Bullied Gosling

[Amer]

I started with a trio of American Buffs. I lost my beloved young gander last fall to a fox so I only had two females.
This spring I got some utility Toulouse goslings for market and when they were big enough to go outside on their own the two females adopted them and they became a big happy flock with the two females acting as mommies.
Well, I bought a gosling (around a week older than the Toulouse by his appearance) from the breeder I had gotten the buffs from, hoping for a gander. I am unsure of the sex, its name is Charlie. I’m just going to call it a he for simplicity’s sake.

I kept Charlie penned near the geese for one night so he knew who to follow free ranging.
He tried to join the flock but they bully him constantly.
If Charlie gets too close they lunge at him and chase him away, the adults or goslings. Charlie just follows them around everywhere at a safe distance, eating copious amounts of grass. I don’t know how to say this but it looks like he’s pretending to be focused on eating so think he doesn’t notice or care about them.
Charlie seems super depressed and at least once I saw him honking in distress. Charlie probably misses his old flock.
How can I integrate him into the flock?
I saw another thread like this but I’d like to see your answers here.

 

[Goosebaby]

Poor baby boy! He’s a Buff, he may still be part Toulouse, he just has the Buff gene.

There isn’t an easy answer to this, you’re going to have to give it time and work on sorting out who will be nice to him.

Try splitting up the flock, and letting him interact with the various groups to try to get him acquainted with everyone every day. Or you could separate an individual you think would be kinder to him away from the others and letting them spend time with him.
Geese have long memories so they can be slow to adapt, unfortunatly if the dominant members of the flock single someone out, the rest follow with the bullying, so sometimes the easiest way is to force the most dominant Gander to spend one on one time with the new goose, if he accepts him, the rest will tolerate him better.

 

[Amer]

Poor baby boy! He’s a Buff, he may still be part Toulouse, he just has the Buff gene.

There isn’t an easy answer to this, you’re going to have to give it time and work on sorting out who will be nice to him.

Try splitting up the flock, and letting him interact with the various groups to try to get him acquainted with everyone every day. Or you could separate an individual you think would be kinder to him away from the others and letting them spend time with him.
Geese have long memories so they can be slow to adapt, unfortunatly if the dominant members of the flock single someone out, the rest follow with the bullying, so sometimes the easiest way is to force the most dominant Gander to spend one on one time with the new goose, if he accepts him, the rest will tolerate him better.

No, he is an American Buff. Okay, we don’t have any dominant gander but the two American Buff hens are dominant. I’ll try to pen one with him to get her to accept him.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Attempting to integrate one (and depending on the size of the gaggle, even a few) gosling or adult can be challenging. @Goosebaby has offered good advice on possible approaches.

ETA: the "look but no touch" method, for an extended period of time, may help ease Charlie's transition into the gaggle. I'd try it for at least a couple of weeks, so they can get comfortable with each other without feeling like Charlie is an intruder.

I always try to integrate in at least pairs - and groups are even easier. If the gaggle isn't accepting of the newcomer even after the suggested approaches, it might be worth considering getting him a friend with whom he can bond, and then integrating the two of them together; this way, even if the gaggle doesn't accept them immediately, they have each other to hang out with. Integrating more than one usually also means that the new bird bullying (hazing?) gets spread around, rather than being focused on one poor newbie.

Best of luck!

 

[FarmGirle0]

No, he is an American Buff. Okay, we don’t have any dominant gander but the two American Buff hens are dominant. I’ll try to pen one with him to get her to accept him.

Would love to know if it worked this is what im dealing with now

 

[Miss Lydia]

It takes time to integrate the best way is to keep the newbie on one side of the fence the residents on the other, after about a week start one by one putting the residents in with the newbie let the two get to know each then add another it takes time but they will become one flock. A large dog crate will work for the newbie so he can be inside at night with everyone.

 

[Amer]

Would love to know if it worked this is what im dealing with now

It didn’t really work.
He ended up following the flock around at a distance. I can’t really remember if the other geese totally accepted him, I guess they must have at some point.
I butchered the utility Tolouse though.
Once they were gone he got along great with the two buff hens.
Now he is a grown gander and a total aggressive nuisance this time of year.

 

[Goose Smith]

I’m not sure it’s helpful at this point now, but I’ve mixed new geese in with existing before and you just have to let it happen. There will be pinching and aggressive dominance displays.

This is the way of nature and it doesn’t always look like a play date when introducing new members to a flock. The main thing is size compatibility. I’m not saying throw small goslings to an existing flock and let them shake or peck to death. You have to use some judgement there, but you must also be able to let things happen and accept that these things take time.