip marched to Cliffrose to ask her. Cliffrose was scared of the three white geese as they were not on very good terms with the older group.

So off when Cliffrose leaving the three white geese indignant at her flight. They decided to send the two youngest of the group, Rosewood and Hibiscus. Once again when Cliffrose was approached she was scared and she fled. The two geese although being rather small were still a force to be reckoned with and that force was one that Cliffrose was not going to face alone.

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List of Traits For The Gray African & Chinese AnD The White Chinese Geese

5/4/2021

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​Traits
Crescent Trait (Gosling Trait) - a marking that looks like a crescent. It is a marking that I think is always present in a gosling. It is around each of the gosling's eyes. It typically is bolder in color around one eye than the other on the same, individual gosling. I believe it is present on all goslings because depending on the shade of gray and where the gray is located I think it may blend in sometimes giving the gosling the appearance of not having it at all. But when you look closely for it you will likely find it!
Artist's Touch (Goose Trait) - this refers to the orange spotting on the feet of goslings that are descended from a White Chinese goose or a banded goose. It usually a trait that goes alongside orange spotting on the lower beak and a white band. I believe that adult geese that had this as goslings likely retain orange on their feet.
Full Band and Half Band (Goose Trait) - A full band and half band both start from the chest and go up the sides. The full band will go along the top as well while the half band stops. The band is located after the wings and before the neck. This traits is also common with Artist's Touch and the spotting on the beak. Adults so far have a band although my banded goose after her last molt barely has one.
Spotting on the Beak (Goose Trait) - This is orange spotting is present on the lower part of the beak. It varies greatly how the spotting is and therefore makes the goose unique especially when they also have the Artist's Touch and either the Full Band or Half Band. When the goose grows up the orange may appear in other areas of the beak and also the knob. I have never kept a gosling like this so I am not completely certain.
Knobs - Knobs vary greatly. Some can be big and make the goose look like it will fall over head first while others are barely present at all! Some are very round while others are kind of square-like. Typically ganders will have a more pronounced knob but females can sometimes too! There is a lot of variation in this.
Ash Eye-Color (Goose Trait) - A while back I was trying to name the eye-colors in a way that was not confusing and inconsistent. I decided that there should only be two eye-colors one which is Ash while the other is Brown. Ash is a very, very light brown. I named it after one of my geese who was a very good example of the ash-eye color but also after the trunk of an ash tree because that tree's trunk is a lighter color than most of the trees I know of.
Brown Eye-Color (Goose Trait) - Brown is a group of varying shades of brown. There is a light brown but it is not like the Ash eye-color at all. Somehow it seems to be redder in color. Also in the brown group as well is.. brown! There is an even darker shade that makes geese look like they have black eyes. If the sun is shining you can see their pupils, however. I originally grouped the black eyes as a separate color but because they are actually brown and at times the goose looks like it has brown eyes instead I decided it was rather inconsistent and removed that eye-color.
Blue Eye-Color (Goose Trait) - The White Chinese have blue eyes. I have noticed that their blues are not all the same shade of blue but that would be far too complicated to separate as different colors.
The Stripes (Goose Trait) - Stripes vary greatly. Because of all that variation I cannot really classify them. There are light stripes, gray stripes, brown stripes, reddish-brown stripes, and all kinds of shades! The shape of the stripe varies to! Some geese have a thin stripe on their head while others have a thick one. How it curves from the neck to the head varies as well!
The Headshapes (Goose Trait) - This is also hard to decide. Some geese have rather square heads while others have rather round ones. But there are in betweens and some that are impossible to describe! I typically dislike a square head in a female because it tends to make them look far too masculine.
Tongue Spots (Goose Trait) - Not all geese have a completely pink tongue! This is a thing I notice when they are hissing at me or moving a piece of corn to swallow it. I have noticed that a few have a gray spot on their tongue. I do not know what that suggests or if it even does! 
Claw Color (Goose Trait) - Gray African/Chinese geese will have black claws. As goslings they are gray with a bit of pink showing at the end. I assume their claws as goslings are not as thick as they will be! White Chinese geese have white claws. The white claws show up in goslings with Artist's Touch. I do not know if the first banded goslings who also had Artist's Touch had white claws. It makes me wonder if all of the Artist's Touch goslings have to have white claws or if some of them can have gray claws like their gray gosling friends.
Beak Color (Goose Trait) - Gray African/Chinese geese have a black beak while White Chinese geese have an orange beak with pinkish shades.
Foot Color (Goose Trait) - Both the Gray African/Chinese and White Chinese geese have orange feet. As goslings the Gray Aftican/Chinese have black, gray, or even slate feet. The White Chinese goslings have pink feet.
Size (Goose Trait) - Size varies greatly when you have an African/Chinese flock! Some are very probably about 10 pounds while others are 20 pounds.
The Neck (Goose Trait) - If a goose picked up the Chinese side of traits than they will have a slender neck that may even be longer than the other geese' neck. If he picked up the African side than his neck will likely be shorter and thicker.

As I keep researching (mainly traits of goslings) I may have traits to add to this list.
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    my name is Emily

    I have twenty-eight geese. I hatch a bunch of goslings because I want a lot of people to have geese. I do not see them everywhere but I want to! The goslings are the sweetest baby birds I know! The adult males are proud and can be cranky but have their sweet moments while the females are shy and sweet all at the same time.

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  • Home
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