Comparing different types of eggs

An egg is an egg is an egg....or is it? We all know that eggs fresh from the farm or your own backyard dwelling chicken flock are higher in nutrients then store bought eggs. Is that it though? Actually, no. It also depends what kind of egg you're eating.

Did you know that a guinea egg has more than twice the protein as a same sized chicken egg? Or that 5 quail eggs have almost the exact same nutritional content as 1 chicken egg, but are higher in calories? Or that ounce for ounce, duck eggs have more fat than goose eggs? Weird, right? 

I spent a few hours crunching the numbers and I figured out how all the different types of farm fresh eggs, stack up against each other. Why? Well....I find it fascinating. Plus I was bored, but that's irrelevant! The point is, whether you raise chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, turkey or quail their eggs are all sort of the same, but kinda different.

Modern homesteaders guide to keeping geese.

Throughout the years I've had many different types of poultry. I've raised everything from chickens and to quail. The ones that were the most fun to be around though were my Sebastopol Geese. They were the funniest critters ever, and grew more attached to me that any other poultry I've ever owned! 

My ducks could have cared less where I was at any point in time. 90% of my chickens felt the same way, unless I had treats! The geese though would follow me all over the yard. They wanted to be right by my side at all times and if I wasn't outside, they spent a good part of their time waiting by the back door for me to come out. They even learned to "knock" by tapping the glass with their bills to get my attention! 

Geese are a lot of fun but being my first large waterfowl, there was a bit of a learning curve. I spent a lot of time looking for answers online and specific information on geese is harder to find than chickens! Thankfully, someone finally wrote a book about raising geese and I was lucky enough to get a copy to check out early. The Modern Homesteaders Guide To Keeping Geese by Kirsten Lie-Nielsen.

While chickens preen in the spotlight, geese are the historic unsung heroes of small farms and homesteads. Providing weed control, large eggs, and entertainment, and acting as "security" over other animals, geese are the ultimate modern homesteading companion.

The Modern Homesteader's Guide to Keeping Geese covers everything you need to know to raise geese, including: 

What does a goose coop need? (duck coop!)

I've had many questions about the details of my goose coop over the years. I've been asked why I built a separate goose coop, what does a goose coop need and was it difficult to build? I decided to answer these questions about my waterfowl coop. 

The coop was built specifically for my 2 Sebastopol geese. It eventually became the duck coop then the banty coop (with a few adjustments) We built the goose coop back in 2011 and it is still going strong. 

It's a very simple design, as I'll explain later, and the run also features a sunk-in pond. A duck or goose coop is fairly easy to build because they don't need a lot of the things chickens do, in fact they don't need much at all.

Sebastopol Geese: a goose in a dress!

Meet Donald and Ivana (named many years before the president was elected) These are my Sebastopol geese and wow, what a pair they are! Sweet tempered, affectionate and friendly, they are the most awesome geese I have ever known! They have unique feathers that drag the ground dramatically. 

I first heard about Sebastopol Geese about 7 years ago. I saw a picture of them and thought they looked just like they were wearing party dresses! I just had to have some but the price was daunting. Fortunately I was gifted a pair about a year later. I fell madly in love with their personalities as they are some of the sweetest waterfowl I have had. 

They are the only breed of goose that I have raised though, so maybe all geese are this personable?

Sebastopol geese are descended from the European Graylag and were first exhibited in England in 1860. They are named after the Russian city of Sebastopol and were first recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1938.

Coop maintenance, small coops

This summer we decided to finally get around to doing some coop maintenance on the goose coop. First it was hauled over to the driveway. (warning...don't try this at home! We did it with 2 people and a hand truck. Bad BAD idea! My back hurt for 3 days after!) 

Power washing and staining the coop

Once the Goose house was removed we raked up all the hay, scratch and DE that had somehow gotten underneath and put down a base of pebble gravel. Then the coop was power washed. Once it was spotless it was allowed to dry overnight before we stained it. One more night to dry and it was moved back into place. This time we lifted it with the tractor. Better idea, MUCH better idea! 

The geese were overjoyed to get their house back where it belongs since for two nights they've been sleeping in it while it was in the driveway. This was quite confusing to the little honkers! 

We do this kind of maintenance very rarely on these smaller coops because of the poultry that live in them. Geese are in this one, ducks in another....both are wet on the bottom but not very messy up top. They don't require internal power washing since the bedding is very thick (changed weekly) and they don't roost. 

Roosting birds tend to splatter poo everywhere, but that's a different post! We only power wash the outsides of coops when it's time to stain them. Stain should last a few years, so hopefully this one won't need done any time soon. I hope not....for my back's sake!

~L

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Silkie Manor & a new goose house!

The Silkies got a new house this summer. I think it suits them, what do you think? We call it Silkie Manor. It was a kids playhouse (originally sold at Sam's club) and we found it on Craigslist. A family was moving and didn't want to move the house with them, so we bought it and brought it home for the Silkies!

Choosing new coops

Hubby wanted it because it's washable. After power washing the wood in the big coop several times, we both were sick of that ordeal! lol So all 10 adults and 13 babies moved into the new house last month. They love it! They have bay windows with perches in front of them. There is a storage window seat for feed containers and such. 

We added in a 3 story ferret cage so the mama hens have a set of 'condos' to brood their babies in (lets just hope they don't all go broody at once, or we'll need more condos!) All we really had to do to convert it to a coop was build a platform for it and add some latches to the doors.

Since the Silkies were getting a brand new house, the Geese wanted one too! Hubby built them a sturdy weather-proof board and batten goose house, complete with tin roof to match the bog coop! It's not stained yet, but they love it just as well. Luckily a goose coop is pretty simple since they don't need much. 

Ivana loves it so much, after her first night in the coop...she started dancing! She's such a pretty little Sebbie!

So now the geese have a new house and pond, the Silkies have a new house....it's time for a new Guinea house. I can't wait to see what the Mr has in mind for this one!!!

Related reading: Funny Chicken Coop Names.

~Lisa

Want information on raising chickens sent right to your email weekly? Click right here to join my list and get new posts sent directly to you the day they're published. You'll also get the free download 25 Ways to save money raising chickens.