American Buff-gender question

[Unruffled]

I have 4 American Buff Geese that I hatched out of eggs that I got from a Zoo in Louisiana. When they hatched I tried to vent sex them but I didn’t really know what I was looking for so they all looked female. So the guy who sold the eggs to me said that he too finds it very difficult to vent sex them and that by the time they are 10 months old I will be able to sex them visually.He said the ganders will stand a whole head taller than the geese and that the geese will have a lower pitched voice. They hatched on 04/12. And 04/13. My first question is, do you think it is too soon for me to tell?(even though 3 of them do stand a whole head taller than the fourth and that fourth one does in fact have a deeper voice than the first 3)And my second question is, would it be a problem if I had 3 ganders to 1 goose? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[casportpony]

@Miss Lydia, @jtn42248, can you help?

 

[Goosebaby]

Three ganders raised together will bond and be perfectly happy, sometimes they might squabble for dominance in the spring but as long as they’re in a pen big enough so that the vanquished can get away after the fight it isn’t an issue.
Having one girl in the mix might complicate things, if she has a shy flighty personality she might get bullied.

Considering they’re all babies growing up together they have a good chance of generally getting along most of the time.

I had three ganders to one goose ratio for awhile, “Leo and his sons Darby and Strawberry plus his daughter Friday.” They got along very well for a few years, then one day Darby and Strawberry tried to kill Leo and I had to separate them.
Darby and Strawberry still get along great with each other but their personalities form a weird dynamic where they feed off of each other’s energy and it pushes them to extremes they wouldn’t normally achieve alone, so a fight that normally would have ended fairly quickly didn’t end at all and I had to physically intervene.
Other than that I’ve had great luck with ganders getting along.

You’ll be the best judge by watching their personalities and interactions. If it comes to a worst case scenario like mine did you will have to separate them.

 

[jtn42248]

Two ganders here and 5 females. Most of the time they are just a happy flock. Then mating season comes and the two ganders are more focused on killing one another than on mating. The females just go about their business. Like goosebaby said above, when they fight it is with intent to kill and I have to stop them.

You probably will have no problem most of the time but when it comes time to mate you may find it necessary to keep them apart.

 

[Unruffled]

Thank you both for your responses. I guess I will wait and see. True to what you both are saying, all four of them get along famously now. I am hoping that doesn’t change much during mating season. They do have a large pen that includes a pond plus they free range during the day. Here’s hoping.