Geese behavior?

[PonderingKiwi]

I have two female (supposedly.. they were straight run and the bird lady did her best to pick ones she thought were females) Emden geese. We got them as babies from the local feed store.. they aren’t quite a year yet. Raised them indoors which was absolutely awful but I really wanted them to be friendly. Which worked! For me. They’re pretty stand offish with my husband, but they don’t outright attack so I assume it’s a healthy enough relationship. They love me tho. Every time I go outside they just about fly over to see me.. screaming at the top of their lungs. They follow me around and scream the whole time I’m outside. If I bend over they’ll get in my face and tell me all kinds of things very loudly. They don’t have names.. I’ve always just called them Gooses (I know it’s geese but gooses is more fun to say.. I called them ducks when they were yellow. Be ungovernable.). Ones bigger and ones smaller. The smaller one was shy growing up and the bigger one was super friendly.. they switched personalities tho. The small one will let me pet her.. the bigger one is less happy about being touched, but still sings me the songs of her people as loud as she can. I’ve even noticed they hold grudges for me. I had to (gently) pin the rooster (known as Ronald) down to explain that attacking me isn’t acceptable behavior (which worked, surprisingly) and since then the geese bully him (they were scared of him quite literally their whole lives until moments prior to the attitude adjustment).. I thought this was a fluke until I had to try to grab our pug (who goes by many names.. Peach. Squeech. Pugness. Pugniss Everpoo. But most frequently she’s simply.. Pug.) as she flew passed me because she likes to zip around super fast and make the rooster chase her.. he’s not playing and always ends up kicking her in the butt (literally). Which is always a crisis.. pugs are very dramatic. So I tried to snatch her up.. I missed, but the geese saw that and took matters into their own hands (wings? Feathers?) immediately. They ganged up on the poor pug and about had her pinned to the ground before I made it across the yard to scoop her up. They have beat her up a few more times since then. Which makes me sad. I tried to explain it to them.. but they will have none of it. They’ll only leave her alone if she’s on my lap and even then I can see them struggling with wanting to get her but also not wanting to attack me. I would appreciate any ideas on how to call off my accidental goose attack squad. I’m scared to do any experiments because they just seem so much more intelligent than the chickens and they’re just about bigger than me so if they turn against me.. I’ll be goose food.

My husband says I’m biased and I just can’t see how mean they really are and play favorites (but I think he’s just jealous that I have a small goose army and he doesn’t).

We got them as guard geese.. a job they take very seriously. They’re the fun police. No running of any kind is allowed. No loud noises either. If they see the rooster have his way with any ladies? They’ll intervene. Hen fight? The geese are there. They hate the dog getting zoomies and perform entire rage filled charges with their wings out and heads low to the ground. They don’t do anything unprovoked tho. As long as everyone is quiet and they aren’t on the “corrected by mom that one time” list.. no one gets messed with. Is this a goose thing? Are they usually very no nonsense law enforcement?

Another question about them is this: I was outside earlier filling their water and they ran up to me like they always do.. lots of injustice to honk about (likely complaining that the grass is dead) and started nibble tickling me.. seems to be a greeting or like.. checking on me? But this time, the small goose was trying to like.. run up me? I thought she wanted on my lap (I’m crouched at the spigot) so I kinda tried to oblige as opposed to spilling all the water.. she’s way too big so I figured it wouldn’t work so she’d quit, but then she was trying to climb up further! I have claw marks on my left arm, chest, and shoulder (I washed all that and put a little antibiotic ointment on the spot that looked like the skin broke.. gave me claw bruises). She didn’t stop when she failed either. She kept trying! I had to just not fill the water all the way so I could stand up. She was essentially bodying me while I was trying to gently block her. It all happened pretty fast, but she wasn’t biting me.. her sister didn’t join in either. So I don’t think it was like.. an attack. Super weird..

