Can anyone tell me their experiences with Brown Chinese?

[chicken_china_mom]

I will be trying my hand at incubating Chinese geese in a few days (when the eggs arrive), and I am wondering, what experiences have people on here had raising them? What are their personalities like? How do you like having them? Any info would be greatly appreciated. These will be my first geese. Only other experience I've had with them is being chased through a cemetery by a big white one, which promptly "goosed" my mother when I was 7. Or seeing them at the zoo over the years. I love the children's zoo and always stop to talk to the geese and ducks. How different in personality from ducks are geese too? I currently have a pair of Mallards and 4 Swedish ducklings. I would assume it would be a drastic difference? Can't wait to hear peoples' experiences. Oh, and if you have pics of your family interacting with them, please, add those too!

 

[harryg6167]

We have a pair of the brown chinese geese that are still very young.
I cannot tell you a whole lot about them as we have not had them but
about a month except that we love them.
We let them out to roam while we are outside and they follow us
everywhere we go. The kids will try to slip away from them and when
they realize nobody is right there with them they stick their necks
way out and spread those tiny wings and come running and hollering
until they get to where we are.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

So they like people and want to be around them, more so than ducks it sounds. Did you hatch yours or get them elsewhere? I know they are suppose to imprint upon hatching. I'm wondering about that.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

my white chinese chases me and my kids, and will bite us if he can. he is a great protector of our ducks though... which is his saving grace. He also tries to eat visitors, and bugles loudly when people arrive.

 

[duck walk]

love my brown chinses...my gander is loud and protective and has adopted the 8 younger white chinese goslings as his to protect and teach...animal behavior has always fascinated me and the geese are much more intelligent than I thought them to be...my geese and ducks free range in their small yards day and night tho I have two seperate buildings for them to be shut up in if I think I need to do that...I have a new fox in the neighborhood and three nights ago he stole all the eggs and killed a drake...ate it right in the yard with all the other ducks and geese watching...they were horrified and very subdued all the next day...I left them out night before last, put on all my camo clothes and went on "fox watch" with a gun from 11 until 4:30 a.m.. I watched the geese rotate shifts...the ducks were sleeping and the geese would take turns standing guard...at all times one goose was up and awake and watching for problems...it was amazing to watch them rotate shifts...said fox showed up aroung 4 a.m.. He is a grey and very bold and brazen...he circled the outside of the yard, slipped under the gate and circled the inside of the yard...then made a bee line for the nests and eggs...the ducks and geese at that point were hysterical and thought they were all going to die...they were running, honking and bunched up...I lit the fox up when he got almost to the first nest...I fired 2 rounds and filled his underwear with buck shot...I should have had my rifle and killed him but he may die anyway...I don't care...he killed my only blue swede drake and my favorite pekin drake on seperate raids...after the fox left, rather in a hurry and holding his butt in both hands, the geese rounded up the ducks and tried to get through the closed gate to the dog yard where the kennel runs are...they were in a panic...I eased over and opened the gate so they could get where they felt safe...In the morning I found 13 duck eggs on the ground behind the kennel and the geese had herded everyone into an 8 X 20 dog run on the concrete...they were silent and still very scared...I closed the door to the run and then sorted them out...geese in one run, 9 ducks in one and 9 in another...
My only adult gander, Barney the Brown China, takes his duties very seriously and is very endearing...he has never been aggressive per se...he will hiss if I get too close to the girls' nest...he also knows when he is in over his head and honks and hollers and looks for me in that case...the girls are very sweet natured and love to shop in the feed buckets before I put the feed into the feeders and they are chatting at me the whole time...they look into my face and into my eyes...it is like they are trying to read my intentions or convy something to me...
I have all the pieces and am waiting for my son to have a day off so we can install the electric fencing...I want 50,000 volts in that thing until the fox is done...for now, everyone is secure in the kennel runs...they had their yards for two years until the predators found us...now it is a fight to the finish so the ducks and geese can have their yards again...

You will love your geese...it will take about 30 seconds for you to fall head over heels for them...

 

[chicken_china_mom]

I know I will love them. I love my chickens and ducks. I am just hoping we get along well. We're doing electric poultry netting in the yard, to keep predators out and to keep my birds from visiting the next door neighbor which they like to do. She isn't so thrilled when they visit though. I think she would jump out of her skin if a big old goose came visiting her! But I don't mind being followed around the yard, and I always go out to the birds with treats, so the geese will get treats too, that's a given. I'll invest in a couple more pools until I have enough to install a pond. A new pond is on the list of things to do. It does sound like I will like them. Does anyone know the average life span of a Chinese? Does the lifespan of different breeds vary? On Feathersite there is a picture of a goose that had a duck boyfriend for about a year before he was taken by a predator. The info given said the goose lived to be 26. Is that typical?