I actually have 3 questions but first a little background.
I was recently given 6 Sebastopol geese, 4 males and 2 females and a pair of American Buffs. The 2 female Sebbies are a trio with one of the males so I was advised to get females for the 3 males. I picked up 2 Chinese and a Toulouse goose because that is all I could afford and locate.
All of them are supposed to be of laying age. One of the male Sebbies is attacking another, the male I thought belonged to the trio but the attacking male seems to want to be the alpha male and has chosen one of the other Sebbies that is supposed to be a male, to be his mate and she(?) is attacking the same male as her(?) mate. It looks like she(?) is trying to be the alpha female. I try to keep the one being attacked separate at night but when I let them out of the run during the day, I let him do as he pleases.
The attacking male seems to be neck cuddling with the attacking female which is what makes me think that one is a female. He seems to be VERY protective of her. I found one soft shell when we moved them from quarantine to the coop with the other birds but I don't know who laid it. There is no possibility that it was a chicken, guinea or duck egg.
I have read that female geese have, what would you call it? A lower hanging belly? Than the males but the ones I was told are females, this will be their first year to lay. Is the lower hanging belly true in all goose breeds?
Is there anything I can do about the alpha male attacking the other male?
I have 11 ducks and as far as I can tell only one of them is a drake. A couple of days ago I went out to see why one of the geese was hollering and found one of the ducks, a female, I think, hanging onto the goose's feathers. The goose got loose and the duck went after it again.
A note: I have a coop that is enclosed and an addition that has no door on it yet, all surrounded by fence giving them an enclosed run. The geese don't want to sleep in the coop and the ducks used to sleep in the coop until I put the geese in the addition. Now, the ducks have decided to sleep in the addition with the geese.
On Saturday or Sunday, I found 11 eggs in the addition, marked 2 and left them in the nests. The next day is when I think I found the duck attacking the goose. Yesterday, I went out and only found 7 eggs and only one of them was one of those I marked. I left it in the nest and a 2nd one, unmarked, in the other nest. Today, I went out and collected 5 eggs and none of them were marked. I brought all of them in.
This question is: Do geese break the eggs of other birds? And since I found no shells, do they eat them?
I was recently given 6 Sebastopol geese, 4 males and 2 females and a pair of American Buffs. The 2 female Sebbies are a trio with one of the males so I was advised to get females for the 3 males. I picked up 2 Chinese and a Toulouse goose because that is all I could afford and locate.
All of them are supposed to be of laying age. One of the male Sebbies is attacking another, the male I thought belonged to the trio but the attacking male seems to want to be the alpha male and has chosen one of the other Sebbies that is supposed to be a male, to be his mate and she(?) is attacking the same male as her(?) mate. It looks like she(?) is trying to be the alpha female. I try to keep the one being attacked separate at night but when I let them out of the run during the day, I let him do as he pleases.
The attacking male seems to be neck cuddling with the attacking female which is what makes me think that one is a female. He seems to be VERY protective of her. I found one soft shell when we moved them from quarantine to the coop with the other birds but I don't know who laid it. There is no possibility that it was a chicken, guinea or duck egg.
I have read that female geese have, what would you call it? A lower hanging belly? Than the males but the ones I was told are females, this will be their first year to lay. Is the lower hanging belly true in all goose breeds?
Is there anything I can do about the alpha male attacking the other male?
I have 11 ducks and as far as I can tell only one of them is a drake. A couple of days ago I went out to see why one of the geese was hollering and found one of the ducks, a female, I think, hanging onto the goose's feathers. The goose got loose and the duck went after it again.
A note: I have a coop that is enclosed and an addition that has no door on it yet, all surrounded by fence giving them an enclosed run. The geese don't want to sleep in the coop and the ducks used to sleep in the coop until I put the geese in the addition. Now, the ducks have decided to sleep in the addition with the geese.
On Saturday or Sunday, I found 11 eggs in the addition, marked 2 and left them in the nests. The next day is when I think I found the duck attacking the goose. Yesterday, I went out and only found 7 eggs and only one of them was one of those I marked. I left it in the nest and a 2nd one, unmarked, in the other nest. Today, I went out and collected 5 eggs and none of them were marked. I brought all of them in.
This question is: Do geese break the eggs of other birds? And since I found no shells, do they eat them?
