OK, I am convinced my goose is a male (https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/910153/my-goose-has-never-laid-an-egg) but my neighbor will not budge on it being a female. Has anyone seen their gander make a nest?
Nearly every morning after he's eaten and gone for a swim, Gansy spends the next few hours collecting small sticks and leaves and putting them in my husbands shoe that he takes off just outside the front door. Sometimes he'll put them in his shoe, then remove them and put them onto his own feet, and then put them back in the shoe. If my husband goes outside to put the shoe on (removing the debris first) the next time he takes it off Gansy will come back and put it back in. He also will sit with the shoe and nip at it over and over. it's not a real bite per-se, just rubbing the tip of his beak all over it.
Then the other day I was doing yard work and found a randomly arranged pile of sticks and branches at the base of a palm tree between the stump and a fence. I had seen Gansy in that spot a few times and it was all the same stuff that he puts in my husbands shoe.
So... my neighbor insists that Gansy has be be a female because she is making a nest to lay her eggs. But I have seen my Old English Bantam rooster "fluff" up a nest for his lady to lay an egg in, so I think it's possible that a gander would prepare a nest even without a goose to lay an egg in it, right?
Also, it has proven a difficult task to find my goose a mate. He was originally purchased as a bonded pair but his companion was stolen. Now it seems that he is an uncommon breed here and I have not been able to find a goose the same size. We've only been able to find the smaller duck-like geese. Is it OK to mate the two different types of geese? Will he bond with a female of a different type. My biggest fear is obtaining a female and Gansy not liking her and then I have two lonely geese! What seems to be the acceptable variation in geese with them still recognizing familiarity? And can they still breed?
As always, thanks so much for your help!
IronEagle
Nearly every morning after he's eaten and gone for a swim, Gansy spends the next few hours collecting small sticks and leaves and putting them in my husbands shoe that he takes off just outside the front door. Sometimes he'll put them in his shoe, then remove them and put them onto his own feet, and then put them back in the shoe. If my husband goes outside to put the shoe on (removing the debris first) the next time he takes it off Gansy will come back and put it back in. He also will sit with the shoe and nip at it over and over. it's not a real bite per-se, just rubbing the tip of his beak all over it.
Then the other day I was doing yard work and found a randomly arranged pile of sticks and branches at the base of a palm tree between the stump and a fence. I had seen Gansy in that spot a few times and it was all the same stuff that he puts in my husbands shoe.
So... my neighbor insists that Gansy has be be a female because she is making a nest to lay her eggs. But I have seen my Old English Bantam rooster "fluff" up a nest for his lady to lay an egg in, so I think it's possible that a gander would prepare a nest even without a goose to lay an egg in it, right?
Also, it has proven a difficult task to find my goose a mate. He was originally purchased as a bonded pair but his companion was stolen. Now it seems that he is an uncommon breed here and I have not been able to find a goose the same size. We've only been able to find the smaller duck-like geese. Is it OK to mate the two different types of geese? Will he bond with a female of a different type. My biggest fear is obtaining a female and Gansy not liking her and then I have two lonely geese! What seems to be the acceptable variation in geese with them still recognizing familiarity? And can they still breed?
As always, thanks so much for your help!
IronEagle
