Advice Needed: Aggressive Gander Trying to Kill Goose

[Jelibaen]

Hey everybody. I'm a mess as I type this out, and its going to be a long post. Sorry and thank you in advance.

Today's subject matter:
My gander is trying to mate with my ducks instead of my goose, and tried to kill the goose.

Context:
My Toulouse gander (2 yrs) refuses to pair up with the Toulouse goose he has been buddies with for the last year. Instead of bonding with the goose, he kept trying to bond with one of my drakes. Full on courting, separating from the other ducks, doing everything that he would do with a goose to this drake. Instead of the goose. The goose kept following him around because SHE wanted to be his mate, but he wouldn't pay attention to her at all.

The gander started trying to mate the drake so I put him and the goose in their own pen a few weeks ago, because I was worried he would injure the ducks and I want the geese to breed. He's normally hissy and nippy with breeding season but only with me, not with the other birds. He kept making escape attempts, and still wouldnt bother with the goose at all. I blocked off the fence wall so he couldnt see the ducks but it didnt help.

Current problem:
The gander got out of the pen two days ago and went right back to trying to find his duck. I put him back in with the goose when I got home that evening. Within 5 mins of putting him back with the goose, he was ripping feathers out of her wings and back, grabbing her and dragging her by the neck back and forth across the pen, and beating her up with his wings. He didn't try to mate her at all, even though she was posturing for him and not fighting back at all.
I pulled her out of the pen and put her back with the ducks, and put the gander in there by himself. She's recovering well, but is now terrified to go into the coop with him. He keeps trying to get out and attack her and the others through the fence. He's made himself bleed around the mouth biting at the fence.

The point:
I've had it with him and the stress he has put on literally everybody. My ducks are at risk, he's already injured himself and the goose, and my stress levels are sky high. I cant rehome him to somewhere that has ducks because he will try to mate with them and hurt them, and he will not bond to other geese so that's a no go. I dont want to risk someone else's birds.
I made the decision to cull him, which is eating me alive and my family aren't happy about it either. I raised him from a week old. I wanted so hard for this to work out but it has been over a month now and all I have are stressed birds and vet bills.
I know geese are aggressive during breeding season. I knew that before I got them. But I dont think geese are supposed to ignore their entire species and try to kill them for ducks instead.
I dont know what else to do. Am I wrong to cull him? I dont want aggression bred into my geese but it doesn't really matter if they aren't breeding.

I am really just struggling right now. I'm sorry this is such a long post. I appreciate any help and advice you have, because I hate myself for making this choice but I don't see any other options.


TLDR: my gander wants to mate a drake instead of the goose. Separating them from the ducks didnt work. Gander tried to kill the goose. Do I cull him or not?

 

[Jenbirdee]

Im so sorry for this stressful situation you are in, I would be a mess too if he were mine, but I agree that first of all he should not be bred, and you cant put him back in with anyone... so my opinion is I think your choice to cull is a good one, howbeit heartbreaking.
Where did you get your geese from?
I wonder if there was some 'inbreeding'
I heard it can create geese that are not normal.
My 2 geese are bro & sis and I think their parents may have also been bro& sis so I will not let them hatch any eggs. Im afraid of getting abnormal goslings who may perhaps be aggressive or angry geese.
This is a very hard decision for you to make but you need to protect your ducks and your goose hen. Hopefully you can get a new , nicer gander for her. Lots of people offer rehome ganders .

@Goosebaby
@Miss Lydia

 

[JRies]

Culling him is a good option. at 2 if he is still aggressive it wouldn't change. First year breeding season there all nuts but my 2 plus year ganders just stand there ground they don't attack. Im so sorry you have to make that choice but have renamed a few around here Christmas. Actually had someone teach me how to do it. All geese have a purpose.

 

[Goosebaby]

Hey everybody. I'm a mess as I type this out, and its going to be a long post. Sorry and thank you in advance.

Today's subject matter:
My gander is trying to mate with my ducks instead of my goose, and tried to kill the goose.

