first time with geese....I have some questions...

[Ariesmom]

I have 3 toulouse goslings that are about a month and a half old. I think they are 2 boys and a girl ( although when I vent sexed them I thought it looked like 2 girls and a boy ) I'm only saying now that I think they are 2 boys because the girl is smaller and feathering a day or 2 slower than the others. How much longer til you can definitely tell what they are and am I destined to give a boy away? Will they fight over her when they mature? And what does it mean when they vibrate their head and necks upon approaching something? They seem to do this when they are investigating the chicks in a pen nearby or at me sometimes. Just curious on what this behaviour means. Also, they are being raised alongside chickens and ducks...will they always get along? So far they are a pleasure to have! All in all I am absolutely SOLD on geese! I think they are so personable and sweet and curious! I can't believe it took me this long to try them out!

 

[Winisk]

I`m new to raising geese myself. I have a Toulouse female and a male Embden gosling. There are very personable and a joy to have. My chickens free range along side my goslings. There is a low fence that keeps the geese in my meadow but the chickens pass through quite easily. So far they ignore eachother. I find the geese are very territorial when it comes to their pond and will defend it without hesitation. It was hilarious to see a small fluffy yellow gosling hiss at a 65 pound Husky dog who wanted to drink some water. She didn`t know what to think. I`ve seen the vibrating behaviour. Excitement?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have 3 toulouse goslings that are about a month and a half old. I think they are 2 boys and a girl ( although when I vent sexed them I thought it looked like 2 girls and a boy ) I'm only saying now that I think they are 2 boys because the girl is smaller and feathering a day or 2 slower than the others. How much longer til you can definitely tell what they are and am I destined to give a boy away? Will they fight over her when they mature? And what does it mean when they vibrate their head and necks upon approaching something? They seem to do this when they are investigating the chicks in a pen nearby or at me sometimes. Just curious on what this behaviour means. Also, they are being raised alongside chickens and ducks...will they always get along? So far they are a pleasure to have! All in all I am absolutely SOLD on geese! I think they are so personable and sweet and curious! I can't believe it took me this long to try them out!

If you have 2 boys and one girl more than likely they will fight over her. My gander and my Muscovy drake use to have clashes till my Muscovy finally realized he wasn't going to win, Now they just stay clear of each other. My gander tolerates the chickens. all he has to do his bow his head down and they know that means don't get to close.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

You will be separating one gander from the other come next spring, or yes there will be fights. Ganders can have brutal fights competing over a female.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Once one gander has claimed her, he will attack and drive away the other if he attempts to "put the moves on her". Otherwise, mine seems to ignore one another as long as they maintain their distance (don't violate personal space). This distance buffer space gets way smaller during breeding season though. My flock sire is VERY protective of his mate and not even the ducks are allowed anywhere near her from November until late April, so be prepared for that behavior even if you only keep the pair.

I actually have this going on right now. I have two flocks of ducks and geese; each lives in a separate house with separate ponds, but I generally leave the gate open so they can visit one another. My juvenile geese are in one flock and my more mature ones in the other. One of my January Pomeranian goslings, Tucker, has his eye on the oldest goose in the juvenile flock, Derby: She is 2 months old this week and seems to like him as well. However, she has been raised with a pair of Toulouse the same age and that gander thinks she is his. This weekend we are moving Derby and Tucker to a private yard in hopes they will bond since they are from two different bloodlines and I need the pairing.

As to telling what they are.....if they are standard and not dewlap....once their adult feathers are all in you will start to notice a definite size difference: The ganders are usually a good bit larger and taller than the goose (the goose is about a head shorter). Also, the shape of their head is slightly different: The gooses seems more rounded. Additionally, their are small differences in the shape of their bills. The ganders is a bit larger and just seems stockier, for lack of a better way to put it.

I have noticed with my pair, that the gander always leads and the goose always follows when they walk anywhere: I don't know if this holds true for everyone, but both the Poms and the Toulouse seem to do it.

Good luck with your new friends!

 

[larkflying]

The shivering neck feathers mean they are uncertain or scared . . . mine will do it when picked up, or when trying to decide to come close enough to get a share of the snacks.

Two of my ganders bonded and became best buddies, and then they almost killed the third. I have 5 female geese though. With only one female, it will be hard to tell how they will do till January gets here.

You could always put an ad up and see if you could find a good home for the extra gander, or an extra goose . . .

My ganders left the ducks/chickens alone even during the breeding season -- they ignored my drake even when he chased the female geese (I would have preferred them to be a little more protective there), and the chickens wandered around doing their chicken things. The geese would do the snakey neck thing and the chickens / ducks would run away, but not in pure terror, more like, "oh, well, there they go again." I did have them all in a large area where they all had room to get away from each other . . .

 

[NanaKat]

Since there has been some discussion on New to goslings and some informative answers, I'm going to jump in with a few myself.

