Goslings pinch each other: why and what to do?

Last year, domestic geese laid a lot of eggs, and five dozen chicks hatched. However, almost half of the brood died - they were killed by stronger goslings. Tell me why the goslings pinch each other and what to do in this case?

At first, little goslings run in a friendly flock, but it often happens that a week or two passes, and yesterday's friends turn into cruel tyrants. They begin to painfully pinch their weaker relatives, pulling out the fluff and pecking the backs to blood. If urgent measures are not taken, this threatens with significant losses of young animals.

First of all, you need to establish the reason why the goslings pinch each other, in order to know what to do next. There are three main factors affecting the aggressive behavior of goslings:

• lack of vitamin;
• cramped room;
• natural instinct.

Lack of vitamin

Like any growing organism, little goslings need a balanced diet. Vitamins supplied with the feed, including calcium and protein, are quickly used up by the goslings as a result of their mobility. If the losses are not compensated for, the chicks instinctively begin to look for other ways to obtain the necessary substances. They first pull the fluff, and then peck each other to the wounds. The smallest and weakest goslings suffer the most.

To correct the situation, feed for chicks is mixed with special vitamin supplements. In addition, the lack of calcium will perfectly fill up homemade cottage cheese, and boiled eggs will help restore protein reserves.

Cramped room

 

Goslings need space to be able to move freely without interfering with each other. In crowded conditions, they begin to fight for territory, trying to prove their supremacy. Gradually, several leaders form from the flock, which nibble the rest of the chicks. The weakest individuals are sometimes simply pecked to death.

First you need to select the "offended" goslings and place them separately from the rest. Thus, in poultry house space will be freed up, and weak chicks will have the opportunity to get stronger.

So that the geese do not have to fight for the territory, it should be taken into account that 1 sq. m. you can keep no more than 10 individuals at the age of one month, no more than 4 - at the age of two months and only 2 adult birds.

Natural instinct

The need to pinch something is inherent in the goslings by nature. At the same time, they pull everything into their beak, starting from the backs of relatives, and ending with the hand of the owner. In the summertime, it is very easy to solve the problem by releasing young animals for grazing. Nibbling the grass, the goslings will be full, satisfy their instincts, and they will no longer need to “eat” each other.

If the chicks are grown indoors in the cold season, and there is no way to graze them, you can hang cabbage leaves. Pieces of colored matter also distract chicks well.

Prevention of pinching in goslings

If the goslings receive a balanced diet, regularly graze and live in a spacious poultry house, but still nibble on each other, experienced poultry farmers recommend smearing their backs with birch tar. The unpleasant smell and bitter taste of the substance will discourage the chicks from pinching.

Birch tar also contributes to the rapid healing of wounds after "pinching".

To prevent the goslings from pecking each other - video