dose imprinting geese make them nice??

[jackrooster]

I am looking for a some geese but every one has told me that the are very mean. Someone also told me to hatch some and imprint them so they wont be mean. Will this work??

 

[silkydragon]

i think they would be nice to you but not to youre friends/anyone else my neighbors use to have 4 and the woman could pretty much hand feed them the guys could not turn there backs on the things but that probly depends on individual geese and stuff

 

[MagsC]

Mine were fine with me but not real wild about anyone else...

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Maybe for a short time. When you imprint a goose it thinks you are its mother. They are flock animals and they hang out with other geese. You are the head of the flock and like Mama you can do no wrong. This is fine when they are young, they will follow you anywhere and completely accept you. Usually strangers are considered as part of another flock to be ignored or driven off if they become pests. However they do have a drive to get as high on the pecking order as possible to get their choice of mates. The people that told you to imprint the goslings were the ones that managed to convince the young geese that they are the boss goose and should not be tested to see if they deserve to be at the top of the pecking order.
some geese are driven to become top gooes and they will chalange you for your place in the order. These geese will be seen as mean to you since they are always ready to fight you for your place and mean to other people because they are from another flock. So to keep it short if you imprint goslings be prepared to defend your top goose spot when they grow to become adults.

I find geese to be more peacefull if raised by their parents that may already have a loving respect for you and humans in general.
they may not be as friendly and will defend what they consider theirs but they won't go out of their way to pick a fight with you like imprinted geese often do. I hope this helps.

 

[bayshorek9]

Hello We have about 80 geese and every year I raise a few goslings in our kennel. Some have imprinted so bad on me that nothing can get near me or others go back into the flock and become just geese. Unforetunitely the geese that really imprint have been killed by our dogs, they will stick there head through kennel fence and off with there heads. too awful for me to find as they love me dearly so now i try for them not to imprint. But they can be better pets than a dog, also our flock isn't mean at all except when they have young. Frank www.bayshorekennel.com

 

[MrsCountryChick]

Quote:
I always put chicken wire around the kennel fully (even wrap the door), so my geese can't put their head thru the kennel chain link.

 

[Cottage Rose]

Some breeds of geese tend to be more loud and aggressive than others. Africans & Chinese tend to fall into that group where as Americans, Sebastopols and Pilgrims fall on the other end of the spectrum although there are good and bad in every breed.
I've raised Sebastopols for 5 years and I always bonded with the goslings at birth and I've never had one become overly dependent or aggressive with me as they grew older.
In fact they tend to become more independent and less attached to me as they approach breeding age.
As an example my goslings from 2009 who use to follow me everywhere, allowed me to touch them, etc. are now more aloof acting around me although they still talk to me, they don't come up to me much anymore... but I've allowed them to grow up and become geese and not encouraged over dependence on me by keeping them in the house or constant feeding of treats and handling etc.
On the other hand goslings I've allowed the parents to raised where hyper and very frightened of me.
Breeding age ganders no matter how they were raised will become aggressive during the breeding season from hissing and mock charging to out right attacking and vicious biting.
I was hesitant to get geese for many years because I had heard all the stories about them being mean but now that I took the plunge I wish I had gotten them much sooner in life. They are highly intelligent and far more personable and interesting than a duck or chicken. I love them!
As soon as they hatch they are looking at you and talking to you.
where as duckings or chicks basically want nothing to do with you.
P.S. ducks are cool too but geese far more people loving in my opinion.
If I could have only one barnyard bird it would be geese.