460 Fattening Geese for Market. [nov., 



The eggs which are laid during the last two or three weeks 

 can be reserved for setting under the geese themselves. A large 

 goose can hatch thirteen to fifteen eggs, but the largest geese 

 do not make the best sitters or the most capable mothers, and 

 if they are to be entrusted with valuable eggs large nests must 

 be provided, which must be constructed with special care. 

 The space for the nest ought to be three feet square, and en- 

 closed by boards only five or six inches high. A large quantity 

 of straw must be used in making the nest, in order to give it 

 that elasticity which is necessary to prevent the goose breaking 

 the ego;s when she enters the nest or leaves it. The nest should 

 be made nearly flat, having only a slight depression towards 

 the centre. While hatching, the goose should be taken off the 

 nest once a day and fed with oats and water. Charcoal and 

 grit should also be placed within reach. 



The period of incubation is from twenty-eight to thirty days, 

 and for twenty-four hours after the goslings have left the shells 

 they may be left on the nest. It is then time to give them the 

 first meal. This may consist of oatmeal, middlings, finely- 

 chopped dandelion, lettuce or similar greenstuff, and milk. 

 During the first week it is well to keep the goslings indoors, 

 and to feed them four or five times a day on the mixture 

 named. After this time they may be put into a paddock, and 

 if the grass is rich and not overgrown they will thrive on it 

 with very little hand-feeding. Two feeds a day will be quite 

 sufficient between the ages of one week and six weeks, and 

 during this time no better food than ground oats and skim milk 

 can be used. It is, of course, quite unnecessary to feed any 

 chopped green stuff after the young birds have been turned on 

 to grass. During the period which elapses from the time of 

 hatching until the goslings are nearly feathered, they must be 

 housed at night, and also in the daytime should the weather 

 be wet or stormy. During their early days goslings cannot be 

 allowed free range over large fields or marshes, because the old 

 geese would be liable to give them too much exercise. They 

 may, however, be given full liberty to range at large after they 

 have attained the age of eight weeks. It is then only necessary 

 to feed them once a day, and the best time to give this meal is 

 in the evening, when they return from the fields to the farm- 



