build a goosehouse and keep geese to create a resilient farm, at appleturnover 

oh, alejandro, thank you. the geese are such wonderful characters.

I am in love. My heart Just melted in happiness.❤️🌞❤️

i feel the same about these three!

that’s wonderful, thank you & your goose!

oh my goodness, lucky goose! and now you’re watching movies together? what’s her name? honorary goose fan.

so glad you do! we love them too - though just now it is broody season and they are more adorable from distance! don’t mess with mama and papa!

oh, i’m very pleased!

my pleasure!

thank you jen! i like them too, though broody season is pretty interesting!!

that is ever so exciting!

thank you theresa!!

i’m so pleased, isabela.

oh, thank you marina!

oh, i’m so glad that you did, thank you!

our pleasure, delighted you liked it!

oh, well, wow. i’m elated.

thank you so much, william.

my pleasure, janine x i hope you will like the new films in the works as much!

oh, delighted to hear it. small but mighty! thanks for joining us, hope you’ll like the new series in the works! we are @appleturnover on instagram if you do that sort of thing, or find our mailing list on appleturnover.tv if you like!

thank you, gary.

thank you cami! this place has been adored and gently tended by generations, we can feel it.

that’s very kind

thanks heather!

thank you, ellie!

they are so cheeky picking pears!

thanks paul & ringo! i will tell me mailing list when i finally draw up plans! that’s here: eepurl.com/dO0KAz

i’m so pleased you think so!

thank you morgan! ☆彡

╰(*´︶`*)╯☆彡

thanks john! they are apple hounds and will fly for them. they do love plums. no one but the people seem to like figs though!

that’s great!

thanks paul & ringo (our gander’s name is george!)

thank you!

oh, thank you mali.

that is so sweet.

thanks john! i certainly wouldn’t want them sleeping in the wind. but it’s incredibly mild here, and very wet, so we’re more concerned for good ventilation. since the vents are up high the wind goes right over their heads. it’s also a protected spot with plenty of trees surrounding.

thank you!

that’s very kind, thank you! harlequins are gorgeous. definitely get a pair of geese, two females are so nice, they like to have one of their own! also they live for decades!

@@appleturnover I was always told not to get a bunch of geese, that they will get a pack mentality and get an attitude. So, if I had two geese, would that still happen? Most people tell me to get 'a goose' to protect the ducks, but if you say that two is not a problem, that's great. I am still learning about geese, since I have no experience with them. but I think they are cool !

wow, fascinating. i’ve never heard that! only that a solitary goose will be looooonely. they are great protectors.

@@birage9885 Geese have different temperaments depending on the breed. I have Toulouse and Embden breeds and they both very quiet and friendly. They don't attack anyone, only hiss at my dog and a male geese hissed at me when I caught his female to check her leg. I had to get rid of ducks because they were abusing my geese despite the fact that geese are twice the size. Ducks would grab them by the necks and pull all the way to the ground till they pull the feathers out. I didn't like that.

wow! my drake bothered my geese for a while but then the tables turned…

when i can i will be releasing this to supporters on patreon.com/appleturnover. you can choose ‘follow’ over there and stay tuned. life is very full but it is definitely in the works.

stay tuned…

not silly at all! they get a treat of soaked whole grains at bedtime to call them in, and there’s a drought (no grass) or snow (no grass) they get more of that. otherwise just oystershell when they are laying and good fresh water, really.

i would think that’s sufficient while they are growing and if there’s plenty to forage (grass!) but they do grow astonishingly quickly…you can invite them in for ‘training’ even once integrated. i would suggest not having a gander if you want them to be pets…even so, in broody season you will likely want a separated space, and a stick to gently move them if they are sitting on eggs (they do get fierce!). later they can join everyone, but may want to be queen of everyone (goosing them! rude) so be sure you have plenty of space. my goats aren’t fond of the gander and even the geese can be hooligans. cheeky. but maybe i just need to train everyone better?! best luck!

@@appleturnover Thanks a lot for your quick and helpful reply! Yes, that's the next question - how to know if the little goslings are males or females? 2 males, or 2 females are better? I heard from a goose breeder that ganders can become much more tame, curious and playful than the female geese (but maybe it just depends on the character and personality of each individual goose). What to do if they breed and goose offspring isn't wanted? A stick to move geese away and just take the eggs, sounds a bit sad, but certainly necessary. On the other hgand, new goslings would be cute... I have to discuss it with my people with whom I plan to keep the geese. Thanks a lot again, and best of luck to you as well!

my pleasure. easiest if you want eggs but not goslings is two females.

that’s funny!

oh, tracy. i am so, so sorry, that’s so upsetting. electric fencing might be a good plan? or if you have the space, a livestock guardian animal…dog, donkey…we have no coyotes but we do have cougars, mink, raccoons. poor creatures. rescue remedy all round.

