5 week old gosling with hard crop

[livininbrazil]

They look great.

The roman tufted are really cute. But I don't have the land to support different types of geese, and I wanted Chinese because they are reported to bond to their owners. This is a desirable trait with children, I don't want my kids hurt by an aggressive gander. I thought if I buy friendly geese really young they would bond to us and be less dangerous. Not sure if it works that way, but here's hoping.

So, you won´t be keeping all the babies, then? You´ll have to wait a bit to see which ones are a pair, and go from there. You´ll be able to tell as they get closer to adult
.
And no, it doesn´t really work that way...as for chinese bonding and being non-aggressive, that seems to be open to speculation. some people have no problem, others have terrible time. I don´t have Chinese, so I really can´t say from personal experience, but around here I only see brown Chinese, not white, which have a fearful reputation among folks!

People will enter a house with a dog, but not a house with a chinese! It´s the males that can get aggressive, more than the females.

Just my suggestion, but if you´re worried about geese with your children, keep a couple of females for them. Ganders and children really don´t mix, whatever the breed, but some breeds are just worse than others in general.

And how´s the little one that was so upset yesterday? Children are quite resilient with these things.

 

[Starfire669]

I figured it didn't work that way, but Chinese had all the qualities I wanted, and my parents had the brown Chinese when I was little. I wanted a goose that could bond to its owners, a goose that would make an excellent watch dog and be LOUD when calling out threats, large enough to give a dog pause and buy me a second to get the gun or bat to defend them (which I hope never happens but was considered), wanted to broodiness to hatch more goslings, and beauty. The Chinese fit all those needs best. But I did not know there was a difference between the brown and white Chinese in temperament. I had wanted 1 white pair and 1 brown pair but no one had any brown Chinese goslings, so I got white.

The plan was to keep 2 pairs of the six and my sister take the remaining 2. These were brought as straight runs, so we knew the odds of getting 3 pairs were slim but we hoped for 2 pairs. If my sisters 2 were same sex we were gonna find mates for them. There is a place that sometimes sells adult geese, a female might be found there. My sister has a lot of acreage, but also more predators. The 2 geese and a few chickens were to be a b-day gift for my brother in law. He sustained losses from come coyotes and a hawk, and they sometimes get boar that they trap. The coyotes have been dealt with, their dog and their neighbor's rotties took care of them. Their nieghbor has chickens and pea fowl. Because my sisters children are grown with families of their own she was willing to take the more aggressive geese. We have 1 who already shows signs of aggression, we call him Gimpy, when we brought him home we noticed that 2 toes on each foot were glued together at the nail. My husband and I cut the nails apart when he was a week old and doctored his feet and you wouldn't know he had a problem. But the webbing between those toes isn't smooth edged, from the single cut we made and so Gimpy is easy for us to tell from the others.
My lap gosling, Jasper is very sweet and will most likely stay and my youngest son wants to keep the largest gosling, who he calls Fatty (I refuse to name him that!) who I believe to be a male also. If the smallest gosling is female, and it might be, becuase the larger goslings sleep with "her" in the center of them all, she will stay. I'll probably name her Maybel, or Jazabel, lol. With the tuft headed gosling, Squeeky, being a different breed or a mix, I don't know how to tell for sure if it's male or female. It's big, strong bodied, and acts like a boy.

Both my sons yesterday we OK. They asked were I buried Tiny, but didn't want to play with the remaining babies at first. I brought them out anyway and after a while the kids came and started interacting with them again. But my son who lost his gosling won't pick another, he thinks it will die too. I am hoping that in a few days he will be back to normal.

 

[Starfire669]

Here my babies are this morning. I grow oat grass for my 4 indoor cats and my 6 dogs. 4 dogs are Siberian huskies and they seem to get hairballs like cats even though I groom them. So i grow buckets of grass, 2 long window boxes for the cats that i rotate and 2 round buckets for the dogs. When the grass gets tall I take it to the geese and chickens for mowing and then start over. Lol. All animals involved seem to like the arrangement. I like not having to throw out the grass because it go to tall for the cats to chew.

