Agressive gander

Magriet

Songster
Oct 10, 2020
133
198
103
Pretoria, South Africa
My gander is VERY aggressive to such an extent that I have a problem feeding them, my husband has tofeed them, for some reason he is accepted. Thats not really strange as all animals love him ans is instantly attracted to him.
Using a broom I can keep him at a distance for a while but then he goes crazy flapping his wings a screaming like mad and then he turns around and chases tge gossling around the corner where he always takes them if he thinks there's danger and that is away from the food and water. We cannot put the food and water there because then it is in the midday son and it was, as an example, the tempreture was 32 degrees Celsius.

They cannot get into the baby bath we have for them so my husband dug a hole and plaxes a shallow bucked in and they were all in it immediately but if he sees me he chases them out and around the corner again. I really don't know what to do
 
It’s breeding season so he’s going to be more aggressive than normal. He will calm down more in late spring.

Geese bond with whoever is around them most, so if your husband is the primary caretaker and spends more time with them then you do the geese will view you as a predator or rival. You can change this by spending more time with them, not making any sudden movements, and giving them treats, but it may take a long time, geese can be slow to change. It will be easier to attempt this after breeding season when there are less horomones going to his head.
 
Thank you, I will have to try after the breeding season, but I cannot understand his sudden change, I used to spend a lot of time with him and at one stage I was even allowed to stroke him. All I can think is that because our neighbours on the small holding hit him and we had to move them into a smaller more secure space he sees everyone as the enemy except my husband. My husband is the primary caregiver by force! I am not allowed, we used to do it together. But I understand I will have to wait until after the breeding season to try again, at the moment he is protecting the goslings with his life!
 
His horomones are making him quick to anger and very territorial. Typically in breeding season geese will expel anyone who isn’t in their clique, their partner or partners, which usually is around one or two individuals they’ve bonded most with, goose or human. They get more social when the horomones disipate.

How a goose determines who is is in their clique is who they spend the most of their time with, you may have spent a lot of time with him but he spends the most time with his goose partner, followed by your husband I’m guessing? If so that makes you someone who hasn’t spent as much time with him as they have, but because you aren’t a complete stranger, which he would fear, instead it makes it more likely that he sees you as a rival that’s trying to steal away his goose and human.
It is possible to change his perspective, but it will take time like I said, though depending on his personality you’re relationship could either be friendly, or tolerant. Some geese, male or female aren’t the cuddly kind and instead will tolerate your presence, come breeding season you’ll have to go through the same territorial behavior with them. If they’re the cuddly kind he might accept you as part of his clique and start getting territorial towards others who get to close to you.
 
Thanks, now I understand better, obviously my husband is the one. When he calms down I Will try again to see if he will tolerate me. It is a bit of a problem because it is sometimes necessary for me to feed them.
 
From my, limited, experience with geese they seem to recognize the exact moment that an aggressive posture causes apprehension. Mine stop acting tough as soon as they see that the person they are threatening isnt phased by them at all. But if they hiss or show any aggressive posture and the person flinches, pauses or backs away, even if it is just for a moment, they will escalate the aggression. I see it as their attacks being motivated by their own fear. Once someone shows that they arent bothered by the goose nonsense they realize that that person needs to be respected and keep their distance. At least thats how mine are.
 
From my, limited, experience with geese they seem to recognize the exact moment that an aggressive posture causes apprehension. Mine stop acting tough as soon as they see that the person they are threatening isnt phased by them at all. But if they hiss or show any aggressive posture and the person flinches, pauses or backs away, even if it is just for a moment, they will escalate the aggression. I see it as their attacks being motivated by their own fear. Once someone shows that they arent bothered by the goose nonsense they realize that that person needs to be respected and keep their distance. At least thats how mine are.
I’ve noticed this too. Also, though it can be hard sometimes when they’re attacking, chasing them, getting angry at them, can just reinforce their perception of you as a rival or someone to be feared.
 
No I never chase him, unfortunately I do back down because he is really vicious, he 9nce completely broke the plastic bucked I had the food in, with his wings, I wanted to feed them. I find it really hard forgiving the people who hit him, but I try my best to be civil. Iam partially at fault as well as I did not realise in time what is happening. It is hard because we had such a good relationship before, I miss him. For now I will just keep my distance until the goslings are a bit bigger
 
I would recommend trying to think of a way to mask that you are put off by the aggression. I had that problem with my son, they are almost as tall as him so of course hes going to flinch and once he does they are going to go on the attack. So, I taught him to start skipping if they are making him nervous. I told him that this is his land, not theirs, and he cant let them make him not have fun. I would extend that advice to you. An animal that you are afraid of is no fun to take care of and eventually you will start neglecting that animal out of apprehension to deal with it. So find something that you can do as an immediate response to their aggression that makes it look like you dont even notice that they are trying to act tough.
 
No I never chase him, unfortunately I do back down because he is really vicious, he 9nce completely broke the plastic bucked I had the food in, with his wings, I wanted to feed them. I find it really hard forgiving the people who hit him, but I try my best to be civil. Iam partially at fault as well as I did not realise in time what is happening. It is hard because we had such a good relationship before, I miss him. For now I will just keep my distance until the goslings are a bit bigger
I’m not surprised about the bucket, I have one who’s destroyed a bucket too, buckets are the nemesis of geese everywhere for some reason, they just can’t stand them in breeding season🤣

Have you tried picking him up when he’s being naughty? I’ve found that if you pick them up and carry them a short distance before setting them back down it can teach them who’s boss in a way that also shows them that you don’t mean them any harm. It isn’t a permanent fix, the horomones will still make him act up but it helps.
You can train him too, if you say NO and point or hold your hand out while he’s coming at you, then pick him up, he’ll learn that if he doesn’t back away when he hears the word and sees the gesture he’ll get picked up.

Also if it helps, the best way to pick up an attacking goose is to grab them by the face just firmly enough that he can’t get away and bite, then scoop your other arm around his torso to pin his wings and lift. The faster this is done the easier it is.
 

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