Geese being evil toward other animals

[docdubz]

I thought Id post this for people thinking about getting geese and planning on keeping them with other livestock.

My geese are now 6 months old and they have gone from being aggressive, to everything besides me, to being completely evil. Now, if they see any of my animals eating anything or drinking out of any of the stock tanks on my property they attack them viciously. And they came up with a "game". They figured out how to trick chickens into falling into water and then they take turns holding it down until i stop them or it drowns.

I spent a lot of time acclimating them to the other animals when they were goslings and theyve always been around my goats and chickens but it just did not take. They are well behaved towards me its just the other animals that they are devious monsters to.

 

[sourland]

How much space do they have? Geese are very territorial, but given enough space they generally only exhibit this sort of behavior during breeding season.

 

[docdubz]

How much space do they have? Geese are very territorial, but given enough space they generally only exhibit this sort of behavior during breeding season.

Their pen is about 4,000 square feet and when I let them free range they have 7 acres they could roam on. Its not even them being territorial, if the chickens and goats arent eating or drinking the geese ignore them. They wont even attack because they themselves are hungry or thirsty, they really just seem to get a kick out of messing with the other animals.

 

[sourland]

Odd behavior indeed. What breed are they?

 

[docdubz]

Odd behavior indeed. What breed are they?

Embdens. They have always been a bit rough to handle. When they were goslings they did not like me at all and started getting nasty so I abandoned trying to imprint and instead trained them like I would large, potentially dangerous, dogs. That worked out well for mitigating aggression but the new chicken murder behavior is a bit ridiculous.

They take turns trying to trick a chicken into jumping onto the side of a stock tank and then they all charge at the tank trying to get the chicken to fall in the water and then hold it down under the water. Thats not even aggression thats killing for sport.

 

[Goosebaby]

Odd.
Different individuals do have different personalities. I have some that love hanging out with the dogs, others who can’t stand them. For several years two of my boys lived peacefully with the ducks but the ducks kept starting drama and now none of my geese can stand the ducks.

I have two ganders I call the “murder birds” because I can’t trust them even around the other geese. At least they like each other though.

I have one female and one male that can’t be in the same enclosure without starting a war between them. The rest generally get along, but lately I have two brothers who are now squabbling because one of the girls is playing games with them and pitting them against each other, love triangle bs.

Raising them like babies does a lot to better socialize them, but with any bird it’s a life time commitment, if you stop spending time with them for an extended period they’ll decide that you don’t like them and can reciprocate that depending on their personality. They’re like parrots, but without the razor beaks and better problem solving skills.

Even still you can still get stink weeds, they’ll like you but you cant make them like anyone or anything else, that’s between them and who/whatever it is.

I would advise separating them from your other animals. A 5’ x 10’ pen is a comfortable sized bed time pen or temporary pen for 2 to 3 geese. 20’ x 20’ is a good amount of space for two geese to live long term. I’d let them have daily outings to graze when you’re around to supervise, but otherwise they’ll do fine on their own.

 

[JRies]

6 months is a hard time for geese they are just starting to get there hormones in tact and establishing there breeding order. The girls will begin to compete for the boy they want and the the boy well if you will get in the pond with me Im ready to practice. Girls are just starting to feel the egg production stuff all come into tact. There first year is the hardest since its all new to them. So the chickens have just gotten in the way of a practice session of pining and breeding. The girls will also right now be instigating small fight to see which boy will come to defend them. Its like Middle School. One of the hardest places we all had to survive to get to High School again survive to find adulthood. Adulthood for a goose is usually after there first full Breeding Season. Please dont give up on them just give them a little more of there own space to get through months 6 to 12

 

[docdubz]

6 months is a hard time for geese they are just starting to get there hormones in tact and establishing there breeding order. The girls will begin to compete for the boy they want and the the boy well if you will get in the pond with me Im ready to practice. Girls are just starting to feel the egg production stuff all come into tact. There first year is the hardest since its all new to them. So the chickens have just gotten in the way of a practice session of pining and breeding. The girls will also right now be instigating small fight to see which boy will come to defend them. Its like Middle School. One of the hardest places we all had to survive to get to High School again survive to find adulthood. Adulthood for a goose is usually after there first full Breeding Season. Please dont give up on them just give them a little more of there own space to get through months 6 to 12

Thanks for the perspective. I certainly wasnt giving up on them. Ive come to like them more than chickens to be honest. But them being violent to the other animals and very unfriendly to people that arent me gets a little tedious at times.

 

[Isadora]

Thanks for the perspective. I certainly wasnt giving up on them. Ive come to like them more than chickens to be honest. But them being violent to the other animals and very unfriendly to people that arent me gets a little tedious at times.

I hope they level out soon. I would have eaten them by now.