Context:
My Toulouse gander (2 yrs) refuses to pair up with the Toulouse goose he has been buddies with for the last year. Instead of bonding with the goose, he kept trying to bond with one of my drakes. Full on courting, separating from the other ducks, doing everything that he would do with a goose to this drake. Instead of the goose. The goose kept following him around because SHE wanted to be his mate, but he wouldn't pay attention to her at all.

The gander started trying to mate the drake so I put him and the goose in their own pen a few weeks ago, because I was worried he would injure the ducks and I want the geese to breed. He's normally hissy and nippy with breeding season but only with me, not with the other birds. He kept making escape attempts, and still wouldnt bother with the goose at all. I blocked off the fence wall so he couldnt see the ducks but it didnt help.

Current problem:
The gander got out of the pen two days ago and went right back to trying to find his duck. I put him back in with the goose when I got home that evening. Within 5 mins of putting him back with the goose, he was ripping feathers out of her wings and back, grabbing her and dragging her by the neck back and forth across the pen, and beating her up with his wings. He didn't try to mate her at all, even though she was posturing for him and not fighting back at all.
I pulled her out of the pen and put her back with the ducks, and put the gander in there by himself. She's recovering well, but is now terrified to go into the coop with him. He keeps trying to get out and attack her and the others through the fence. He's made himself bleed around the mouth biting at the fence.

The point:
I've had it with him and the stress he has put on literally everybody. My ducks are at risk, he's already injured himself and the goose, and my stress levels are sky high. I cant rehome him to somewhere that has ducks because he will try to mate with them and hurt them, and he will not bond to other geese so that's a no go. I dont want to risk someone else's birds.
I made the decision to cull him, which is eating me alive and my family aren't happy about it either. I raised him from a week old. I wanted so hard for this to work out but it has been over a month now and all I have are stressed birds and vet bills.
I know geese are aggressive during breeding season. I knew that before I got them. But I dont think geese are supposed to ignore their entire species and try to kill them for ducks instead.
I dont know what else to do. Am I wrong to cull him? I dont want aggression bred into my geese but it doesn't really matter if they aren't breeding.

I am really just struggling right now. I'm sorry this is such a long post. I appreciate any help and advice you have, because I hate myself for making this choice but I don't see any other options.


TLDR: my gander wants to mate a drake instead of the goose. Separating them from the ducks didnt work. Gander tried to kill the goose. Do I cull him or not?

I’m so sorry. This is definitely a strange situation which I haven’t experienced, all I can say is your gander unfortunately is on the dense side, I have a few numbskulls too.
Basically what I guess has gone wrong is that he obviously imprinted on the ducks, but he’s associated the goose now with a rival….it can change but it will take time and work, and from your position might not be entirely worth it. It’s up to you if you want to put that much effort into a problem bird.

If you change your mind you could try completely shaking his world and separating him from all the other birds, let his only relationship be with humans. Once his hormones subside this summer reintroduce him to the goose, he’ll more than likely go back to being friendly to her after a week of settling in, you’d need to completely separate him from the ducks indefinitely.

Normally I’d say never to do this because it causes a lot of stress and psychological trauma but he’s already going through that being separated from the drake he’s fixated on anyway. He pretty much needs to unlearn everything and have his associations reset through the trauma of complete separation.

The closest scenario to this and where I got this idea from is my gander Parsnip, he was bonded strongly with his brother Thor, but was violently hostile with his dad Leo. After Thor passed away Parsnip was devastated and lonely, he couldn’t get along with his sister Friday and couldn’t care less about the two new girls I got for him, he missed Thor and only wanted Thor or something like that relationship, another gander to be friends with. So he started hovering around Leo. He and Leo continued to fight but Leo was also lonely at the time and after a few months of squabbling they weirdly bonded, and now they’re completely inseparable.
Parsnip lost his most important friend, he was psychologically isolated, and through his desperation to connect he bonded with his mortal enemy.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Embden gander was emotionally attached to Muscovy ducks he was hatched by one. He was 5 yrs old when I brought home a 4-month-old female Toulouse for him. He did not like her at all and would chase her away from him and his mama /mate. So after a month of this, I had to completely separate him and Missy my goose from everyone else where he could not see them at all ,they had their own coop but I couldn't let her be in with him without a barrier between them or he would go after her. I even had to cover the top of her pen because he would intimidate her so bad she would get out of her side and then she was right there with him. This was in August when I brought her home in Sept is when I separated the 2 geese from everyone it was Jan before he finally fell in love and that was becasue Missy did not give up she followed him around like a sick puppy and when the breeding season started that year in Jan he was so smitten with her they could finally be in with the ducks and he never paid them any more attention other than to lower his head to make them stay away from his love Missy the goose. Believe me, there were times when I thought this would never work, and no way I could rehome this gander no one would put up with his orneriness like I did. But it finally did but I sure understand how stressful this is for you and the flock. I don't think I would go through it again. Or put my birds through it.
Whatever you decide I will support your decision. It is so hard to know what to do but goodness you have sure tried to make it work.

