My goose has never laid an egg.

[IronEagle]

This is my goose Guinan (Gansy for short). Long story short she ended up with us because we lost a chicken to a stray dog and my friend thought she'd be a good "watchdog" for the flock. He didn't really ask, just brought her over one day. But he was right, she keeps good track of the flock when they're free ranging and alerts us when a person, bird or other animal (like a snake) is nearby. She lived with my friends sister prior to us but she wanted us to have her because Gansy was biting and showing aggression toward her small kids. Gansy seriously hates children and never misses an opportunity to bite one. She has never been aggressive towards myself or my husband. Quite the opposite, we take her for walks on the beach every day where she follows right along and if we flap our arms she gets right into formation and starts flapping. She loves being with us and will nap near the house door if we aren't sitting out on the porch. But she does not like to be touched at all and avoided my husband for several days after he had to grab her once to move her.

My friend's sister says that Gansy has never laid an egg, and she has not laid an egg since she's been here. She's been with us only 4 months but was with them for over a year. I don't know what type of goose she is, but I live in Mexico and I know that they tend to cross breed birds to favor heat tolerance so she could be a mix specific to this region. It would be neat to know, though.

Gansy is one cool character and has been an ideal addition to our flock (7 layers, 4 3-month old pullets, 3 3-month old roosters, 2 3-week old chicks and a 2-month old turkey pair) so her value to us isn't solely based on egg production. But ideally I'd like to know if there is a problem contributing to why she's not laying or if there is something I should do. Maybe she needs a boyfriend? Maybe she didn't lay because of the stress in her old environment and came here too late in the season? I'm new to goose raising so perhaps I'm doing something wrong.

Her Stats:
Height:approx 33"
Weight: approx 18 lbs
Eyes: Crystal blue eyeballs with yellow edges
Feather Color: Pure white with shades of gray on her wings and back and a splotch of gray on her head/neck
Feet color: pinkish and yellowish
Beak color: shiny yellow with a pink "eggtooth" at the end
Food: She eats alongside the chickens in the morning (laying chicken feed mixed with dry corn. And also fermented mash we get from a local brewery once a week) and free ranges all afternoon where she eats a lot of grasses, palm fronds and other treats she digs up. (she loves the discarded exoskeletons of the cicadas and will search for them all afternoon) She also eats kitchen scraps when I put them out for the chickens.
Nest: I made her a private nest box (much larger than the chicken box) but she never touched it so I turned it over to use for the chicks to sleep in at the moment.

Thank you for any help or comments!

 

[livininbrazil]

This is my goose Guinan (Gansy for short). Long story short she ended up with us because we lost a chicken to a stray dog and my friend thought she'd be a good "watchdog" for the flock. He didn't really ask, just brought her over one day. But he was right, she keeps good track of the flock when they're free ranging and alerts us when a person, bird or other animal (like a snake) is nearby. She lived with my friends sister prior to us but she wanted us to have her because Gansy was biting and showing aggression toward her small kids. Gansy seriously hates children and never misses an opportunity to bite one. She has never been aggressive towards myself or my husband. Quite the opposite, we take her for walks on the beach every day where she follows right along and if we flap our arms she gets right into formation and starts flapping. She loves being with us and will nap near the house door if we aren't sitting out on the porch. But she does not like to be touched at all and avoided my husband for several days after he had to grab her once to move her.

My friend's sister says that Gansy has never laid an egg, and she has not laid an egg since she's been here. She's been with us only 4 months but was with them for over a year. I don't know what type of goose she is, but I live in Mexico and I know that they tend to cross breed birds to favor heat tolerance so she could be a mix specific to this region. It would be neat to know, though.

Gansy is one cool character and has been an ideal addition to our flock (7 layers, 4 3-month old pullets, 3 3-month old roosters, 2 3-week old chicks and a 2-month old turkey pair) so her value to us isn't solely based on egg production. But ideally I'd like to know if there is a problem contributing to why she's not laying or if there is something I should do. Maybe she needs a boyfriend? Maybe she didn't lay because of the stress in her old environment and came here too late in the season? I'm new to goose raising so perhaps I'm doing something wrong.

Her Stats:
Height:approx 33"
Weight: approx 18 lbs
Eyes: Crystal blue eyeballs with yellow edges
Feather Color: Pure white with shades of gray on her wings and back and a splotch of gray on her head/neck
Feet color: pinkish and yellowish
Beak color: shiny yellow with a pink "eggtooth" at the end
Food: She eats alongside the chickens in the morning (laying chicken feed mixed with dry corn. And also fermented mash we get from a local brewery once a week) and free ranges all afternoon where she eats a lot of grasses, palm fronds and other treats she digs up. (she loves the discarded exoskeletons of the cicadas and will search for them all afternoon) She also eats kitchen scraps when I put them out for the chickens.
Nest: I made her a private nest box (much larger than the chicken box) but she never touched it so I turned it over to use for the chicks to sleep in at the moment.

