While walking around my neighborhood, I encountered two newly hatched goslings who were wet and trying to stand on my feet. When I continued walking they chased me and kept trying to sit on my feet. It was early spring and about 38 degrees outside. They looked like they were shivering and their mother and father were no were in sight. I did not know much about geese so I googled it and learned that if they don't have feathers they cannot regulate their body temperature. In the event a parent is not nearby they were abandoned and stand no chance on their own. There were coyote sightings in the area and I felt bad for these two little guys. I walked home with them following me the whole way and when I closed the door to my house I could hear them crying on the sidewalk. They couldn't jump onto the deck and literally sounded like they were crying. I opened the door and got a happy chirp noise from both of them. I got my phone back out and checked my weather app. It was going to get below freezing that night and they would surely not make it. I walked over and put my hands out and they jumped into my palms and sat down. They closed their eyes and sounded like they were purring. Shuttering/doing a little shiver with their necks while their eyes remained closed, their necks bent and while sitting down. I have never seen any wild animal ask for help like this and I knew I couldn't leave them outside.
I put them in a box, gave them water, and lettuce I had in my fridge. I turned out the lights to go to bed and they cried. I turned them back on and got a happy chirp. They were relentless. Finally out of exhaustion, I picked them up and they promptly closed their eyes and settled down making that purr/shiver. I needed sleep so decided to sleep on the sofa with them wrapped up in a blanket in my arms. They slept soundly through the night. Little did I know that after doing more research the following day that they would imprint on me. They were happy so long as they could see me or be near me. But if I left the room even briefly, a heart wrenching cry. They also watch you constantly, so you have no hope of sneaking away unnoticed.
Due to the pandemic, dropping them off at a shelter wasn't possible and I couldn't bring myself to put them outside when we had another expected Spring frost. So I got a guinea pig cage, some wet pads, non medicated chick starter, meal worms, and mixed salad greens. I moved them into my room at night so they could still see me and each night tucked them into a blanket so they would be warm. It took them a few days to sleep through the night. I feel like they have bad eyesight because if I turned my lights off they would cry, pace anxiously, chest butt the cage, and would clearly be distressed. It would be so intense that sleeping through that was impossible and holding them each night was not happening. They are little poop machines after all. I put in a night light and that resolved the problem. But God forbid you get up to pee in the middle of the night and they would cry loudly until you returned for your happy greeting.
They both loved to be held and followed me everywhere. Like a baby, I noticed that they had distinctive cues as to what they were saying. There was a distinctive eh eh eh sound that they would do while maintaining perfect eye contact but while pacing forward and backward. This meant they were out of food or water. Once you refilled it they would stop and go back to whatever they were dong. If they stuck their neck out while opening their mouth with a curled tongue with a repeated cheerful sounding ehuh ehuh, it was a greeting that would stop after a minute. If you left their sight, you would first hear a high pitched fast hmmm. Then it would progressively get higher pitched, louder and more frequent. This is their cry which was accompanied by pacing side to side while they chest butted the cage looking in your direction. Once you returned you would get the greeting.
I read online that males grow 10% larger than the females and one was clearly bigger than the other. I assumed I had a male and a female. I gave them warm baths in my jacuzzi tub and would put them up on the edge. The girl would jump in immediately and dive underwater and swirl around the tub. The boy was much more reserved. He had to be coaxed in. But once in the water he warmed up. His hesitation was clear in that he would get just up to the edge to jump, curl his feet over the side of the tub, bow his head and teeter totter while watching the girl in the tub. He made a slow paced eh long pause eh sound until finally slipping in ungracefully. This happened almost every time.
The girl loved to play in the tub while the boy just wanted to stand there observing. She would get irritated with him standing there and try to nip at him. He would ignore her or move away. She decided it would entertain her to zoom around the tub under water and would come up intentionally under his feet and tip him over. He would freak out flap his wings and yap at her. Then she would do it again and nip his feet and try to tip him over. So funny.
They also had different diet preferences. The girl loves greens, micro greens, and grass. While the boy especially loves worms and the unmedicated chick starter. The girl never ate the chick starter and the boy never ate his micro greens. I decided to stop giving them equal portions of everything and curtailed it to their preferences and everything was from them on devoured with no waste.
