Broody goose

[Tofu the chicken]

This is kyle my Sebastopol goose, she has recently gone broody and I am looking for ethical ways to stop her from being broody (I don't like the idea of putting her in wire floored cage) she had been in a nest in my yard until today (I believe me taking eggs and moving her in the coop every night probably encouraged her to move) and now she's broody inside a nest box that is favorited by all my ducks and chickens, there are a few reasons this poses an inconvenience the biggest of which being her aggression, she attacks any bird that comes close to her nest meaning any bird she attacks, and she attacks me when I touch her (which I've had to do for moving her and she was sitting on duck and chicken eggs I wanted to collect) temporarily for tonight I locked her in a giant dog crate inside the coop so she can't hurt any birds cause they all sleep in the same coop but I don't like this idea but it's the only thing I could think to do, please any suggestions are helpful

 

[Callender Girl]

No good advice here, just empathy! The first year I had my geese, I thought one was a gander because not only would Gussie vigorously defend her eggs, but Golly would chase me out of the area to make sure I didn't touch them. I figured it out when Golly -- who was now well practiced in egg protection -- began laying, too.

This year, they've decided to lay up near the foundation of the house. I spread out some straw to improve the "nest area" and wait until they are out eating to steal the eggs.

In my experience, the good news is that my American Buffs only lay for a few weeks each spring. So, with a bit of patience (less helpful for you since all your birds sleep together; my girls have their own little sleeping house), the problem works itself out. In the meantime, I often take a wing to the face or a nip to the leg.

BTW, Kyle is beautiful. I've always admired Sebastopols.

 

[Tofu the chicken]

No good advice here, just empathy! The first year I had my geese, I thought one was a gander because not only would Gussie vigorously defend her eggs, but Golly would chase me out of the area to make sure I didn't touch them. I figured it out when Golly -- who was now well practiced in egg protection -- began laying, too.

This year, they've decided to lay up near the foundation of the house. I spread out some straw to improve the "nest area" and wait until they are out eating to steal the eggs.

In my experience, the good news is that my American Buffs only lay for a few weeks each spring. So, with a bit of patience (less helpful for you since all your birds sleep together; my girls have their own little sleeping house), the problem works itself out. In the meantime, I often take a wing to the face or a nip to the leg.

BTW, Kyle is beautiful. I've always admired Sebastopols.

Thanks, funnily enough my other goose Hamilton acts like a gander (she started laying back in late December still is laying she's a French Toulouse but I always knew she was a girl cause of that) but she sometimes she does try to defend Kyle's nest and also I get a lot of mating behaviors with Hamilton on top so like she really acts like a gander lol

 

[iturnknobs]

View attachment 2567741
This is kyle my Sebastopol goose, she has recently gone broody and I am looking for ethical ways to stop her from being broody (I don't like the idea of putting her in wire floored cage) she had been in a nest in my yard until today (I believe me taking eggs and moving her in the coop every night probably encouraged her to move) and now she's broody inside a nest box that is favorited by all my ducks and chickens, there are a few reasons this poses an inconvenience the biggest of which being her aggression, she attacks any bird that comes close to her nest meaning any bird she attacks, and she attacks me when I touch her (which I've had to do for moving her and she was sitting on duck and chicken eggs I wanted to collect) temporarily for tonight I locked her in a giant dog crate inside the coop so she can't hurt any birds cause they all sleep in the same coop but I don't like this idea but it's the only thing I could think to do, please any suggestions are helpful

I relocated eggs and "dogloo" into my(their) shed. I filled the nest depression with concrete chunks and small bricks. My goose had that cleared back out in less than a day. The 70lb rock did the trick. She now lays at night exactly where she should. I give her straw and dried leaves right next to the opening so she doesn't have to get up for materials. She's doing a great job at construction. Not broody, yet. 12 eggs laid and I currently have 5 in the nest...I ate the other ones...if only she knew.