 

[Jelibaen]

Thank you all. I've talked with my vet and a few other breeders and it seems like the consensus is to cull him for the sake of everyone's mental health. My vet pointed out that the stress on my flock might be contributing to the lack of eggs too, so its not just between him and the goose.

A friend of mine is going to cull him for me and another friend offered to give me one of their ganders instead. Hopefully everything goes better this time.

Thanks again for all your kind words and support. I just wish doing the right thing for my flock felt better.

 

[Goosebaby]

You could always give him to a goose only flock, he would likely be the underdog while he learns some manners from other geese, and he’d learn to be a goose.

 

[AutumnSol]

Hey everybody. I'm a mess as I type this out, and its going to be a long post. Sorry and thank you in advance.

Today's subject matter:
My gander is trying to mate with my ducks instead of my goose, and tried to kill the goose.

Context:
My Toulouse gander (2 yrs) refuses to pair up with the Toulouse goose he has been buddies with for the last year. Instead of bonding with the goose, he kept trying to bond with one of my drakes. Full on courting, separating from the other ducks, doing everything that he would do with a goose to this drake. Instead of the goose. The goose kept following him around because SHE wanted to be his mate, but he wouldn't pay attention to her at all.

The gander started trying to mate the drake so I put him and the goose in their own pen a few weeks ago, because I was worried he would injure the ducks and I want the geese to breed. He's normally hissy and nippy with breeding season but only with me, not with the other birds. He kept making escape attempts, and still wouldnt bother with the goose at all. I blocked off the fence wall so he couldnt see the ducks but it didnt help.

Current problem:
The gander got out of the pen two days ago and went right back to trying to find his duck. I put him back in with the goose when I got home that evening. Within 5 mins of putting him back with the goose, he was ripping feathers out of her wings and back, grabbing her and dragging her by the neck back and forth across the pen, and beating her up with his wings. He didn't try to mate her at all, even though she was posturing for him and not fighting back at all.
I pulled her out of the pen and put her back with the ducks, and put the gander in there by himself. She's recovering well, but is now terrified to go into the coop with him. He keeps trying to get out and attack her and the others through the fence. He's made himself bleed around the mouth biting at the fence.

The point:
I've had it with him and the stress he has put on literally everybody. My ducks are at risk, he's already injured himself and the goose, and my stress levels are sky high. I cant rehome him to somewhere that has ducks because he will try to mate with them and hurt them, and he will not bond to other geese so that's a no go. I dont want to risk someone else's birds.
I made the decision to cull him, which is eating me alive and my family aren't happy about it either. I raised him from a week old. I wanted so hard for this to work out but it has been over a month now and all I have are stressed birds and vet bills.
I know geese are aggressive during breeding season. I knew that before I got them. But I dont think geese are supposed to ignore their entire species and try to kill them for ducks instead.
I dont know what else to do. Am I wrong to cull him? I dont want aggression bred into my geese but it doesn't really matter if they aren't breeding.

I am really just struggling right now. I'm sorry this is such a long post. I appreciate any help and advice you have, because I hate myself for making this choice but I don't see any other options.


TLDR: my gander wants to mate a drake instead of the goose. Separating them from the ducks didnt work. Gander tried to kill the goose. Do I cull him or not?

I’m so sorry. If you need to cull him that’s what you have to do. No shame at all. However, if there is a way he could be re-homed and be an only Gander, that might work. He may get lonely though.