 

[livininbrazil]

I figured it didn't work that way, but Chinese had all the qualities I wanted, and my parents had the brown Chinese when I was little. I wanted a goose that could bond to its owners, a goose that would make an excellent watch dog and be LOUD when calling out threats, large enough to give a dog pause and buy me a second to get the gun or bat to defend them (which I hope never happens but was considered), wanted to broodiness to hatch more goslings, and beauty. The Chinese fit all those needs best. But I did not know there was a difference between the brown and white Chinese in temperament. I had wanted 1 white pair and 1 brown pair but no one had any brown Chinese goslings, so I got white.

The plan was to keep 2 pairs of the six and my sister take the remaining 2. These were brought as straight runs, so we knew the odds of getting 3 pairs were slim but we hoped for 2 pairs. If my sisters 2 were same sex we were gonna find mates for them. There is a place that sometimes sells adult geese, a female might be found there. My sister has a lot of acreage, but also more predators. The 2 geese and a few chickens were to be a b-day gift for my brother in law. He sustained losses from come coyotes and a hawk, and they sometimes get boar that they trap. The coyotes have been dealt with, their dog and their neighbor's rotties took care of them. Their nieghbor has chickens and pea fowl. Because my sisters children are grown with families of their own she was willing to take the more aggressive geese. We have 1 who already shows signs of aggression, we call him Gimpy, when we brought him home we noticed that 2 toes on each foot were glued together at the nail. My husband and I cut the nails apart when he was a week old and doctored his feet and you wouldn't know he had a problem. But the webbing between those toes isn't smooth edged, from the single cut we made and so Gimpy is easy for us to tell from the others.
My lap gosling, Jasper is very sweet and will most likely stay and my youngest son wants to keep the largest gosling, who he calls Fatty (I refuse to name him that!) who I believe to be a male also. If the smallest gosling is female, and it might be, becuase the larger goslings sleep with "her" in the center of them all, she will stay. I'll probably name her Maybel, or Jazabel, lol. With the tuft headed gosling, Squeeky, being a different breed or a mix, I don't know how to tell for sure if it's male or female. It's big, strong bodied, and acts like a boy.

Both my sons yesterday we OK. They asked were I buried Tiny, but didn't want to play with the remaining babies at first. I brought them out anyway and after a while the kids came and started interacting with them again. But my son who lost his gosling won't pick another, he thinks it will die too. I am hoping that in a few days he will be back to normal.

Well, I don´t know if there´s a difference between brown and white chicnese, as such...it´s just that some chinese seem to be terrors, and others not.
sad about your little lad. Hopefully he´ll feel differently later on.
You´re not really going to be able to tell the sexes yet, people can guess, but it´s only a guess. You´ll just have to wait. There´s no telling yet, apart from vent sexing, (which is difficult to do, I´ve not had any success with that yet), and the knobs on their bills later on.
As regards aggressive geese, the mildest ones can become terrors when they become ganders in breeding season. Not all breeds are awful, but I have a feeling chinese could be among the more difficult to deal with. Why not have a read up on the Chinese/African thread and post some queries on there to know more about the breed?

 

[Starfire669]

I have been reading about ganders in general and Chinese in particular all over google. But I think I will ask questions here. This site has been extremely helpful and has given me more useful information in the past few days than a month googling chicken/geese questions did!

I hope my sons gets better too, he is my middle child and has speech/reading difficulty but is an extremely gentle soul. I let all 3 of my children adopt a kitten from Patches our outside cat. She had 3 litters before I was able to successfully tame and spay her. She had the first before I moved in, caught her for the delivery of the second but she ripped out a window screen before I could get her fixed, her 3rd litter she came to me when she went into labor and I was able to confine her until she was spayed, Thank God! Anyway, he takes such good care of his kitten, it's amazing. So gentle with her. When I got the birds they actually wanted a chicken, but I talked them into a female goose because I thought chickens didn't live that long. He was very gentle and loving with Tiny, picked her grass and made sure it was short and tender, petted her and talked to her. She seemed to like him and I best, as she always came to us running! If the small goose is a girl I will try and get him to bond to her.

My youngest son is upset but not as much because it wasnt "his goose" that died. But he also isn't as sensitive as my older son. I am trying to tell him that "his" goose could be a boy and ganders turn aggressive but he is fighting to keep that goose. He may have to learn the hard way. My daughter is more interested in college than pets. She is happy with her kitten and wants nothing else as a pet until she is out of college, smart girl.

