friendly goose?

[Bring]

Is there such a thing as a friendly goose? If you had raise it from a gosling will it stay nice or turn on me?

 

[chickenzoo]

All my geese are friendly, but the best are my Sebbie's. They are almost too friendly... he he

 

[CMV]

I have friendly Africans and a Toulouse that is a little standoffish. They were hand raised from day old chicks. The Africans have always been more sociable than the one Toulouse.

 

[Bring]

does friendlyness depend on the gender? Also, are they really loud?

 

[chickenzoo]

My African gander is friendly, although very loud. My Sebbies both male and female are friendly. I think it depends on the time spent with them.

 

[Bring]

what is the average price for a gosling?

 

[Kim65]

It depends upon what you mean by "turning on you"

Geese are geese, and obnoxious and needy and demanding, they nibble and bite HARD, even when they are just loving on you. During breeding season, the sociable gander will "turn" on you for a few weeks or months until his hormones calm down, and your sweet little goose will hiss at you if you get too close to her eggs.

Understanding geese is like understanding your dog or cat, and each individual goose has a different personality too. Some breeds like Sebastopols, Pilgrim, and Buff geese are more timid and mild mannered. But then there are exceptions to that, too.

Pretty much, any single goose raised with humans will not turn on you, it will think it is a human being too and it is part of YOUR flock.

The fewer geese you have, the better your chances of having a friendly goose. I hand raised a flock of ten and when they hit adulthood, they no longer tolerated me picking them up and loving on them (well, one did remain very friendly). The flock mentality will take over.

I have a male/female pair now . . . still very young, almost three months old. I don't plan on getting more, and am hoping they'll stay friendly because I have LOTS of contact with them.

 

[banter]

Quote:
You can get the more common breeds for as little as $5-$10 each. The rare breeds, like Sebastopol run $45.00 ea and up. Bear in mind you must ship at least 3 babies together for warmth, and geese need the companionship of another goose. It's a lot of fun to raise your own goslings, but at this time of year you can sometimes find very nice 3-4 month old youngsters. Many people who raise geese keep them until late summer and fall when the goslings feather out, and then decide which ones they wish to keep, selling the rest.

 

[chevydmax04]

our geese are awesome, they honk and make all kinds of noise in the morning when I go down to let them out, they follow me around the yard like my dogs. and they sit and stare in the window as we watch tv!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I agree, my geese are awesome. I hatched out two Africans and they are great. They will follow us around, but have been going off on their own more and more.
Yesterday, I just bought 2 mated pairs more of the Africans and 1 mated pair of Pilgrims.
I was very worried that they would all get along, and today they were all allowed to be in the yard together. At first they started going after each other and biting each other. But it was one of my little two that started it. The older geese did bite back but you could see it was only a warning. They could have killed the little guys. After about 10 minutes of deciding who was going to be boss, they all settled down together.
Then I let the Pilgrims out and we started all over again. They all settled down.
The cats and dog and geese and ducks all get along. They have learned who not to bother.
As for me, they do eat out of my hand but after reading the prior post I think I will stop that.
The 2nd dominant male started nipping my husband and he gave him a sharp whack. He only had to do it twice and it never nipped again. Of course after smacking the goose my DH talked sweet to him and fed him. Now they get along.
Yes they poop and yes they honk but that is who they are and I just love it. They are regal and smart and fun. Truly the best of all fowl in my opinion.