Adding gosling to human imprinted goose

[The goose girl]

I'm planning on getting my goose a playmate. As she is imprinted on humans, she's never expressed any interest in other geese, but I'm hoping to get her maternal instincts to kick in.

The plan is to get her to brood and then sneak a newly hatched gosling under her. She's 4 years old, and her instincts regarding nesting and laying seem to be very sharp. So, step 1, how do I get her to go broody?

So far I've placed 6 fake eggs in her nest. Should I get more? Any idea how long it'll take? She usually goes broody around the end of June, but I can get a gosling around June 5th, and I'd really like her to be sitting on her nest by then.

Background: We're two people sharing her, and she spends her days with us in our respective yards, going for walks, and visiting friends and neighbors. She sleeps and nests in her goose house. She thrives. But her other caretaker turns 77 in a little bit, and he can't spend as much time outside as he used to, especially during the cold season. If we could get her to accept another goose, she'd be less dependant on human company when playing outside.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It took about 2 weeks might have been sooner but my female was getting over the loss of her gosling that died during hatch she really did mourn. But every day me and the 2 babies would parade by her house where she sat and about one week in she really got curious by 2 weeks she was out watching from a distance by 2.5 weeks her and the gander were following behind them when we went for walks. so me being over protective waited till 3 weeks old before one evening the goose and gander went into their house and I put the 2 goslings in with them. I stood at the window and watched both goslings went over and laid down next to the female [Missy] that was it they had their family.
Now yours maybe completely different she may accept right off but that is something you'll just have to watch and see how it all goes. I hope it all works out they are such loving parents.

 

[Iain Utah]

If I recall, these are 2 day old goslings. I would not leave them outside at night. When I have challenges like this, I set up a pen inside my house with a heat lamp in one end. Depending on goose, I will either make pen big enough to be inside with goslings, or have goose just outside of pen. It does not take long, especially if you break her off her nest.

 

[The goose girl]

Happy news! I set up the pavilion today. When I opened the door to the goose house, the goslings ran out - and mommy got really upset and followed them! They were outside in the pavilion for a while, and at one point both goslings were behind me. Mama goose started calling for them immediately, and she greeted them when I produced them for her. So it seems they have bonded now - I am so happy and relieved.

I removed the last egg from the nest while they were out. She didn't seem upset when she came back in, and she settled calmly with the goslings for a nap. I think we're over the hump now.

Thank you all so much for your help and insights! I was feeling so insecure about this whole project, and it helped tremendously to have you guys to "talk to".

 

[Iain Utah]

Happy to hear you are getting your goose a friend!!

The gosling should latch on very quickly to your goose. And even being imprinted to you, your goose will accept a gosling of any age. It may take a few minutes or a few days. The key is keeping them together continuously and not interfering with their bonding.

I've moved broody geese before, sometimes it works, but it usually results in goose taking a break before setting up a new nest.

 

[Iain Utah]

No worries there. When you only have a few, they usually all link together as one group regardless of breed. On the other hand, when you have groups of distinct breeds, then they migrate towards their own breed.

Chinese are personally not my favorite breed. If it were me, I'd go for a breed I like over making sure they are super young goslings. Even if you get an adult male, I'm sure she'd bond up pretty quickly.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I would not feel comfortable letting them stay out with her over night bonding may take a few days to a week .

 

[The goose girl]

Thank you so much, Sarkchick, Miss Lydia, and Iain Utah.

I ended up letting them stay with her overnight. They're not outside per se; they're in a small goose house, and it's fairly warm here. It went fine, both goslings were happy and active this morning, and best of all: mommy hardly hisses at them at all now. I'll remove her last egg from the nest tomorrow and see if that helps them bonding. I wanted to do it today, but I need to set up protection from crows before they can go outside, and as the wind was really strong today it couldn't be done.

They're sooo cute!

 

[The goose girl]

Just an update: Things are going extremely well; the babies are growing like weeds, and we're taking them out for supervised field trips to the pond. Mama goose seems to feel very secure about us handling them, but she turns into a T-rex if anyone else comes near them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

She'll most likely be fine if you leave her in the house while you move her.

I had 2 day old gosling that I raised inside till they were [I felt old enough to be with my goose pair] they were 3 weeks old. I did take them out daily to meet and great the adults. You'll most likely have to remove her eggs before she'll show interest in a new gosling.