Geese breaking the ice

It’s freezing cold here this morning and all the water in the buckets is frozen.   Darth and Vader have had a good peck at the ice but even with their strong beaks they needed a bit of help to break the ice.  This pair of ganders are still aggressive with the other geese who are staying inside today, there are too many hungry foxes around for them to be safe.   Darth and Vader like to go out although we have them penned and they can’t get down to the stream which is their favourite place.   Their ‘fighting’ talk would see a predator off if they were near to home, but if they were split up from each other or out in the open, I’m not so sure.

As well as for drinking, geese need water to dip their beaks in to, they love to splash around even if it’s only in a bucket.   Watering them twice a day is a must when the weather is so cold.    Although they grumble and hiss a lot, most of it is for show when I am around (at least so far!) and while they would surely kill another goose, Darth will now allow me to stroke his feathers.   Vader says ‘no way’ when I try with him.   O.k. fella, I’m not going to argue with you.