Cape Barren Goose

Cape Barren geese are hardy and easy to manage, but strong, aggressive including to humans (very aggressive in the breeding season) and good diggers. They require a separate spacious enclosure with good grazing and secure fencing well-buried to prevent their digging out. They are mainly terrestrial. Wheat and other grain, pellets, green food, and wholemeal bread should supplement good grazing; lucern (alfalfa) pellets may also be used.

Cape Barren geese are fairly easily bred but variable - some pairs are prolific. In Australia May to August (winter) is the common breeding season for captive birds. In the Northern hemisphere they lay usually November to April (peak December to January), so they often nest in mid-winter. A kennel-type box is often used but they also lay in open or close ground cover. A shelter area such as a large kennel-type structure should be provided sufficient for winter nesting, frost-proof and draught-proof for winter-hatched goslings and this may be supplemented by some good natural vegetation cover.

Both parents will defend the nest and young; fresh lettuce and sprouting grain should be provided to goslings as part of their diet. Goslings must be removed once reared. These birds frequently re-lay if the first clutch is removed for artificial incubation. Some pairs are unreliable parents and removal of eggs and hand rearing may be prefered for such birds. Goslings should be encouraged to exercise, and too rapid growth avoided to reduce the risk of Angel Wing. Unlike their parents, goslings readily make use of a water area. Both artificial hatching and rearing and broodies may be used; care should be taken to avoid imprinting on humans - imprinted males are liable to become particularly aggressive adults.

N.B. handle these birds with care as they may bite, scratch with their nails and bash with their wings. "Kick boards" (wooden boards on handles) have been used successfully and safely to move these geese without needing to catch and carry them.

The ideal relative humidity for incubating most waterfowl eggs is 55% (ground nesters) and 40% (cavity nesters). The temperature is usually 37.4°C. Set ventilation as recommended by the incubator manufacturer. Eggs must be turned, either automatically or by hand, a minimum of 4 times a day. As the duckling develops there is a loss of water from the egg and the air sac gets bigger. In normal development of an egg with a 28-31 days incubation, the air sac occupies about a third of it three days earlier. Cleanliness is vital and ideally eggs should be moved to a separate hatcher at this point, where the humidity should be increased to 65% and even higher once they have pipped internally.