i use sawdust or quality wood pellets, which means it converts to compost quite rapidly. as their manure isn’t hot like chickens, i can put it directly around plants that i’m not picking, any time, which is so useful.

a tour of the pond sounds lovely!

thanks! i’ve had a lot of requests for plans, when i’ve finished the latest film i’ll see if i can pull this together. if it will stop raining for a minute…

i’m so glad! if you’d like to get on the mailing list you can send me a note to ask more questions. eepurl.com/dO0KAz

they make a nest somewhere, but as they go home at night we can just take the eggs once they’re in their house. last year it was right outside one of our doors! it did make hanging clothes on the clothesline beside them a bit fraught!

thanks! lots of carbon - sawdust, shavings, see our ‘deep litter’ film for details. i mulch trees with it!

you know, they immediately got that it was their home. it’s not hard to herd them there. they poop a great deal inside, yes, but we keep sawdust in there so it stays nice and dry. watch ‘deep litter’ for more about how that works!

not at all. 1.fences 2.attachment to us and to their home 3. good food

thanks cleona! it matters very much, i would say that unless you are certain you want to breed young ones (and given that they can live thirty years) go with just females. the gander bosses everyone pretty thoroughly and is a challenge in broody season. easier to just manage the geese without a gander. that said, he’s a big teddy bear once broody season is over and if you have the space, a broom is an effective device. a follow-up film is in the works! three females is ideal so they are not bereft if you lose one. a lone goose is a very sad goose.

my pleasure! yes, they’re pilgrim, i’m on the west coast of canada where there’s a local breeder. maybe ask around at backyardchickens.com? we give a bit of soaked grain in a parched summer if there’s no grass, and then some if things are snowy and frozen but otherwise they are self-sufficient.

oh, about five meters! but they swapped with the ducks for breeding season and are more like 100m now…they patrol the whole 1 ½ acres several times daily though! lots of foraging and checking on things.

by the time i move them out they don’t need anything at night, but if it is warm where you are and you have them move out quite early you might want to for a while. just not so much that rats start breaking in! and water can eventually rot the house. late spring is such a long day, they’ve had plenty of food all day.

i’m on the west coast of canada and these are ‘pilgrim’ geese.

these are pilgrim geese.

hmm, wow. i’ve no experience with this! but i can say he really needs little shelter, he’s a tough bird! a house like this would certainly do! watch out in february-june, he may get very aggressive though without a partner, not so much. probably he will be terribly lonely, poor lad. i would move him about with a quiet voice and a stick or broom held out as a guide. if he can’t get to grass he’ll need some grain, like rye, and a fresh bucket of water. best luck.

yes, would you like to get on the mailing list so we can send you details? eepurl.com/dO0KAz

@@appleturnover yes that would be great! Leannseagle@gmail.com

how wonderful! i love that the relationship is so long. a pair of geese or one gander one goose?

@@appleturnover M & F the F is now laying eggs I just found her nest

do you find the gander gets a protective?

@@appleturnover He is very protective , out there keeping the hens away, I free range my birds, only on a acre, Every one is locked up at night due to raccoon s .

I see we are both in B C I m on the mainland ,

that’s a good question. certainly having water tubs out, rainwater collection and looking at what other folks are doing, if they end up having to supplement with grain, it may not be the best creature for the pattern. what are the wild birds like? geese love grasses, is there an abundance? if it is for protection, another animal like a guardian dog or llama or donkey may be better suited. see if you can find a permaculture farm in your climate or look at similar types of climate in australia. grass is what they adore, in my experience, and ours is mad plentiful. best luck, noah!

@@appleturnover Thank you.

my pleasure, hope it goes well, noah.

yes, let’s do that! perhaps on a live event, have a look at our patreon www.patreon.com/appleturnover

hi melanie, how exciting! a pair of females sounds lovely. they can live for several decades so i did opt for a trio so there’s less chance of a solitary grieving goose, but the gander complicates things a lot! three geese is just fine.

@@appleturnover You are so kind, thank you! :)

my pleasure, melanie. hope it goes well.

unfortunately, steps toward sustainable living are never perfect, and the geese finally arrived right along with the lockdowns here. very sadly, the kind of reclaiming we did with the henhouse and duckhouse just wasn’t permitted here. even now we’re not even allowed to try on clothes at our thrift shop and i’ve seen very, very few garage sales. i built it to last, supporting local small business which had to be the compromise. but i absolutely support reclaiming and prefer it too. it gives me pleasure to see the parts of the 1950’s house all through the chicken coop where there is nothing like that in the goosehouse. i think that we need to be careful to hold each other to better account, but also, recognise that ecological action is never going to be ideal. i built that goosehouse using my bicycle and carpooling, for example, and whilst feeding my family from scratch. it’s not a competition, and we do what we can. i was also serving on committees to write our community climate action plan, activism that makes things like reclaiming easier for people to do. thanks for your concern.