They love to follow you around and will even chase after you flapping their wings while they hop if you get too far away for their comfort. But as they got bigger they liked being held less. If you put your palms down on the ground and they want to be held they will walk into your hands and sit down. If you try to pick them up and they don’t want you to, they run from you. Best bet is to sit near them and wait for them to come hop up on you. They really like being close to you, so it happens pretty fast. Once they could no longer fit in my the palm of my hand, you have to put two hands down to pick them up because each of their big feet takes up the whole palm of your hand and they like their feet supported.
Once in your lap, they love their cheeks pet. I noticed they dislike when I try to put my hand over them and pet their back. They are not dogs. Instead they preferred for me stroke their chest with my hand coming in from below (not above). They also really like when you rest your hand on their back but don’t like their back pet. If you rub their cheeks they will stretch their neck out. The girl would literally open her wings, stretch out her legs and neck and look like a dead goose in my lap. It was so cute and she clearly was comfortable and happy.
After a month, I could definitively tell they were in fact boy and girl. I named him Rascal and her Honey. From what I can tell and in cross referencing google, the girl has an all black dark beak. They boy has a lighter wider beaker with a light mark on it. His feet are bigger and he is larger in torso than her. His wings also are coming in much faster than hers. On his back side his tail feathers are kind of rounded like an extra wide U shape while hers look like they come to more of rounder V. His cheeks are also puffier and he is way more insecure. She has a slender face, less puffy cheeks and is fine sitting by herself as long as she can still see you. They boy requires to be in 2ft proximity to you at all times.
There was also a few times they started fighting. The boy started it but the girl finished it. She ripped out some of the feathers in his neck. There was also a few times that he tried to sit with her but his big feet got in the way and he stepped on her. She would get mad and squak at him. He would turn to run and she would reach her little neck out and rip out his tail feathers. When they attack each other they hold the other ones feathers in their mouth and kind of spit it at the other one they come back around. So interesting.
So my son and I one day decided to take them out for a walk. They ran after us flapping their wings and hoping. It was so cute. We ran them up and down the side walk and the faster we ran the more they would flap their wings and get a slight lift off. They aren’t flying yet but soon! Dogs passed us on the side walk very confused, people through it was a sight to see, and the goslings were very friendly and entertained. One dog even rolled over on his back with his legs in the air and the goslings jumped over him and then sat down right by his side. He was a big husky who thought he was lap dog.
Can anyone help me from here? We know they were born too early but now that they are healthy and their feathers are almost in to where they can maintain their own temperature, when will they leave and fly away? Will they be adopted into another gaggle if we find a flock that has goslings of a similar age when we take more walks? Will they ever come back to visit? They are wild and we don’t want to keep them from their natural habitat but we have frown attached and are very curious for more information on next steps. Please advise if you have any experience or advice. Thank you!
I put them in a box, gave them water, and lettuce I had in my fridge. I turned out the lights to go to bed and they cried. I turned them back on and got a happy chirp. They were relentless. Finally out of exhaustion, I picked them up and they promptly closed their eyes and settled down making that purr/shiver. I needed sleep so decided to sleep on the sofa with them wrapped up in a blanket in my arms. They slept soundly through the night. Little did I know that after doing more research the following day that they would imprint on me. They were happy so long as they could see me or be near me. But if I left the room even briefly, a heart wrenching cry. They also watch you constantly, so you have no hope of sneaking away unnoticed.
Due to the pandemic, dropping them off at a shelter wasn't possible and I couldn't bring myself to put them outside when we had another expected Spring frost. So I got a guinea pig cage, some wet pads, non medicated chick starter, meal worms, and mixed salad greens. I moved them into my room at night so they could still see me and each night tucked them into a blanket so they would be warm. It took them a few days to sleep through the night. I feel like they have bad eyesight because if I turned my lights off they would cry, pace anxiously, chest butt the cage, and would clearly be distressed. It would be so intense that sleeping through that was impossible and holding them each night was not happening. They are little poop machines after all. I put in a night light and that resolved the problem. But God forbid you get up to pee in the middle of the night and they would cry loudly until you returned for your happy greeting.
