Ryan, of Ryan's Goslings, wanted to know if I was excited. I have no chill, and it's obvious. I'm okay with that, how delightful to find something that makes me silly and maybe a little cringe.
I was excited, but I was also exhausted after the 100-mile drive, all unexpectedly in the snow. From my cozy corner, I drove around DC and then through, and under, Baltimore. Over the river and through the woods, but all concrete highways.
Standing in his driveway with fenced pastures, front yard, backyard, fences everywhere, four months in and I notice fences much more now, all loaded with birds, and I'm trying not to appear like a total moron.
Have I had geese before? No. Thank goodness he didn't have follow-up questions because who starts with geese? Critically endangered ones at that. The smart thing to do would be to start with a few $10 chickens, but the heart wants what the heart wants. The world is on fire, so I'm seizing the joy in the form of three tiny goslings.
I got some tips from him, including the advice to be careful not to feed them too much protein because it'll kill them. What's too much? The amount in standard wildfowl food. Cool, cool.
The drive home was dry and almost sunny, no traces of the snowstorm I had literally just left. Sweet little peeps from the trio the whole ride home.
They're all tucked into the brooder now. We helped them find the water, they dumped the food tray, and ate everything as soon as we left them alone.
Tomorrow we'll get them a bath and switch them over to pine shavings for their bedding. The compost bin is about to be a popular destination.
Names to come as we get to know them.
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