aggressive gosling

[txnovicefarmer]

Help! I ordered two straight run African goslings. I believe one is a male. They are adorable and they think I'm their mom. I live in a warm climate, so I've been taking the babies outside for short periods of time each day. I have two adult geese. A male and a female. I keep the goslings protected from the adult geese and I noticed right away that the adult male was very curious about the babies and seemed attentive. My male gosling immediately became aggressive and attacked the big male. It might've been hilarious had it not been so scary. I was able to separate the two and I've been very careful since when I put the babies out. I have them secured in a sizable pen where they can move around freely and eat grass. Today when I took the babies out, the big male came around and was talking to the babies. Not aggressive at all. So, I let the babies out with him in hopes that the previous aggression was just a fluke. Then the male gosling attacked the big male, with wings flapping. My big male retaliated and had the baby by the neck. I was able to break them up and neither was injured. My question is, will the gosling and the adult male ever become friends? I've had my adult geese for 7 years. I've been told that African geese are very aggressive, but my two have never been overly aggressive. Is it possible that the gosling is already establishing dominance? Will there always be aggression between the two? Thank you! Oh! I realized that I forgot to mention the names of my geese and goslings! My female adult is Samantha, and her husband is Silus. The babies were Amy and Janise. But I guess Amy will be renamed Amos! Thought they were both girls. And they might be, but the one that I suspect is male is very large and very aggressive. Except to me. He's my cuddle buddy.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How old are the babies? Never seen that type of aggression in a younger one. I have had older ganders try to kill goslings that he thought were not his.

Sounds like you either need to let them work it out under your supervision, or keep them separately for at least a while, and potentially forever.

 

[txnovicefarmer]

They are 3 weeks old. I never thought I'd have su.ch a problem. My older geese are sweethearts (for African geese) and only display aggression to dogs that wonder onto our property, and sometimes to delivery people and people they don't know. But it's mostly bark and no bite. This youngster is cut from a different cloth. The other baby is just a sweetie. Good suggestion and thank you. I'll keep an eye on the situation. The weather is beautiful today and I have all four geese out roaming. I will definitely have to monitor this situation.

 

[Mantisquailman]

I would just keep them separated until Amos is full
grown, then let them fight it out.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They are 3 weeks old. I never thought I'd have su.ch a problem. My older geese are sweethearts (for African geese) and only display aggression to dogs that wonder onto our property, and sometimes to delivery people and people they don't know. But it's mostly bark and no bite. This youngster is cut from a different cloth. The other baby is just a sweetie. Good suggestion and thank you. I'll keep an eye on the situation. The weather is beautiful today and I have all four geese out roaming. I will definitely have to monitor this situation.

That is quite young to show that type of tenacity. Hopefully as it becomes more familiar with the older ones it will calm down and accept them.

 

[Goosebaby]

Amy could very well be male but not necessarily. Ganders are more likely to be protective and territorial, Chinese type breeds also can often be bolder and more intense than other breeds but even still it is unusual at that age for any breed, although my Dandelion “female Buff x French Toulouse cross” went trough a phase when she was 2 to 3 weeks old where she started bullying and viciously attacking her brothers Roxby and Helios, they had a few fairly nasty battles but grew out of it and she hasn’t picked a fight with anybody since.

Then there’s mr.margelivinlarge on instagram who has a female white Chinese named PeeWee who’s a hell raiser.

 

[Goosebaby]

I would just keep them separated until Amos is full
grown, then let them fight it out.

That’s one option, another is to keep having supervised visits so that they don’t form two separate cliques that will always be hostile. Even if your adult gander keeps putting him/her in their place it might be a better chance at having them work it out as the goslings are growing up rather than trying to make it work between two rival adult gangs.
Even still it’s no guarantee that they won’t fight as adults.

 

[Moments]

They are 3 weeks old. I never thought I'd have su.ch a problem. My older geese are sweethearts (for African geese) and only display aggression to dogs that wonder onto our property, and sometimes to delivery people and people they don't know. But it's mostly bark and no bite. This youngster is cut from a different cloth. The other baby is just a sweetie. Good suggestion and thank you. I'll keep an eye on the situation. The weather is beautiful today and I have all four geese out roaming. I will definitely have to monitor this situation.

I'm wondering if it's a protection thing? I'm new to geese but got an African with a couple more ducklings and she is 3 1/2 weeks old. Within this week I've noticed her seem protective over the ducklings and sometimes us. If she that's a sound she's not comfortable with or an object (like large ball passing by). Neck sticks out straight and she stands in front of them and she carries on, clearly upset. She's too small of inflict damage but this is the only time I see her do this.