Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

Watching your animals eat and drink is an important part of keeping livestock: firstly because you need to make sure they 'are' eating and drinking; secondly to check they are eating and drinking the right things; thirdly to ensure they are eating and drinking 'enough' and finally to check they are not finding it 'difficult' to eat and drink which can be a sign of an injury or an approaching illness.
We were contacted by a couple recently who needed to borrow our trailer to take a sick sheep to the vets: the sheep was eating but having huge problems swallowing and often would spit her food back out. It turned out she had growths in her oesophagus (the tube that links the throat to the stomach) and had to be put down.
The oesophagus in poultry and in particular in these geese is very tough and ribbed which makes it very strong. It needs to be to cope with the grass and corn that has to travel down its length. Geese have strong sharp teeth that allow them to cut and then eat grass in a similar way to sheep: you can see the teeth in photo one whilst in the middle photo notice the way the goose has its head on one side so that when it closes its beak around the grass, the whole row of teeth on that side of its beak will cut into the grass and so give the animal a good, full mouthful to then swallow. What happens to the grass at that point is another story!!!