aggressive (?) gosling

[sayyadina]

I just got my ducklings & goslings today, and I thought they were cohabiting well. However, the female African gosling keeps going after the ducklings, biting and pulling at their feet. She yanks them off their feet, and they squeak like it hurt. Does this mean I need to separate her? I'd prefer not to, but I will if I need to, so the ducklings will be safe.

 

[canada-goose]

I think you'd better separate her. That sounds like the beginnings of an unpleasant situation to me.

 

[sayyadina]

Thanks.

I set her up in a separate corner of the brooder, with water, grit & food. She's crying & trying to get out, which is a little sad. I tried putting her back in, but she went back to going after the ducklings.

 

[Golden Valley Farm]

Just seperate the goslings and the ducks, don't leave her by herself.

 

[sayyadina]

If I had enough room in the box, I'd put the other goose in there with her. I can't set them up in one of the brooder's other sections, since I don't have another heat lamp. I feel terrible having to do this, but I also don't want my ducklings getting hurt.

 

[Golden Valley Farm]

Maybe they are in to small of an area and that is why she is doing that.

 

[Goosehaven]

It does sound like they are in too small/crowded of an area. Even though my brooding area was large when they were up to a couple weeks old, when they the area was getting crowded because of their rapid growth I had to seperate 2 of mine from the 4 because they started pulling feathers out. How old are the goslings and maybe a can make a recommendation on how you can set them up until they are out of the brooding phase?

 

[sayyadina]

The brooder is approximately 4' X 10' total. Its divided into 3 compartments of approximately 40" by 48". I have 2 1 gallon waterers and 2 trough feeders, and a round feeder for grit. The floor is hardware cloth with some of the no-skid stuff you put under carpets on top. The dividers are also made of hardware cloth, so that they can see through.

Right now, I have the Toulouse in with the 16 ducklings, and the African is in her own compartment. They're all 3 days old today.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
That sounds large enough to me, Could you put the heat lamp over the seperatior so that the heat falls on both sides? one hint for the future I always use two heat bulbs in my brooders. the nasty thing about heat bulbs is that they tend to fail without notice, If a single bub fails in the night you stand a good chance of the birds failing because of lack of heat. Also where I lived power failures were fairly common I would keep 2L soda bottles right in front of my gas logs and if the power failed the gas logs would be used for heat. once warmed the soda bottles would be placed in the brooders for the birds to snuggle up to and would be switched out as they cooled and taken to be reheated. Good Luck with your birds.

 

[sayyadina]

The first night, I had 2 heat lamps going, but I needed both of them for the ducklings & other gosling. I went out the next day to get a 3rd heat lamp, which seems to be enough.

Funny you should mention that trick, since we actually lost power last night. Luckily, we had some foam board insulation lying around, and I covered the top of the brooder with that and then draped a couple of blankets over the sides. It only lasted an hour, and everyone is ok. Unfortunately, we don't drink soda and we don't have any other large plastic bottles.