AndreaV636
In the Brooder
Hello!
The short version of my problem: I have two groups of goslings (one group is slightly older) that won't play nice together. How do I facilitate their merging into one larger flock and stop the bigger ones from chasing off the "outsiders?"
The longer version: I tried a staggered hatch with my incubators and at the end, wound up with two groups of birds - an older group and a second group that is approximately 3-4 weeks younger. I introduced the older babies (four goslings and two ducklings) to my goose while she was still broody and she accepted them happily. When the younger goslings were a couple weeks old and it was time to put them out with the rest, the mother goose and all of her babies rejected them. I've been patiently waiting for it to get better over the last several weeks... I set up a makeshift pen outside with "walls" that you can see through. My hope was that the enclosure would help to protect the small goslings while still allowing everyone to see eachother and interact safely. I recently took it down in hopes they were ready, but the mother goose, older goslings, and ducklings are still not too accepting. They can be close-ish to eachother and there's nothing dramatic going on like hissing or anything. But if the smaller goslings get too close or try to share valuable resources (like the kiddie pool or breakfast), they get chased off. Will they ever form one big group? Or am I destined to have two separate flocks?
The short version of my problem: I have two groups of goslings (one group is slightly older) that won't play nice together. How do I facilitate their merging into one larger flock and stop the bigger ones from chasing off the "outsiders?"
The longer version: I tried a staggered hatch with my incubators and at the end, wound up with two groups of birds - an older group and a second group that is approximately 3-4 weeks younger. I introduced the older babies (four goslings and two ducklings) to my goose while she was still broody and she accepted them happily. When the younger goslings were a couple weeks old and it was time to put them out with the rest, the mother goose and all of her babies rejected them. I've been patiently waiting for it to get better over the last several weeks... I set up a makeshift pen outside with "walls" that you can see through. My hope was that the enclosure would help to protect the small goslings while still allowing everyone to see eachother and interact safely. I recently took it down in hopes they were ready, but the mother goose, older goslings, and ducklings are still not too accepting. They can be close-ish to eachother and there's nothing dramatic going on like hissing or anything. But if the smaller goslings get too close or try to share valuable resources (like the kiddie pool or breakfast), they get chased off. Will they ever form one big group? Or am I destined to have two separate flocks?
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