Orphan Adolescent

Little Goosey graduated today. He outgrew his tractor tire fortress and was badly in need of a new home.

At almost four weeks old, some feathers are finally starting to appear amid all the down.

So, this morning I loaded him into a dog crate and then onto the pickup.

Of course, the first thing he did was poop in the crate, but he didn't seem to be too stressed. I drove a couple of miles up the road to the Guest House farm. His new home is the outdoor pen we used for last summer's half-grown chickens. He was a bit baffled by all the open space, but a little feed helped him settle in.

Since there's no water in this pen, we used a feed tub for a temporary pond. This was Goosey's first experience with water more than two or three inches deep.

He isn't quite big enough to get in and out of the tub, and he can't fly yet, so I made him a ramp.

When I left, he was happily feasting on fresh grass.

When I checked on him late this afternoon, he was doing fine. I made sure he knew how to use the ramp to get in and out of his pool before I left. Later, Robin put an old barrel in the pen so Goosey would have a safe place to sleep and get out of the sun. It's a little scary putting him in this wide-open pen, but he's growing so fast that he needs to be someplace where he can move freely. There's always the possibility of some critter, hawk, or eagle getting him now, but he couldn't stay cooped up any longer. Let's hope nothing does him any harm.