Sleeping eight hours again!
Leslie810
22 years ago
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desert_woman
22 years agoRelated Discussions
.. and then there were eight
Comments (16)I've heard quite knowledgeable people say that it is unwise to let geese get too imprinted, that it increases the chance that they will be aggressive later on. Apparently the theory is that familiarity breeds contempt and/or that they come to regard you as part of their flock and try to assert dominance. As you so rightly observe, geese have strong individual personalities. But is the personality determined more by heredity or environment? Personally I think it has more to do with the breed and the gender than with the amount of imprinting. Our late, unlamented mutt gander (probably Toulouse/Embdem cross) was horridly aggressive -- but the two geese, an American Buff and a Pilgrim were not. The females were handled much more than the male because they were friendlier. The "girls" did hiss alarmingly when they were broody and for a couple of weeks after their goslings hatched, but I consider that protectiveness, not aggression. Aggression is biting, pinching, charging to the point of contact and flogging with the wings. Even allowing for the testoterone factor, our gander was way over-the-top for aggressive behaviour. And nothing we tried stopped him. The goslings that our mean gander sired are still okay, but I can see the potential for aggression in them, even in one that is clearly female. And so, I am glad I was able to find a buyer for them and that particular bloodline will end when they are butchered. On the other hand, the pair of Pilgrim goslings from Holderread's (same age as the home-hatched ones and raised with them from an early age) are very gentle. Ben, the gander, is stand-offish but docile. (I have not encouraged him to get too chummy, for the reasons you mentioned, but I am not convinced it would make much difference. I think the stand-offishnes is a "guy thing".) Elsie, the goose, is a bit shy, but friendly enough to take a dandelion leaf from my hand or nibble my fingers. She knows her name and acknowledges it with a vigorous waggling of the her tail when I address her, much as my Buff and Pilgrim adult females do. She behaves much more like Willow (her Pilgrim foster mother) than does Willow's biological daughter, Tall Girl. Tall Girl behaves more like her father did at the same age. An interesting sidelight on this is the behavioural changes that our Buff goose underwent when her eggs hatched, shortly after we culled the gander. She turned the babies over to Willow, the Pilgrim (they had been nesting side-by-side, sometimes even switching clutches) and adopted a male "survey and protect" mode. She did not hover the babies, except very occasionally. When they went walking, she tended to bring up the rear, from which position she could keep them all in her view. But Willow did the decision-making and nurturing - and disciplining - of the goslings. Buff still maintains a ganderlike surveillance and is generally the last one in. After a mere three years with chickens, two with geese and one with rabbits, I am convinced in the the dominance of heredity over environment in determining the disposition for these species. I cull with this in mind, always. I cannot document this observation; it is strictly anecedotal and based on my small numbers of critters. But it would take pretty strong evidence to convince me otherwise. There - more than you ever wanted to hear on the topic. LOL....See Moredo you sleep soundly all night?
Comments (42)oofasis, I totally understand where you are coming from...so much so that I had to re-read your post to remember what you said...oh yeah, you said you can't remember...I turn 58 on May 22. So.. I hear ya. Sleep has always been a problem but these last couple of years, it has been a major issue. I am sure that menopause and worrying plays a huge part in this. The loss of hormones is key. Knowing and ruminating on how you will feel the next day does not help. No one and nothing I have read has caused me to believe otherwise. It's always "fun" to be one of the older folks at work anyway, and the effects of insomnia night after night only reinforce and highlight that. Not a good thing for those of us who need and like our work. I know younger people have insomnia, as did I, but I believe it is tolerated better when one is young. I was always able to make it up. Now I am not. I sleep 3-5 interrupted hrs each night now for the last couple of years. If I get the 5, I can function. If I get less, well, you guys know how that feels. Irritable, loss of desire or ability to go beyond the simplest activities, (guess I really don't care what movies are playing after all...a new picture of my great/grand nephew...maybe tomorrow I'll have a look). This is not me. I eat right, I exercise (40 years now) regularly, I weigh 110, take vits and calcium, etc)..I am so very sick of living like this. Drs today don't give a hoot. All they think about is "Herd em in, herd em out." So forget it. They shove prescriptions across the table for Ambien, Lunesta, etc. I try none. Too afraid of having an anxiety episode. I have a restless mind, am a realist and therefore, unfortunately, not a real positive thinker. I am sure none of that helps my sleeplessness. I have taken Klonopin (a benzo) for about 15 yrs at night for help. It takes the edge off but doesn't do a thing to help me sleep thru the night. Certainly I am addicted to. it. My husband and I have both had job losses thru the years due to offshoring and it has taken the starch out of us. We have a 17 year old daughter (our only) and I have done a piss poor job with her due to my personality and mood issues due to menopause and sleeplessness. Can you imagine menopause vs puberty and PMS? It has been rocky. I try but am so tired all the time, I can't give her my best..she has seen ugly sides of me. I am always concerned about health care, money, etc. I used to have so much energy and a better attitude. Now I just feel like a zombie. Sure I feel depressed. I don't get any sleep. OK, I am rambling. My daughter is here and wants me to come upstairs...It is Mother's Day. It would be nice to have some emotion about it. Thanks to all of you for the suggestions. I have printed a lot of them and won't give up trying. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!...See MoreHow many hours a night do you sleep?
Comments (37)Like Pesky, I'm in major pain at night; plus going through "changes" (45); sleep is not something I've been getting a lot of for a few months. I take a 5mg Melatonin; then a Lunesta an hour later. If neither of them work, I add a Tylenol PM. Going to sleep at 8:30-9 would be my ideal. I'm so exhausted by then. If I'm not allowed to go to sleep then (depends where my teen is), I will get a 2nd wind and will be up until hub's alarm clock goes off at 2:15am. I felt better going to sleep early and waking up at 5:30 - 6; but right now, that's not happening. As far as the 2nd subject that came up; I was falling asleep on the couch, usually have an icepack on my back; and when I went to the bed, I would get a 2nd wind or I was waking hub up when I got in bed. No matter how quiet I tried to be; he would always wake up. I also get up to use the bathroom, that wakes him up too. When you live with a truck driver; you have to adjust so they get enough sleep. If I fall asleep on the couch, I stay there. Sleeping after cancer - hub sweats a lot at night. There are times I have to change the bed daily. He is also very cold all of the time; I'm always hot due to flashes. We're anticipating his thyroid has been fried from radiation; but it usually takes a year before it will show up. Does it bother us that we can't always sleep together? Yes; but right now this is the hand we've been dealt....See MoreTo sleep or not to sleep !
Comments (4)I can totally sympathize and I used to fret over how much sleep I was getting (or not getting) all the time. I was always waking up in the pre-dawn hours and it really bothered me I couldn't sleep through the night. But then last year, I decided to give it up and let my body settle into whatever sleep pattern I felt comfortable with. So I'm a total night-owl now and I rarely go to bed until well after midnight, usually between 1-2AM. That 'eight hours of sleep' thing is drilled into our heads all our lives, but everybody knows you don't need as much sleep as we age. I'm quite comfortable with 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night and can function just fine all day without feeling sleepy. The extra hours late at night are my quiet time and I spend it reading, working on craft projects, watching chick flicks, etc. It takes a while to adjust to a different schedule of sleep, but not fighting it made all the difference and I'm not staring at a dark ceiling at 3:00am anymore!...See MoreLeslie810
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