Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

Another day when most of the animals enjoyed a bit of time with the sun on their backs!! The geese spent a lot of time having a jolly good wash and preen. In the absence of a pond (there is one in the summer paddock, but not in the winter one), they have a large plastic box full of water which they use to dip their heads and necks in and then fling water over their backs (similar to elephants sucking up water with their trunks and then squirting it over themselves).
As well as washing themselves (and removing any unwanted creepy crawlies that may be living on them) geese (along with ducks) also 'oil' themselves in order to keep their feathers in tip-top condition and waterproof (see entry on 1st January for the classic 'water off a duck's back' photo). Geese and ducks have a 'preen gland' at the base of their tails that they rub their heads and beaks over in order to pick up the fatty oil that oozes from it. This is then spread all over their now clean feathers.
In the photos below you can see why it is an advantage to have long necks in order to clean and preen effectively. The geese also spent time 'zipping' up their feathers again in order to keep the water out. Have you ever held a feather and pulled apart the individual 'barbs' and then tried to 'zip' them back up again? Try it and you will understand how important it is for the geese to keep their feathers zipped in order to stay warm and dry. No fox alerts today that we were aware of (and neither have we heard from Clive, our fox man).