By Barbara H. Peterson
For those who remember, I spoke some time ago about how I fed my geese GMO corn for a winter, and the following breeding season, they were aggressive, fighting all the time, and wouldn’t sit a nest for long. One female had 2 babies, but lost both. One was physically deformed. I realized that the corn I was feeding was GMO, and started them on free-ranging, supplementing with beardless barley hay.
Well, this year we have 17 new babies! All three females of breeding age sat nests and hatched babies. No fighting, and everything is normal in the goose kingdom. There is hope. So far it looks like my geese have made a full recovery. Here is a recent pic of one family crossing the field:
Here is a pic of sleepy time in the woodshed, with Reba standing guard:
Post away, April. I am glad that my experience can be helpful.
Wow Barbara wonderful post! I would love permission to put this on my blog: GE Free BC.wordpress.com. I am a Director at GE Free: we create GE free zones in BC Canada. I also speak to farmers daily now, and this is such a perfect example of how “every day observations” (thanks Nedlud) are more valuable!
April Reeves, Director, GE Free BC
Thanks Barbara.
Modern people have formed the habit of relying on ‘scientific studies’, or they’ve had the habit forced on them.
The every day observations, of every day people, are far more valuable.
nedlud
Hi Jeff,
I no longer have the sheep, but the ones I had were Navajo Churro and Jacob. I had no problems with raising both sheep and geese, and the geese roamed with the sheep. They now hang around with my Angora goat. I like the Navajo Churro and Jacob for their wool, and when I am able would like to get some more. Navajos have a very thick, coarse wool that is excellent for rugs and felting. The Jacobs have a very fine, soft wool, excellent for clothing. They are also very old and hardy breeds.
Hi Barbara,
A hopeful yet disturbing blog. I’m glad your geese recovered, but I fear a lot of people are feeding their animals GMO feed and yet not coming to the same conclusions.
I see you raise geese and sheep. Do you find them to be compatible? I have some geese on our small farm in Thailand, and I’m thinking of a few sheep. If you’ve written about these things, I’d like to read about it.
Best,
Jeff Rutherford
The goodness of your heart is plain to see Barbara.
I just want to say thanks to you for the valuable information you provide. Keep up the good work. We need you.