 

[Niche Flock]

Hi! My two female geese have gone a bit broody, my Roman more so than my Buff. One will remain on the nest in the morning and the other will defend her. By defend I mean she'll snip at me a bit, but I'm not so easily deterred.
I hand raised them and have kept a rather hands on personable relationship with them. This helps with medical examinations and I reinforce good behavior with treats like cucumbers or meal worms.
The last two days have been a bit difficult, and this morning I noticed a bit of down incorporated into the nest so I know she's getting broody. She's fluffing up her nest and getting it properly insulated.
I've told her several times it takes two to tango, I don't have any ganders or male anything in my flock, but she doesn't care.
So what I've started doing, and it probably isn't the best option for a lot of folks due to the aggressive nature of broody geese, is to politely but firmly discourage broody behavior. I do this by letting them out in the morning, trying to escort them out, I'd that doesn't work I *physically* lift each of them out of the nest area that's in their coop.
I know this is a HUGE violation to their personal space and a threat to their home, but their ongoing broodiness is also a threat to me and my flock. As soon as I slightly lift them (I wear a thick coat, my mask, insulated gloves) they tuck their little legs and sorta don't put up a fight. Again, I did a lot of hand reading, plus their relatively small breeds who have friendly personalities most of the time.

After I get both geese out of their coop area, I bar them from re-entering. Sounds cruel I know, but I know they both lay eggs about every other day, every two days and usually overnight/early morning so I'm not concerned they'll pop an egg out randomly. There was an occurrence where I found a goose egg in one of my duck nests, but that was probably because I was letting them out too early before.

After letting the ladies out and closing the gate so they cannot reenter, I encourage them to go outside with food, water, a little pool to bathe, and if they seem really intent on going back in, I'll scatter some meal worms far away from their coop to preoccupy them.

Going to keep up with this for as long as they express broodiness. So far it's working like a charm. Also, checking and removing eggs daily is essential. Not sure how applicable my situation will be but I hope this helps. Good luck! (I've attached a photo of her nest, you can see she's almost made a little moat around it, gathering straw and pine shavings. She'll sit there and use her head to gather everything up around her.)

 

[Tofu the chicken]

Hi! My two female geese have gone a bit broody, my Roman more so than my Buff. One will remain on the nest in the morning and the other will defend her. By defend I mean she'll snip at me a bit, but I'm not so easily deterred.
I hand raised them and have kept a rather hands on personable relationship with them. This helps with medical examinations and I reinforce good behavior with treats like cucumbers or meal worms.
The last two days have been a bit difficult, and this morning I noticed a bit of down incorporated into the nest so I know she's getting broody. She's fluffing up her nest and getting it properly insulated.
I've told her several times it takes two to tango, I don't have any ganders or male anything in my flock, but she doesn't care.
So what I've started doing, and it probably isn't the best option for a lot of folks due to the aggressive nature of broody geese, is to politely but firmly discourage broody behavior. I do this by letting them out in the morning, trying to escort them out, I'd that doesn't work I *physically* lift each of them out of the nest area that's in their coop.
I know this is a HUGE violation to their personal space and a threat to their home, but their ongoing broodiness is also a threat to me and my flock. As soon as I slightly lift them (I wear a thick coat, my mask, insulated gloves) they tuck their little legs and sorta don't put up a fight. Again, I did a lot of hand reading, plus their relatively small breeds who have friendly personalities most of the time.

After I get both geese out of their coop area, I bar them from re-entering. Sounds cruel I know, but I know they both lay eggs about every other day, every two days and usually overnight/early morning so I'm not concerned they'll pop an egg out randomly. There was an occurrence where I found a goose egg in one of my duck nests, but that was probably because I was letting them out too early before.

After letting the ladies out and closing the gate so they cannot reenter, I encourage them to go outside with food, water, a little pool to bathe, and if they seem really intent on going back in, I'll scatter some meal worms far away from their coop to preoccupy them.

Going to keep up with this for as long as they express broodiness. So far it's working like a charm. Also, checking and removing eggs daily is essential. Not sure how applicable my situation will be but I hope this helps. Good luck! (I've attached a photo of her nest, you can see she's almost made a little moat around it, gathering straw and pine shavings. She'll sit there and use her head to gather everything up around her.)

That is very helpful! Thanks very much I'll try starting tomorrow