Thank you for any help or comments!

Lovely pics. Lovely place to live, and seems your goose has a great life. You could try getting another goose for company, it could settle this one a bit better. How do you know it´s a 'she'?
Seems to be a cross-breed, or could be a less well-known breed. And geese don´t like being manhandled as a rule.

 

[IronEagle]

Lovely pics. Lovely place to live, and seems your goose has a great life. You could try getting another goose for company, it could settle this one a bit better. How do you know it´s a 'she'?
Seems to be a cross-breed, or could be a less well-known breed. And geese don´t like being manhandled as a rule.

livininbrazil: Thank you for your reply and the compliments, we are very happy here and want Gansy to have a nice life and be happy, too. (free from those terrorizing children she hates so much!) Just recently she has become attached to our smallest chicks and she seems a bit happier. We move them during the day into a small protected house just in front of where she lounges and she watches them all day long. She "talks" to them with a sound we had never heard her make before (it's mostly breath with a very soft honk) and then lowers her head all the way down to their face. I hope this attachment to the chicks will help her.

I had the same question about gender and made my friend "check" that it's a she. (he thought I was out of my mind!) I Googled it and we found the "keep" on her back. Now I'm no expert and she was traumatized so I did not make him check her vent and just took the keep as sure thing. But I suppose it still could be a male. I really wish it was easier to tell!

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Welcome to BYC.. so you don't know how old she is? I do want to say she is beautiful and I'm thinking probably a mix too. She sure has a beautiful place to live and sounds like she has the ideal home now. Could she possibly just be an older goose and maybe her laying years are behind her?and now she is just a nanny.

 

[livininbrazil]

livininbrazil: Thank you for your reply and the compliments, we are very happy here and want Gansy to have a nice life and be happy, too. (free from those terrorizing children she hates so much!) Just recently she has become attached to our smallest chicks and she seems a bit happier. We move them during the day into a small protected house just in front of where she lounges and she watches them all day long. She "talks" to them with a sound we had never heard her make before (it's mostly breath with a very soft honk) and then lowers her head all the way down to their face. I hope this attachment to the chicks will help her.

I had the same question about gender and made my friend "check" that it's a she. (he thought I was out of my mind!) I Googled it and we found the "keep" on her back. Now I'm no expert and she was traumatized so I did not make him check her vent and just took the keep as sure thing. But I suppose it still could be a male. I really wish it was easier to tell!

Thanks again for your reply.

What´s a 'keep'? This is new to me.
But male or female, geese do love their own kind. He/she´s probably doing the goose thing, getting all maternal or paternal over little fluffy things, but when they get bigger they´ll know it!

And like MLyd said, if it´s an older female, it may just have stopped laying. They´ll lay up to about 10 years old or even more.

 

[The goose girl]

I had the same question about gender and made my friend "check" that it's a she. (he thought I was out of my mind!) I Googled it and we found the "keep" on her back. Now I'm no expert and she was traumatized so I did not make him check her vent and just took the keep as sure thing. But I suppose it still could be a male. I really wish it was easier to tell!

It is pretty easy to tell in an adult goose: Eggs = goose; no eggs = gander. Well ok, except if it's a very old goose past her laying years. They usually keep laying until they're 15-25 years old, so if you know she's younger than say ten years, chances are you should rename her Gandy.

There's no way of checking gender from their backs.

 

[IronEagle]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'm not totally sure how I'd tell her age, so it is possible that she is much older than I thought. But it sounds more likely that she's a he. Which I was suspicious of all along. Doesn't make much of a difference to me but for once and for all it is good to know.

Thank you again!
IE

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'm not totally sure how I'd tell her age, so it is possible that she is much older than I thought. But it sounds more likely that she's a he. Which I was suspicious of all along. Doesn't make much of a difference to me but for once and for all it is good to know.

Thank you again!
IE

Just wondering what the voice is like? is it high pitched and loud or low and quiet? high pitched -gander low- goose.

 

[livininbrazil]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'm not totally sure how I'd tell her age, so it is possible that she is much older than I thought. But it sounds more likely that she's a he. Which I was suspicious of all along. Doesn't make much of a difference to me but for once and for all it is good to know.

Thank you again!
IE

Ironeagle, just tosay that if you´d like to get him/her a friend, best to get a female. 2 males aren´t likely to get along. That´s if yours is a male, of course. On the other hand, once they´ve got accustomed, two females (if yours is actually a female) will get along fine. As, of course, a couple will after a short time.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ironeagle, just tosay that if you´d like to get him/her a friend, best to get a female. 2 males aren´t likely to get along. That´s if yours is a male, of course. On the other hand, once they´ve got accustomed, two females (if yours is actually a female) will get along fine. As, of course, a couple will after a short time.

Livin hows your doing? any eggs yet or too early?