Ayla_noemi
Chirping
Hello,
I have a curious Toulouse goose/gander I was wondering if anyone could help me understand his/her behavior and possibly determine gender. For the purpose of simplicity I will refer to it as a gander.
I can’t say that it’s male or female for sure but I think it’s a male because it tries to mate with one of my female pigs. ( I know weird right). I do have other female and male geese but this one decided it wanted nothing to do with them the day I released some juvenile ducks from their pen. This gander decided that day as the other geese chased these juvenile ducks around to protect them from the flock he was raised with. He is the ring leader of my ducks and will fight anyone to protect his ducks. Strangely some have matured by now and are mating with each other but this gander still sees them as his ducklings that need protection and guidance. He does not fight or attempt to mate with them. He has not shown any nesting behaviours. He also shows the protective behaviours towards his ducks as my other ganders show towards the females and their nesting area. I am confused by this. There’s nothing in it for him to have a flock of adult ducks is there? Every time I release new ducks he studies them and brings them into the group. These pictures were taken a while ago at different times.
What is he doing? Why is he doing it? Should I let him continue? Should I encourage him to rejoin the geese? Would he make a good goose flock leader if I cull some of the other males? Is it even a gander at all? Would it be a good mother if I remove some of the males? Thank you for your help in advance.
I have a curious Toulouse goose/gander I was wondering if anyone could help me understand his/her behavior and possibly determine gender. For the purpose of simplicity I will refer to it as a gander.
I can’t say that it’s male or female for sure but I think it’s a male because it tries to mate with one of my female pigs. ( I know weird right). I do have other female and male geese but this one decided it wanted nothing to do with them the day I released some juvenile ducks from their pen. This gander decided that day as the other geese chased these juvenile ducks around to protect them from the flock he was raised with. He is the ring leader of my ducks and will fight anyone to protect his ducks. Strangely some have matured by now and are mating with each other but this gander still sees them as his ducklings that need protection and guidance. He does not fight or attempt to mate with them. He has not shown any nesting behaviours. He also shows the protective behaviours towards his ducks as my other ganders show towards the females and their nesting area. I am confused by this. There’s nothing in it for him to have a flock of adult ducks is there? Every time I release new ducks he studies them and brings them into the group. These pictures were taken a while ago at different times.
What is he doing? Why is he doing it? Should I let him continue? Should I encourage him to rejoin the geese? Would he make a good goose flock leader if I cull some of the other males? Is it even a gander at all? Would it be a good mother if I remove some of the males? Thank you for your help in advance.
