The African and Chinese goose thread!!

[fowlmama]

this is my beloved Hansel.....proud daddy of sloan & slade! His partner Gretel died very unexpectedly in early January. She wasn't even a year old. I found her in the backyard. She looked like she had died in her sleep. .
Thank goodness I already had darla & lydikins! I'm not sure he even grieved for her? I sure did....enough for both of us...
anyway wanted to share Hansel with everyone. ...he's amazing. Let's me walk right up to him & pick him up.....he thinks I'm one of HIS girls. ..he's waiting on me to get my feathers!

 

[Starfire669]

That gander is stunning! Is he a brown Chinese? He looks bigger than I remember my moms old brown Chinese gander looking.

 

[Starfire669]

I have a question, does anyone on this treat use livestock guardians for thir flocks? I have a very intelligent Belgian malinios mix ( they are closely related to German shepards) that has a very high need to please. I rescued him as a pup, he had been starved and badly beaten. He attacked all cats and men on site. Now he lives with 4 cats and loves lap time with daddy and attention from strangers. When my gosling was sick I brought her in the house, he walked over to investigate and nuzzled and licked her a few times (she was wrapped in a towel on my lap), no aggression at all! Could I train him to guard the flock? Or is he to old at 4 for more rehab?

 

[livininbrazil]

LB,
No the eggs didn't stink......how long should I leave them for her to on before I remove them? And any suggestions on how to do that without traumatizing her? It's her last two eggs....do I just take one at a time? Then what if she still insists on setting on nothing?
I'll give babies back.....just not yet.....I don't trust our weather yet & not sure I trust her?

Well, as the second survivor hatched 4 days behind the the other, I don´t know what to suggest. You could candle them. Probably for you, the best thing is to leave them there for a few days.
You won´t actually traumatise her, especially if you give her her goslings. This is a good time to do it, as she´s still feeling broody and should take to them very well. Once she has her goslings, you can take the eggs and she´ll be quite happy.
If you decide to keep the goslings for yourself, then she´ll eventually get fed up of sitting on n othing, but it could take some time.
And you won´t know if you can trust her until you try it. You can do it when you´re able to supervise and see how she goes. If she lets the goslings under her wings, then you know you´re ok. and you won´t have to worry about the weather if she broods them, either.
The choice is yours, I know you´re very nervous about it all.

 

[Iain Utah]

I have a question, does anyone on this treat use livestock guardians for thir flocks? I have a very intelligent Belgian malinios mix ( they are closely related to German shepards) that has a very high need to please. I rescued him as a pup, he had been starved and badly beaten. He attacked all cats and men on site. Now he lives with 4 cats and loves lap time with daddy and attention from strangers. When my gosling was sick I brought her in the house, he walked over to investigate and nuzzled and licked her a few times (she was wrapped in a towel on my lap), no aggression at all! Could I train him to guard the flock? Or is he to old at 4 for more rehab?

If your dog is safe with cats now, chances are good that you can train your dog to be good with your flock. Start by taking him (on leash) with you when you do chores. Work on getting a perfect recall, redirect attention if he looks stimulated using treats and positive reinforcement. Do not use any negative corrections as the dog may associate chores/livestock with pain.

 

[Iain Utah]

Well, as the second survivor hatched 4 days behind the the other, I don´t know what to suggest. You could candle them. Probably for you, the best thing is to leave them there for a few days.
You won´t actually traumatise her, especially if you give her her goslings. This is a good time to do it, as she´s still feeling broody and should take to them very well. Once she has her goslings, you can take the eggs and she´ll be quite happy.
If you decide to keep the goslings for yourself, then she´ll eventually get fed up of sitting on n othing, but it could take some time.
And you won´t know if you can trust her until you try it. You can do it when you´re able to supervise and see how she goes. If she lets the goslings under her wings, then you know you´re ok. and you won´t have to worry about the weather if she broods them, either.
The choice is yours, I know you´re very nervous about it all.

