My geese are scared of ducklings

[lina500]

I have a pair of geese who are over just over a year old. They are tame and very friendly. We've just gotten six muscovy ducklings, and the ducklings just want to follow the geese all over the garden, which is adorable. The geese seem scared, though, and run away from the ducklings. They don't seem to mind them when they are sitting down, but they don't like the ducklings "chasing them." Is there anything I can do to make the geese more comfortable around the ducklings?

 

[Carrosaur]

Separate them. Fear can turn into aggression and they could seriously injure or kill ducklings.

 

[lina500]

My geese have been around a lot of ducklings and have never acted violently (or towards anyone or anything else). I only have the ducklings out running around when I am there to watch. But I keep our teenage ducks locked up when the ducklings out because they are not tame or nice!

 

[Carrosaur]

My geese have been around a lot of ducklings and have never acted violently (or towards anyone or anything else). I only have the ducklings out running around when I am there to watch. But I keep our teenage ducks locked up when the ducklings out because they are not tame or nice!

I don't think you're listening to what I am saying. Fear CAN turn into aggression, just because your geese have never acted out doesn't mean they never will. I think you said that they are a year old now, well the older the get they may tolerate something MORE or LESS. Are you really going to wait to find out if they can kill your ducklings?

The only way to get your geese more comfortable with those ducklings is to SEPARATE them, if you don't they're just going to keep chasing the geese. There's really no other way. Once they're older and they have gotten over that phase, you can take the fence out of the equation.

It doesn't have to be a big fence, three feet at most, and it can be made of hardware cloth so they can see each other.

 

[Carrosaur]

Even if the geese suddenly got over their fear, adults can step on and kill ducklings, I think you should separate them NO MATTER WHAT, until they are bigger.

 

[lina500]

They are completely separate (the ducklings are in a cage) except when I am standing there watching them. I understand that you think this is a risk; I'm okay with it.

 

[Carrosaur]

They are completely separate (the ducklings are in a cage) except when I am standing there watching them. I understand that you think this is a risk; I'm okay with it.

If your geese are so terrified of the ducklings WHY would you put the ducklings in with them? I'm not trying to be rude but that just does not make sense. And if you're going to disregard everything I say why did you ask the question in the first place? There's not much else you can do other than keep them separated 24/7 until they are older, because you "standing right there" is obviously not helping. Your job as a goose owner is to protect them and keep them in a low stress environment, why are you purposefully freaking them out?

 

[shortgrass]

I had the same thing happen with my Africans... Lol my African got rough with a BR chick, who got aggressive with a runner in revenge... Long story short, I could NEVER put my geese with the chickens OR the ducks because the gander was too territorial: he would have killed ANYTHING that came in his pen...besides me. I ended up having to rehome my 4 geese because I was worried about the ducks. They HAVE to be separate. Geese and ducks fight over water, food etc... And geese can be EXTREMELY territorial. After bring penned up side by side for 4 months, the geese still kept the ducks from the water...

With a big spread where the geese don't need to protect their area, they might be okay, depending on breed. But for now, I would keep them separate but in view, that way they can all get to know each other without you having to stand guard, and eventually maybe they won't be so scared

Exit* you could try just sitting with some treats, get the ducklings imprinted on YOU instead of the geese so they follow you instead...then when everybody is happily snacking, they might just decide to be a happy group, ya never know... But at the first sign of aggression, put a stop to it and separate again.

 

[lina500]

I had the same thing happen with my Africans... Lol my African got rough with a BR chick, who got aggressive with a runner in revenge... Long story short, I could NEVER put my geese with the chickens OR the ducks because the gander was too territorial: he would have killed ANYTHING that came in his pen...besides me. I ended up having to rehome my 4 geese because I was worried about the ducks. They HAVE to be separate. Geese and ducks fight over water, food etc... And geese can be EXTREMELY territorial. After bring penned up side by side for 4 months, the geese still kept the ducks from the water...

These geese were raised from goslings with ducks, and don't have any problems with ducks. Our ducks and geese hang out together, by choice, all day long. It's very sweet, actually. But I won't leave ducklings around them unsupervised until they are bigger.

 

[shortgrass]

Oh lol, my mistake, I thought you meant they were "scared" like, petrified... Now I'm thinking they just don't want pain in the behind ducklings following them everywhere lol

Kinda like my younger daughter follows my older one... Sometimes SHE acts scared ROFL