They both loved to be held and followed me everywhere. Like a baby, I noticed that they had distinctive cues as to what they were saying. There was a distinctive eh eh eh sound that they would do while maintaining perfect eye contact but while pacing forward and backward. This meant they were out of food or water. Once you refilled it they would stop and go back to whatever they were dong. If they stuck their neck out while opening their mouth with a curled tongue with a repeated cheerful sounding ehuh ehuh, it was a greeting that would stop after a minute. If you left their sight, you would first hear a high pitched fast hmmm. Then it would progressively get higher pitched, louder and more frequent. This is their cry which was accompanied by pacing side to side while they chest butted the cage looking in your direction. Once you returned you would get the greeting.
I read online that males grow 10% larger than the females and one was clearly bigger than the other. I assumed I had a male and a female. I gave them warm baths in my jacuzzi tub and would put them up on the edge. The girl would jump in immediately and dive underwater and swirl around the tub. The boy was much more reserved. He had to be coaxed in. But once in the water he warmed up. His hesitation was clear in that he would get just up to the edge to jump, curl his feet over the side of the tub, bow his head and teeter totter while watching the girl in the tub. He made a slow paced eh long pause eh sound until finally slipping in ungracefully. This happened almost every time.
The girl loved to play in the tub while the boy just wanted to stand there observing. She would get irritated with him standing there and try to nip at him. He would ignore her or move away. She decided it would entertain her to zoom around the tub under water and would come up intentionally under his feet and tip him over. He would freak out flap his wings and yap at her. Then she would do it again and nip his feet and try to tip him over. So funny.
They also had different diet preferences. The girl loves greens, micro greens, and grass. While the boy especially loves worms and the unmedicated chick starter. The girl never ate the chick starter and the boy never ate his micro greens. I decided to stop giving them equal portions of everything and curtailed it to their preferences and everything was from them on devoured with no waste.
They love to follow you around and will even chase after you flapping their wings while they hop if you get too far away for their comfort. But as they got bigger they liked being held less. If you put your palms down on the ground and they want to be held they will walk into your hands and sit down. If you try to pick them up and they don’t want you to, they run from you. Best bet is to sit near them and wait for them to come hop up on you. They really like being close to you, so it happens pretty fast. Once they could no longer fit in my the palm of my hand, you have to put two hands down to pick them up because each of their big feet takes up the whole palm of your hand and they like their feet supported.
Once in your lap, they love their cheeks pet. I noticed they dislike when I try to put my hand over them and pet their back. They are not dogs. Instead they preferred for me stroke their chest with my hand coming in from below (not above). They also really like when you rest your hand on their back but don’t like their back pet. If you rub their cheeks they will stretch their neck out. The girl would literally open her wings, stretch out her legs and neck and look like a dead goose in my lap. It was so cute and she clearly was comfortable and happy.
After a month, I could definitively tell they were in fact boy and girl. I named him Rascal and her Honey. From what I can tell and in cross referencing google, the girl has an all black dark beak. They boy has a lighter wider beaker with a light mark on it. His feet are bigger and he is larger in torso than her. His wings also are coming in much faster than hers. On his back side his tail feathers are kind of rounded like an extra wide U shape while hers look like they come to more of rounder V. His cheeks are also puffier and he is way more insecure. She has a slender face, less puffy cheeks and is fine sitting by herself as long as she can still see you. They boy requires to be in 2ft proximity to you at all times.
There was also a few times they started fighting. The boy started it but the girl finished it. She ripped out some of the feathers in his neck. There was also a few times that he tried to sit with her but his big feet got in the way and he stepped on her. She would get mad and squak at him. He would turn to run and she would reach her little neck out and rip out his tail feathers. When they attack each other they hold the other ones feathers in their mouth and kind of spit it at the other one they come back around. So interesting.
So my son and I one day decided to take them out for a walk. They ran after us flapping their wings and hoping. It was so cute. We ran them up and down the side walk and the faster we ran the more they would flap their wings and get a slight lift off. They aren’t flying yet but soon! Dogs passed us on the side walk very confused, people through it was a sight to see, and the goslings were very friendly and entertained. One dog even rolled over on his back with his legs in the air and the goslings jumped over him and then sat down right by his side. He was a big husky who thought he was lap dog.
Can anyone help me from here? We know they were born too early but now that they are healthy and their feathers are almost in to where they can maintain their own temperature, when will they leave and fly away? Will they be adopted into another gaggle if we find a flock that has goslings of a similar age when we take more walks? Will they ever come back to visit? They are wild and we don’t want to keep them from their natural habitat but we have frown attached and are very curious for more information on next steps. Please advise if you have any experience or advice. Thank you!