I know they’re animals and we can’t truly know what the deal is.. but if any goose whisperers have any ideas, I’m all ears and claw marks.

I have attached pictures of the various characters in the story as reference (as well as just my favorite picture of a couple of our hens) Tho it seems I don’t have a decent picture of both geese for some reason..

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Your geese behaviors will intensify as breeding season approaches and hormones start to surge. I've had my geese kill chickens, and mine will chase my dogs. It why mine are kept penned with my goats. They cannot be trusted to always behave.

Also sounds like the one might have been attempting to mate with you. You may have a gander.

Geese are wonderful critters, but do better with limitations, and boundaries in my experiences. They can become bullying at times. Others get more familiar with their geese than I do. So hopefully someone who handles theirs can help out.

 

[PonderingKiwi]

Your geese behaviors will intensify as breeding season approaches and hormones start to surge. I've had my geese kill chickens, and mine will chase my dogs. It why mine are kept penned with my goats. They cannot be trusted to always behave.

Also sounds like the one might have been attempting to mate with you. You may have a gander.

Geese are wonderful critters, but do better with limitations, and boundaries in my experiences. They can become bullying at times. Others get more familiar with their geese than I do. So hopefully someone who handles theirs can help out.

Mate with me? Oh my.. I didn’t realize geese got that confused.

Is there any way to tell a goose from a gander when they’re grown up?

They’re so fun. If they weren’t so messy I’d prefer them over the chickens! I enjoy their antics.. tho I could do without the claws

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mate with me? Oh my.. I didn’t realize geese got that confused.

Is there any way to tell a goose from a gander when they’re grown up?

They’re so fun. If they weren’t so messy I’d prefer them over the chickens! I enjoy their antics.. tho I could do without the claws

Generally males are a bit larger and longer in the neck. They also carry themselves more erect in my experiences and are more apt to flap at me when I approach. Later in the season my ganders will be the only ones that will actually make the honking noise when excited. They also will posture more. I can pick them out now easily, but when I began keeping geese it was difficult to distinguish the sexes.

 

[Goosebaby]

if you’re in the northern hemisphere it’s breeding season (winter/spring.)
Geese get very hormonal and pea brained, they get more easily triggered and are more prone to violence. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do about that, they can’t help it and it just requires extra patience.

As for what their sex is. That’s a tough one. Ganders tend to have longer necks in proportion to their bodies than females, they also tend to like to get in between their partner and whoever they feel threatened by. If you have two females or two males it will be harder to tell the difference because the more dominant will act possessive and protective of the other even though they’re the same sex. Female geese will also occasionally mount other females and males will frequently wrestle each other to mount each other, they’ll even try to mount random objects sometimes too, breeding season is crazy.

At some point females will start laying which will be an obvious sign, but multiple females will often share nests so it can be hard at first telling which one is laying or if both are. Usually they’ll lay every other day so if you’re consistently finding an egg every day or two new eggs every other day that’s a sign you have multiple layers.

Emdens are heavyweight breeds, they tend to mature more slowly than small breeds. If you have a female or two their laying the first year can be iffy, they’ll be fully mature at two years old. Two to three year old are when they become most dominant, right now yours are teenagers that are still trying to figure out their status in the flock.

Unfortunately establishing dominance with geese happens individually. You can’t really teach your geese to be nice to someone else, they have to do put in the effort and do it themselves. With mixed flocks the best thing is to ensure that there’s plenty of space for birds to keep a distance from each other, most geese are generally neutral to other birds as long as the others don’t invade their personal space, cramped quarters promote conflict.
For your pug the best thing to do is not really let him and the geese get to close. The Geese have bonded with you and they’re seeing the dog as a potential rival that they need to defend you from.

They’ll actually view anything and anyone as a potential rival that’s trying to steal you away, including your husband, there isn’t much you can do about that, but he can do something about it and I strongly suggest starting now while they’re still young.
He needs to spend more time with them, treats will help. They need to get more used to him so that they can bond with him as another family member.

