Gosling Behavior

[SmithsCoop41]

Okay y'all,

So I had one gosling hatch out (tomorrow he/she will be 3 weeks old). Well, I'm pretty sure this adorable little angel has imprinted on me, which is fine by me. My question is this: He/she is doing the typical curious gosling behavior of nibbling/biting on fingers, clothes, etc, and while for the most part it doesn't hurt, (although sometimes it gets a little crazy), I do not want the baby gosling to grow up to be used to this behavior as acceptable. We all know that when the baby gets bigger, it will hurt. I have an elderly mother, who even though she thinks he/she is adorable with it's little nibbles now, I myself do not want this to get out of hand, to the point where we cannot even pet it, etc later on. This is the sweetest little baby, and I know him/her is just being playful, but I want to correct this behavior THE CORRECT WAY, but also at the same time, I don't want the gosling to get to where it associates me with something that scolds it. Another question: Do/Are goslings capable of learning acceptable behavior from what's un-acceptable?

Please any advice is appreciated.

Thank you,

"Mother" Goose

 

[Birdsarelife]

Okay y'all,

So I had one gosling hatch out (tomorrow he/she will be 3 weeks old). Well, I'm pretty sure this adorable little angel has imprinted on me, which is fine by me. My question is this: He/she is doing the typical curious gosling behavior of nibbling/biting on fingers, clothes, etc, and while for the most part it doesn't hurt, (although sometimes it gets a little crazy), I do not want the baby gosling to grow up to be used to this behavior as acceptable. We all know that when the baby gets bigger, it will hurt. I have an elderly mother, who even though she thinks he/she is adorable with it's little nibbles now, I myself do not want this to get out of hand, to the point where we cannot even pet it, etc later on. This is the sweetest little baby, and I know him/her is just being playful, but I want to correct this behavior THE CORRECT WAY, but also at the same time, I don't want the gosling to get to where it associates me with something that scolds it. Another question: Do/Are goslings capable of learning acceptable behavior from what's un-acceptable?

Please any advice is appreciated.

Thank you,

"Mother" Goose

This might help
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/gosling-biting.1097591/post-16884776

 

[Goosebaby]

Most of the time if the gosling is chewing on you it’s their way of interacting with you and a sign they like you. It can get to be too intense but not in all cases. With mine when their nibbling got too rough I would gently hold their beak and say “soft” and they eventually got the idea, they can be trained.

Something to keep in mind is that geese associate those who spend a lot of time with them as their family, and those who don’t spend as much time can be regarded as a nuisance or even a rival in breeding season.

For the most part females are non combative but not in every case, Chinese geese in general tend to have bolder personalities and some females can be downright spicy, but even among greylag derived breeds there’s still the occasional Amazon warrior. If you end up with a feisty girl you might end up getting a few nips if she’s trying to establish dominance but keep in mind that there’s a difference between overenthusiastic nibbles and an actual bite.

If by chance your female ends up being a gander, ganders are usually very sweet to whoever they’ve bonded with “their family that spends a lot of time with them, but they get hormonal around winter/spring and become more combative towards “rivals” and are easily triggered and they can’t help it.

 

[AGeese]

Geese are like dogs, they need something to chew on every day. They do it for fun and out of boredom.

 

[SmithsCoop41]

Geese are like dogs, they need something to chew on every day. They do it for fun and out of boredom.

LOL. I figured that. And he/she walks around the house just like one of my dogs to boot! LOL, even drinks out of their water bowl. It did this the other day, and my boxer just stood there and had like this "MOOOOOMMMMM! You're letting that thang drink outta my bowl now?!" look on her face, priceless. All the while the gosling wasn't bothered not one little bit by the look LOL

 

[SmithsCoop41]

Most of the time if the gosling is chewing on you it’s their way of interacting with you and a sign they like you. It can get to be too intense but not in all cases. With mine when their nibbling got too rough I would gently hold their beak and say “soft” and they eventually got the idea, they can be trained.

Something to keep in mind is that geese associate those who spend a lot of time with them as their family, and those who don’t spend as much time can be regarded as a nuisance or even a rival in breeding season.

For the most part females are non combative but not in every case, Chinese geese in general tend to have bolder personalities and some females can be downright spicy, but even among greylag derived breeds there’s still the occasional Amazon warrior. If you end up with a feisty girl you might end up getting a few nips if she’s trying to establish dominance but keep in mind that there’s a difference between overenthusiastic nibbles and an actual bite.

If by chance your female ends up being a gander, ganders are usually very sweet to whoever they’ve bonded with “their family that spends a lot of time with them, but they get hormonal around winter/spring and become more combative towards “rivals” and are easily triggered and they can’t help it.

Yeah, he/she gets a little "spicy" sometimes with the nibblin'. LOL Thank you for the info!

 

[SmithsCoop41]

This might help
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/gosling-biting.1097591/post-16884776

Thank you!