 

[livininbrazil]

I have been reading about ganders in general and Chinese in particular all over google. But I think I will ask questions here. This site has been extremely helpful and has given me more useful information in the past few days than a month googling chicken/geese questions did!

I hope my sons gets better too, he is my middle child and has speech/reading difficulty but is an extremely gentle soul. I let all 3 of my children adopt a kitten from Patches our outside cat. She had 3 litters before I was able to successfully tame and spay her. She had the first before I moved in, caught her for the delivery of the second but she ripped out a window screen before I could get her fixed, her 3rd litter she came to me when she went into labor and I was able to confine her until she was spayed, Thank God! Anyway, he takes such good care of his kitten, it's amazing. So gentle with her. When I got the birds they actually wanted a chicken, but I talked them into a female goose because I thought chickens didn't live that long. He was very gentle and loving with Tiny, picked her grass and made sure it was short and tender, petted her and talked to her. She seemed to like him and I best, as she always came to us running! If the small goose is a girl I will try and get him to bond to her.

My youngest son is upset but not as much because it wasnt "his goose" that died. But he also isn't as sensitive as my older son. I am trying to tell him that "his" goose could be a boy and ganders turn aggressive but he is fighting to keep that goose. He may have to learn the hard way. My daughter is more interested in college than pets. She is happy with her kitten and wants nothing else as a pet until she is out of college, smart girl.

What a shame it happened to him, then, even more than the others. I can understand him not wanting to bond with another, as none of them will replace the little one he lost. maybe you could think about the chickens again? It would be something totally different for him. and although they don´t live as long as geese, he could have something that is especially his. a couple of hens would give you some nice eggs, too. he may enjoy getting eggs from them. they should live a number of years, especially if you get one of the 'heritage' breeds.
I have Brahmas, and they´re super sweet. Don´t lay a great deal, but I do get eggs sometimes, and they´re so gentle.

And hopefully your older son has chosen a calm gander (if it is a gander, of course). He´ll learn how to cope with him, and if there are any problems, there are masses of posts on here about coping with aggressive ganders. It´s not impossible, just one really important thing is to not be frightened of them and run...one of the worst things you can do.

Did you have a look at the chinese and African thread yet?

 

[Starfire669]

As you can see in the above pic, we have chicks. We have 6 week old straight run silver Wyandottes, rhode reds, and barred rocks, 3 week old buff Orpington pullets, and 3 day old black Australorp pullets in the brooder. The barred rocks are very friendly, even flying up to perch on my shoulder. He can easily pick from any of the hens, though I hear the Orphingtons and Australorps are very friendly and they are also our youngest chicks. He did say he wanted an Americana though. Maybe I can look for a pullet or 2 the blue eggs would stand out that's for sure! But would the larger hens bully them? I tried to stick to same size egg laying breeds.

I will teach all my kids gander control to have maximum safety. Hopefully that will be enough. I have looked at the thread but haven't asked questions yet. I'd like to read more in case someone already covered my question.

Did you like today's photo? The grazing going to the goslings? Lol. They make the job of prepping the planters so much easier for me. And the chickens have a good time scratching in the planters after the grass is gone. The geese can plow through a box in under 5 minutes but I usually leave it for a hour or 2 for chicken fun as I don't allow the chickens out yet. They fly too good and are so small. I'm reading how to clip their wings properly. Maybe next month they will be bigger and can start being let out in the evening while I water the garden.

 

[livininbrazil]

As you can see in the above pic, we have chicks. We have 6 week old straight run silver Wyandottes, rhode reds, and barred rocks, 3 week old buff Orpington pullets, and 3 day old black Australorp pullets in the brooder. The barred rocks are very friendly, even flying up to perch on my shoulder. He can easily pick from any of the hens, though I hear the Orphingtons and Australorps are very friendly and they are also our youngest chicks. He did say he wanted an Americana though. Maybe I can look for a pullet or 2 the blue eggs would stand out that's for sure! But would the larger hens bully them? I tried to stick to same size egg laying breeds.

I will teach all my kids gander control to have maximum safety. Hopefully that will be enough. I have looked at the thread but haven't asked questions yet. I'd like to read more in case someone already covered my question.

