DUCKS AND GEESE 



325 



Goose farming and goose raising can hardly become 

 a wholesale matter, though goose fattening almost 

 reaches this plane at times. A good-sized hen must 

 have a well-shaped nest if she is to cover six Embden 

 or Toulouse eggs properly. I find a cheese box is a 

 most excellent nest container for this purpose. For the 

 hen's comfort, a nest for goose eggs must be deeper 

 than is permissible with other eggs. The eggs are so 

 large that otherwise her weight must bear too heavily 

 upon them, or she must constantly support herself partly 

 by means of her feet. This would mean torture in time, 

 and should not be permitted. 



It is not so very unusual for every egg to produce a 

 gosling. Moist air about the eggs is needed for proper 

 hatching, and some addition of warm water to the ground 

 about the nest during the last three days may help the 

 hatch. The shells are very strong, and the goslings 

 may need assistance in getting out. They must not be 

 removed from the nest with undue haste, as they are 

 likely to be several days, it may be, in getting up an 

 interest in the world into which they are newly come. 

 When they are ready they will need only water to drink 

 and a plot of short, tender grass from which to feed. In 

 trying to graze they will gain the necessary strength. 

 The young will thrive and grow well on bread soaked in 

 milk ; but it must never be forgotten that their natural 

 food is what we call " pasture," — that is, herbage which 

 they may graze from the field for themselves. Where 

 grazing conditions are not good, some have found good 

 help in feeding cut sweet-corn stalks and leaves and 

 sprouted oats. Geese are especially fond of both of 

 these. 



