Canada geese concerns

blueraven

Chirping
7 Years
Dec 17, 2012
189
12
83


Hi everyone I have a new strange thing going on with my flock that just started today. First off just to let you know i have 3 mallard drakes, 1 male kaiki cambell 1 female cayuga and 2 canada geese one male and female,.

so today was starting like any day for them. but suddenly i was watching my female goose who is new to my flock. I got her in January 2013, full grown and i was told she was this last springs hatch. So i notice my female goose following my female cayuga around where ever she goes and my cayuga is already paired with my kaiki cambell. the goose is also going around and lowering her head at the duck and making a odd honk sound and continuing to follow her. then tonight when i go to put them in there house she starts chasing my male canada goose, and the other ducks. So my question for all of you is what do you belive this behavior is. I am thinking is a type of pair behavior. will she continue to do this or is it part of spring behavior, and is it common for females for does this mean she is male, I vent sexed her and i am 99% sure she is female.

so what would be your thoughs on this and should i seperate them.

 
Hmm... I don't think it is pair behavior. I have never had to introduce an adult to the flock, but in general the lowering of the head and chasing is a territorial behavior. It is not like I have never seen a female do it, but I have seen my males do it a lot more.
 
It's "broody single hen" behavior. I have a un-paired two year old hen that is doing the same right now. It's a spring thing. How old is the gander? He should be interested if over one year old. There is never any question when it comes to aggressive Canadians, they wont hesitate to beat the poop outta anything.
 
Gander must be last year's hatch (?), not willing/old enough to reciprocate the pair behavior exhibited by the hen (?)
 
Your female has a nest she is protecting. Canada Geese bread earlier in the season than normal geese bc they molt their flight feathers and cannot fly for 6 wks or so until their flight feathers come back in just in time for the goslings to be old enough to fly south for the winter. Thought this may be something you should consider. Look for a nest but DO NOT DISTURB as she will abandon her eggs.
 
Your female has a nest she is protecting. Canada Geese bread earlier in the season than normal geese bc they molt their flight feathers and cannot fly for 6 wks or so until their flight feathers come back in just in time for the goslings to be old enough to fly south for the winter. Thought this may be something you should consider. Look for a nest but DO NOT DISTURB as she will abandon her eggs.
The hen is a 2012 Hatch bird according to BlueRaven, the owner. She does not have eggs, she is not old enough, and even if she were older and did have eggs then she would not abandon the nest if you checked on them. The fact that the goose is following around a cayuga and a khaki campbell would tell me to seperate the geese into their own pen for a while until they get a chance to pair up. It sounds like she has somewhat imprinted on the ducks so it may take a long seperation, up to a year, to ever get them to for the pair bond and that is if you actually have a male and female.
 
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okay have another story for you all. My male goose just this morning as i was watching him out the window was doing something in the corner of a rock ledge next to our house. so i went up to him he is really nice and not aggressive to me. and what it looks like is i think he is making a nest or starting to make one. he will sit down in the indentation in the rocks and kick his feet out and there were even some feathers in the indent that he would place in the middle. so now i am very confused cause I vent sexed this goose when he was a gosling and I am positive he is male. he even will try some cortship behavoir when i am on a raft in the pond. Yes it would be great if he was a female as i need one. I know the females are the ones who choose the nest site and make the nest but he just did this. I think he thinks i am his mate. I have such silly animals lol
 
i think you have your two geese mixed up. your hens behavior is decidedly a male trait, and your ganders behavior is a hen trait. Me thinks there may be a mix up.
 

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