When geese charge and attack the best thing I’ve found is to pick them up and carry them around for a minute. It rocks their whole world and temporarily snaps them out of their aggression. In breeding season the effects are less permanent because they do get pea brained, but it still helps.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Yes. what @Goosebaby said

 

[PonderingKiwi]

if you’re in the northern hemisphere it’s breeding season (winter/spring.)
Geese get very hormonal and pea brained, they get more easily triggered and are more prone to violence. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do about that, they can’t help it and it just requires extra patience.

As for what their sex is. That’s a tough one. Ganders tend to have longer necks in proportion to their bodies than females, they also tend to like to get in between their partner and whoever they feel threatened by. If you have two females or two males it will be harder to tell the difference because the more dominant will act possessive and protective of the other even though they’re the same sex. Female geese will also occasionally mount other females and males will frequently wrestle each other to mount each other, they’ll even try to mount random objects sometimes too, breeding season is crazy.

At some point females will start laying which will be an obvious sign, but multiple females will often share nests so it can be hard at first telling which one is laying or if both are. Usually they’ll lay every other day so if you’re consistently finding an egg every day or two new eggs every other day that’s a sign you have multiple layers.

Emdens are heavyweight breeds, they tend to mature more slowly than small breeds. If you have a female or two their laying the first year can be iffy, they’ll be fully mature at two years old. Two to three year old are when they become most dominant, right now yours are teenagers that are still trying to figure out their status in the flock.

Unfortunately establishing dominance with geese happens individually. You can’t really teach your geese to be nice to someone else, they have to do put in the effort and do it themselves. With mixed flocks the best thing is to ensure that there’s plenty of space for birds to keep a distance from each other, most geese are generally neutral to other birds as long as the others don’t invade their personal space, cramped quarters promote conflict.
For your pug the best thing to do is not really let him and the geese get to close. The Geese have bonded with you and they’re seeing the dog as a potential rival that they need to defend you from.

They’ll actually view anything and anyone as a potential rival that’s trying to steal you away, including your husband, there isn’t much you can do about that, but he can do something about it and I strongly suggest starting now while they’re still young.
He needs to spend more time with them, treats will help. They need to get more used to him so that they can bond with him as another family member.

When geese charge and attack the best thing I’ve found is to pick them up and carry them around for a minute. It rocks their whole world and temporarily snaps them out of their aggression. In breeding season the effects are less permanent because they do get pea brained, but it still helps.

I appreciate the reply! Very informative. I guess we’ll wait for eggs

They’ve bonded with me and want to keep me all to themselves? I knew I was a Disney princess.. just a violent one, I guess. But in all seriousness, I’ll have my husband be the one to give them their veggie snacks for a while. Hes enormous himself (6’8) so he’s big enough to cuddle them anyway.. I always get beat up by them when I try to catch them.. their wings are just enormous

I have noticed they’ve started hissing a lot. I just thought it was because they aren’t accustomed to me coming outside bundled up in jackets. Maybe they’re just hormonal nutcases.. I can relate with that now and then. Poor ladies.

I read about the differences between males and females and I think I’d need more of a sample size to be able to actually tell anything.. The smaller one is the one acting out of pocket. I read you can sex then by color as babies? She was lighter as a baby where her big sister was a dark baby with a little cape.. I think I have pictures of them as babies, idk if that helps anyone with more experience looking at geese, lemme see.

 

[JRies]

edited If you read the description om metzers it explains sex and down color. https://www.metzerfarms.com/embden-geese.html

 

[PonderingKiwi]

edited If you read the description om metzers it explains sex and down color. https://www.metzerfarms.com/embden-geese.html

Gosh.. I’m looking at these and thinking we might have two males

 

[JRies]

Gosh.. I’m looking at these and thinking we might have two males

The picture with your pug looks like they have a difference. and with them in the box