Will be inheriting two "Easter" goslings from a friend's family who decided not to keep them. I need to know some basic information. So any suggestions will be most appreciated.

What feed should I get for these young geese? I have scratch, layer pellets, med chick feed (not good for geese?), calf manna, game bird feed.
Can they eat the same freerange as the chickens?
I know they need a water dish deep enough to clean their heads, but will I also need a tub for swimming?
After quarantine of 30 days, can the goslings be raised with or near the hens and chicks without passing disease or infections?

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Since there has been some discussion on New to goslings and some informative answers, I'm going to jump in with a few myself.

Will be inheriting two "Easter" goslings from a friend's family who decided not to keep them. I need to know some basic information. So any suggestions will be most appreciated.

What feed should I get for these young geese? I have scratch, layer pellets, med chick feed (not good for geese?), calf manna, game bird feed.
Can they eat the same freerange as the chickens?
I know they need a water dish deep enough to clean their heads, but will I also need a tub for swimming?
After quarantine of 30 days, can the goslings be raised with or near the hens and chicks without passing disease or infections?

Okay, so Easter goslings would make them 2 months old. Do you have any idea the gender or breed of geese you are getting? If not, be sure to post pictures and folks on here will be happy to take a stab at identifying the breed and gender.


By their current age they are quite large and should not be given the high protein gamebird starter. I am not sure about the gamebird feed....check the protein content: High protein may be linked to Angel Wing development. Ideally, as long as they are big enough and have adequate predator protection, their main source of food should be derived from grazing. If they are on grass you can give them supplemental chick starter or flock raiser pelleted feed (I prefer the latter of those two at this age).

If they are NOT on pasture, you will need to pick up some Brewer's Yeast to sprinkle on top of their food. A diet of only Chicken food does not have sufficient amounts of Niacin and could lead to weak legs, or other leg health issues.

They don't necessarily need a pond, although they would certainly enjoy it. For drinking water a short bucket, like the smaller stock buckets that hook to the fence (goat minerals come in one like it at Tractor Supply) would be perfect. They need to be able to dip their heads. Should you choose to get them something to swim in they would be very happy to bathe in it!

As to the quarantine: Any poultry or waterfowl can be asymptomatic and still be a carrier for a number of diseases that affect poultry. While quarantine is an excellent bio-security measure, it won't necessarily stop any number of virus that will shed from a carrier bird during its lifetime: I am not saying never bring in stock, just watch them carefully and then your flock after the introduction. From my experience, geese are fairly healthy disease free animals though.

I have a small group of "special" chickens (culls that I do not hatch eggs from due to beak deformities, etc) that sleep on a shelf in one of my duck/goose coops at night. Unless it is breeding season, the geese don't even give them a second thought. They also range with the geese during the day, which is actually pretty awesome: Built in hawk deterrence.


Also, be prepared that geese can be very ornery as "teenagers". They seem to explore everything with their bills and bite, nibble, and chew things just because they are there. They are adorable, but can also be destructive as some of my seedling trees could attest to (had they not been chewed to nubs). Otherwise, they are wonderful birds and a great addition to the backyard flock. I am very sure you will enjoy them!

Good luck and I am glad you are able to take in these poor birds.

 

[NanaKat]

Thank you for the wonderful information. I copied it to a folder. These are our first geese so I'm learning as I go.

I have no idea what breed or sex yet. She is bringing them this afternoon so will definitely post pictures.
I'm assuming they are whatever TSC or Atwoods had on sale at Easter.

I have one of those huge collapsible dog crates I'm going to set up inside the barn for a goose coop until I get something permanent for them. We close up the barn every evening. I also have an area I can set up with perimeter wire for them to free range. We have been fortunate not to have owls or hawks near the house because we have many acres of hay meadows. Plus we have chicken dogs.

 

[NanaKat]

Received Tweety and Chad and have them settled in their temporary coop for the evening.
Included a tub with water for bathing and hay for sleeping and shreded some brocolli and grass for treats. Chad is gray with a black bill and Tweety is white with a pink bill. The mom sent a couple of cups of a food that looks like chick crumbles but it was labeled duck starter...Is that something I can find in a feed store?

They lived their first two months in a dog crate ( 2 x 3 x 2.5) in a child's bedroom...never been in deep water and never been outside.
Looks like Tweety has some knee issues..like a slipping tenden or lack of niacin. They both jumped into the tub and took a bath and then have been preening themselves while nibbling the grass and brocolli.
Here are a few pictures. The crate they are in is 3 x the size of the one they hve been using.
You can see Tweety's knee in the first picture. Is the feathering normal for 8 weeks or are they behind? They appear a little stunted to me..... What do you think?









After tonight, I will be placing them outside in a shady grassy spot with a big pan of water. The sunshine and exercise should do both of them some good!