Geese in the rear view.
These two ganders goosed me for the very last time. Actually they had been beating up on OD, the old and cranky monarch of the barnyard. We have had an ongoing goose-cage-fight for the last couple of months and I finally was at my bitter end.
Not only have they been extremely aggressive toward me - and OD our main gander - but they have also been bothering poor Lucky. Our Dog#2 has been having problems with his mobility and has been cornered a couple times by ornery geese... I've had to send the rest of The Dog Horde out to protect their brother.
This is why you are leaving, honker.
Between the screaming, the biting, the random goosing, and them picking on the dog we decided we were going to reduce our goose number by half. These two drew the short straws. Also, I mighta sworn a blood oath to my fake brother that I'd never get rid of OD. That was before I knew that geese can live to be 20 years or more. Twenty.Years.
So I loaded up the extra ganders and took them up to the Mt. Hope Auction.
Of course they were perfect angels the whole way up there. It didn't change my plans a bit.
If you haven't been up Mt. Hope lately I'll let you know that the poultry auction is now in the lower parking lot, in the back, in the hoop barn.
The process was really easy peasy. Just like with the goats I just zoomed right up there early in the morning. The livestock auction starts at 11am and the poultry sale starts at 1pm. I think I was there about 10am. The goal is to get there before the auction starts. You can drop off on Tuesday evening but that doesn't work out for us because of the long long long long LONG drive. So I just get up early and hit the road as soon as I can.
I had to wander around a bit before another woman and I, also wandering around, looked at each other simultaneously and said, "What are you looking for?" We were both looking for the poultry sale. A random man who happened to be passing by answered and told us where to go. I just loved that - folks are friendly and approachable around here. It helps to remember this when trying new things. Folks are happy to help and no one is going to treat you badly if you are standing there looking around confused.
I re-moved the car, hopped out by the hoop barn, and walked up to the table and asked what to do. A very nice man told me it was OK to park where I was and to put the geese in the cages. So I did. I returned to the table and he took my name and address, gave me a tag to put on the cage, and that was it. I took my receipt, ran for the car, and drove away fast. I didn't even wave goodbye to those honkers. I didn't even feel bad.
The auction process is really easy. But why didn't I just list those geese on craigslist? Are you kidding - then I wouldn't have an excuse to go to Mrs. Yoder's. It may not be a surprise to you... but I killed it at the buffet. Again. No one made any money that day at that hallowed shrine to fried chicken.
By my third plate of chicken I had shamed the men next to me, horrified the obvious dieters who were there "for the salad bar," and there was a mob of little Am-lets cheering me on. When the waitress came around and asked what I wanted for dessert I told her, "Another piece of chicken." I tell you the truth, I did not eat dinner last nite and at this writing, the next morning, I'm still not hungry.
I also found a fun new place to get fried pies... Hershberger Farms has fried pies by the gross. I got a box of them. Very very delicious.
So now I'm just sitting around waiting for my big winnings to show up in the mail. I'm hoping that I'll get enough from the sale to cover my gas to drive up there... or my lunch. But even if I get $1 each for those geese the honk-less quiet is worth it.
Happy Thursday everyone! Did you rid yourself of angry geese? Get some fried chicken? Buy an unnecessary number of fried pies?
Posts
9 comments:
We are lucky with our geese, they are quite well behaved and will only get a little cross if the chickens or the dogs want a drink from their water bowl, but even then it is only a minor hiss and an attempt at a peck which always lands off target anyway. But they are noisy, and they do piles of poo everywhere, normally outside my entrance doors which are three in total!
We have had mixed luck with Geese- We started out with a mated pair Ms.Goose and Mr. Gander. Then because things were going so well we got crazy and got six goslings the next Spring. Well it was all too good to be true. Ms. was lost to a night creature, then we lost four of the six goslings to the big Spring flood here in 2015. So we were down to Gander and plus two. Well one of the two seemed to be a gander and the other a goose so we were happy! Then Fall hit and the noise and aggression got so bad the honing would start the moment we opened the door. I was ready for suction but had sorta the same promise with ole' Gander. Then he lost a hight one night with a dog. I was ready to ditch the other two but since Gander's exit they have been REAL quiet and well behaved. go figure. They are the last two geese for this farm!
My geese are reasonably well behaved towards everyone, except one poor little buff orpington, Priscilla. Junior goose will not leave her be. He pulls tail feathers every time he can. He doesn't go after all the other chickens, just poor Prissy.
He was given a timeout in a different field and mended his ways for awhile, but now
he is being bossy just because he can. Except for a promise to a friend, his hind end would be down the road. He has proved useful when a raven pair was attacking Miss Clairol, a black australorp (her chick coloring looked like a bad hair dye experience, she is beautiful now), so I will probably just enforce another time out
and see what happens.
My mom had a goose that just hated her for no reason we could ever figure out. He used to get out of the field and chase her. She got to where she always took a broom outside to keep him away. One night we tried to catch him to put him back in the field where he belonged. We thought he would be easier to get hold of after dark. But we were wrong. As soon as he got sight of my mom he just went after her. There was a lot of screaming and honking and wing flapping. It was terrifying and funny at the same time.
Vera - that pretty much describes geese to a "T." absolutely spot on!
Josie - i think "two" is the magic number. :-)
Anon - OD is a confirmed hen killer! so be careful if your gander has a bee in his bonnet for one of your hennies. yikes!
PJ - Geese are terrifying and funny... that is just right.
:-D
I did the same with one of my big Bourbon Red turkeys. My son gave me 3 for Mothers' Day last year, so it didn't feel right to just get rid of one, but... I got tired of being "winged" as I walked by, kind of like how you see middle school boys who are about to get into a fight behave.
I figured if I took one out of the mix, it would change the chemistry enough that we could all live in harmony.
I looked at that big old boy in the cage at the auction, and people stared at me as I told him, "Didn't I tell you I'd take you to auction if you didn't settle down? See?" Then I looked closer and was horrified to see a bunch of BBs stuck in his neck from where I had shot him multiple times (and it didn't slow him down a bit).
The two that are left are just as bad. Might be time to tuck one of them in, under a nice blanket of gravy....
Did you seriously say fry pies?!
*drools*
Carol.. i laughed. a lot. ha! yay!
Christal - Fry. Pie. tons of them - i got a huge box of them. whooot!
Little Am-Lets, that video was funny! I've heard of Mrs. Yoder's before, pretty famous :) An aggressive animal is never good...
Post a Comment