X2. I will also add that if you give broody mama geese, she and your precious gander (who is stunning), will be very happy. However, if you do not give them goslings, your broody mama will eventually give up on the nest and go through a short period of depression, which is normal but can be hard for us humans to watch.

 

[Starfire669]

Oh thanks! We have stray dogs and cats here. But they keep out nasty snakes, rats, skunk, possum, raccoons, and coyotes so I don't want to kill them. It's better to deal with 2 known predators thn all those nasties. My Belgian is a doggy genius, he house trained in 3 days and he helps enforce the rules among the other 5 dogs we have. He is also has mad dog fighting skills (found out when I started taking him to dog parks for socialization training). He has taken down dogs twice his size and also had an even match with 2 adult shepards and their pup. I broke up the fights solo as the owners were scared of their dogs, idiots! If you aren't willing and able to control, safeguard your animals don't get them! Now Rascal behaves at the park he just air snaps a warning if a dog tries to dominate him, but doesn't fight. I'm very proud of him. To ensure my dogs good behavior I still take them to the park once a week. Rascal in my favorite pooch, we have a very close special bond and if I look mad at him it breaks his heart.

I hope to use his territorial instinct to buy me time to drive the strays out. If he just ignores the flock but sounds the alarm when intrusions happen I will be happy. My flock will only be out when myself or my husband is home to watch over them.

I will keep you posted on his progress as a flock guardian!

 

[livininbrazil]

X2. I will also add that if you give broody mama geese, she and your precious gander (who is stunning), will be very happy. However, if you do not give them goslings, your broody mama will eventually give up on the nest and go through a short period of depression, which is normal but can be hard for us humans to watch.

AND fowlmama, just to add; I know you want to raise them to be tame, but you know you CAN do it even if they stay with the parent geese. I know some people say otherwise, but i did it with my goslings with 5 different geese, and only 3 of those I hand-reared. All 19 goslings are easy to handle. As you have tame adults, your goslings will be easy to keep tame. There´s such a delight in watching doting parent geese looking after their little ones. just go steadily, and try to trust your goose just a bit.

 

[livininbrazil]

Oh thanks! We have stray dogs and cats here. But they keep out nasty snakes, rats, skunk, possum, raccoons, and coyotes so I don't want to kill them. It's better to deal with 2 known predators thn all those nasties. My Belgian is a doggy genius, he house trained in 3 days and he helps enforce the rules among the other 5 dogs we have. He is also has mad dog fighting skills (found out when I started taking him to dog parks for socialization training). He has taken down dogs twice his size and also had an even match with 2 adult shepards and their pup. I broke up the fights solo as the owners were scared of their dogs, idiots! If you aren't willing and able to control, safeguard your animals don't get them! Now Rascal behaves at the park he just air snaps a warning if a dog tries to dominate him, but doesn't fight. I'm very proud of him. To ensure my dogs good behavior I still take them to the park once a week. Rascal in my favorite pooch, we have a very close special bond and if I look mad at him it breaks his heart.

I hope to use his territorial instinct to buy me time to drive the strays out. If he just ignores the flock but sounds the alarm when intrusions happen I will be happy. My flock will only be out when myself or my husband is home to watch over them.

I will keep you posted on his progress as a flock guardian!

And as he´s a shepherd, you may even be able to train him to help you get the geese in at a later date.

 

[Starfire669]

AND fowlmama, just to add;  I know you want to raise them to be tame, but you know you CAN do it even if they stay with the parent geese.  I know some people say otherwise, but i did it with my goslings with 5 different geese, and only 3 of those I hand-reared.  All 19 goslings are easy to handle.  As you have tame adults, your goslings will be easy to keep tame. There´s such a delight in watching doting parent geese looking after their little ones.  just go steadily, and try to trust your goose just a bit. 

I think this was ment for fowlmoma. I only have 5 goslings right now.