Did you like today's photo? The grazing going to the goslings? Lol. They make the job of prepping the planters so much easier for me. And the chickens have a good time scratching in the planters after the grass is gone. The geese can plow through a box in under 5 minutes but I usually leave it for a hour or 2 for chicken fun as I don't allow the chickens out yet. They fly too good and are so small. I'm reading how to clip their wings properly. Maybe next month they will be bigger and can start being let out in the evening while I water the garden.

Sorry, I missed your lovely photo with the chicks, I think we were both doing a post at the same time. What i meant was, really new tiny ones for him to look after, especially for him. Of course, if it´s what he wants, Ameraucana pullets would be nice! I don´t find it´s the size, so much as general temperament with chickens, though I have ISAs which are small, Brahmas which are large, Orpington-crosses, and total mixes all together and they´re fine. And usually hens aren´t too bad if you add a couple of quite young ones, as long as they have space to get out of the way. They soon learn.
Don´t worry about asking the same question, it happens all the time on here, and we just answer it again, or refer someone to another good thread.

Also, you have to be careful with geese eating long grass, it can cause problems. short grass is better for them, no more than 4" really, so try to not let the grass get too long before they get at it. Have fun with your birds.

 

[Starfire669]

When I say long, I mean 4-5 inches. To where the cats leave imprints in it when they nap on it. It's not super long at all. Just too long to be covieniant in a planter, lol. The grass is usually 2 weeks old by the time it hits the chickens/geese pen, 3 weeks tops. so it's young, tender and nutritious too! Lol.

I spoke to a man who has some white Chinese geese, he is willing to swap goslings with me. He will taking the different breed gosling, Squeeky, and maybe Gimpy and swap me 2 females. His geese are under a week old though, so I would have to brood again. But my babies would get an awesome home with a man who needs new blood in his flock and I would get 2 females for my guys. He knows Squeeky may be a mix or completely different breed, but that's ok with him he has other breeds of geese so he would fit it in as best he can. Gimpy would go because of his aggression towards the other geese, he stripped bald spots on the 3 other suspected boys! He knows that I am not sure of their sex, and again it's not a big deal to him. He keeps flocks for different reasons at different places. Some are pets, some breeds, some are weeders, and some to eat. He says his flock are getting on and egg production is dropping, he has never had success swapping hatchlings under momma geese (says his night vision sucks and flashlights upset his geese) and his brooder is currently full with chickens for his parents/brother?

I think it would be a win/win for both of us. My goslings don't need a brooder, they are in a predator proof coop outside day and night.

 

[livininbrazil]

When I say long, I mean 4-5 inches. To where the cats leave imprints in it when they nap on it. It's not super long at all. Just too long to be covieniant in a planter, lol. The grass is usually 2 weeks old by the time it hits the chickens/geese pen, 3 weeks tops. so it's young, tender and nutritious too! Lol.

I spoke to a man who has some white Chinese geese, he is willing to swap goslings with me. He will taking the different breed gosling, Squeeky, and maybe Gimpy and swap me 2 females. His geese are under a week old though, so I would have to brood again. But my babies would get an awesome home with a man who needs new blood in his flock and I would get 2 females for my guys. He knows Squeeky may be a mix or completely different breed, but that's ok with him he has other breeds of geese so he would fit it in as best he can. Gimpy would go because of his aggression towards the other geese, he stripped bald spots on the 3 other suspected boys! He knows that I am not sure of their sex, and again it's not a big deal to him. He keeps flocks for different reasons at different places. Some are pets, some breeds, some are weeders, and some to eat. He says his flock are getting on and egg production is dropping, he has never had success swapping hatchlings under momma geese (says his night vision sucks and flashlights upset his geese) and his brooder is currently full with chickens for his parents/brother?

I think it would be a win/win for both of us. My goslings don't need a brooder, they are in a predator proof coop outside day and night.

Well that sounds good. I don´t know how he tell the sex at such a young age, but then I don´t have Chinese, as I said.....Oh, maybe he knows how to vent-sex. It´s always good to be able to keep flocks healthy by introducing new blood. Well, we´ll look forward to pics of the new ones, then. maybe your little lad will adopt one of the babies.