[whitby_sam]

I'll be getting some day-old goslings this weekend and just want to check I've got everything.

I'll be keeping them in a large brooder under a heat lamp.
The brooder will be lined with shavings, hay on top and some turf.
I'll be feeding them natural chick crumb to start with but am unsure whether they then go on to growers pellets?
How long do they need heat?
I want to get them out into the shed with the ducks ASAP , certainly within 4 weeks but as my ducks haven't needed heat from the end of week 2 I hope to make it sooner. At the same time I want to "hand rear" them to some extent so that they're used to the family, particularly my 3-year-old so they'll get lots and lots of attention, handling and cuddles LOL!
Are there any other special considerations?
I'm busy sorting them a pond and a fenced off mini-paddock (incorporating the orchard) so they'll be able to forage for most of their food. I believe Geese are grazers and need very little in the way of extra feeding, is this right? When they're older they'll free range across all the land, hopefully keeping my grass short and my veg slug-free!
Some are being raised to keep and others are for the pot, I intend to keep them all together and treat them all the same, as free-range birds. Is it advisable to clip wings? I'd hate to get to the week before christmas, have spent all this time and money raising them only for them to fly off! Touch wood I haven't seen signs of a fox on our land for a good while now and I guess that a fox wouldn't be stupid enough to take on a large flock of geese? If I clip wings I understand they might not be able to get away from danger so easily but there'll be so many of them that a fox would be pretty daft to take them on