Dufey has always been just a step off the regular path set by the rest of my flock of geese.

This year is no different.

Geese usually lay their wonderfully large and delicious eggs from March through June. But Dufey has been supplying us with fresh eggs in late November. For the past week or so, whenever she’s in the large pen with most of the flock, I have found a lovely, large white egg. Most of the time, I’ve been able to collect them each morning before it has had a chance to freeze.

Unfortunately, when I let the geese out to graze last week, she laid another egg in the middle of the garden. By the time I had found it, it had frozen and cracked.

Surprises are some of the main reasons why I love my goose flock so much.

I never know whether Finny will get along with newcomers to the flock, or not. Or whether

will choose to hang out in the small pen with her goslings.

As winter draws closer, and the temperature drops, all the goose coops are well-lined with hay, and all the feed and water containers prepared.

The three-gallon watering cans are at the back door, ready for filling each morning for the geese and ducks. The shovel is also set outside the back door for when I need to make my way to the feed and water dishes in the snow.

Keeping geese and ducks during the winter is a real challenge. Sometimes the snow gets so deep that I have to shovel and push my way into the goose pen or climb over the gate and hope I don’t land on any squawking geese. It’s a lot of work, but when I think of all the joy these wonderful feathered creatures give me, I know it is worth it.

Finny still comes to me when I go out back and insists on playing with my hair. Susie-Q knows I’m the giver of all good food, whether grain, loaves of stale bread, or greens from a local grocery store that saves save them for my geese. She hurries right up to me to take the new  bounty.

My flock has become quite well-known in my town. People have stopped me in the grocery store, asking if I’m the one who writes about Finny and flock. At such times, I often pull out my digital camera and show them the latest photos.

My geese give me such joy, and from the queries made around town, or by email, I know their antics also provide pleasure for many others. I had never planned to get geese. I really hadn’t thought about it. That is, not until I took a really close look at the ones on display at the Franklin County Fair and we seemed to strike up a conversation and really connect.

Since then, I’ve had the great joy of watching some being born, the sadness of losing some, and the wonder that every mating and hatching season brings.

I have to say that buying these wonderful noisy, but lovable birds has been one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Eileen M. Adams has been raising, loving and caring for geese for more than a dozen years. She may be reached at petsplants@midmaine.com.

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