Geese Bullying One Hen

[newbiechickenlady20]

Hello! We have two Roman tufted geese. We're fairly certain it's a boy and girl, but not 100% sure. We have 9 hens with them as well. 7 raised separately (older than them) and 2 we raised with them specifically to get them accustom to chickens. The four of them are now about 6 months old. The past month or two, the geese have been attacking one of the hens they grew up with. Getting on top, grabbing the head whether on top or not, and the other goose will basically cheer its mate on. We only realize it's happening because they get so loud beating this poor hen up. They take turns but what we think is the female does the attacks more often.

They have plenty of space to roam. They're in a fence, but have loads of room to easily get away from one another. I'll attach a photo for reference. It includes about half or a little less than half of the fencing space visibly in the picture.

We've moved that hen out of the chicken tractor with the geese and the other hen that was raised with them. She now roosts in the coop at night but will join them during the day, which is when she gets bullied.

Is there anything we can do? I'm afraid we'll be gone one day and come back to a dead hen. Thanks in advance!

 

[Goosebaby]

You have to remove her permanently or they will kill her, there’s nothing you can do. You also need to watch for the chance that this develops again for the other chickens, geese don’t always get along with other birds, sometimes they do sometimes they don’t.

 

[newbiechickenlady20]

You have to remove her permanently or they will kill her, there’s nothing you can do. You also need to watch for the chance that this develops again for the other chickens, geese don’t always get along with other birds, sometimes they do sometimes they don’t.

That's what we've been discussing today. That's what I was afraid of. Would you think it'd be best to rehome her with the other hen the geese were raised with? They're buddies during the day.

I guess alternatively we can look into fencing the geese on their own.

 

[Goosebaby]

That's what we've been discussing today. That's what I was afraid of. Would you think it'd be best to rehome her with the other hen the geese were raised with? They're buddies during the day.

I guess alternatively we can look into fencing the geese on their own.

Rehome the chickens or the goose? The geese will be devastated if you seperate them and rehoming one is no guarantee the other won’t turn aggressive towards the chickens either.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Try fencing them off first. Separating is the way you can keep them all.

The geese may well just take it out on some other hen. They are the bullies here- maybe its worth thinking about rehoming them, as the the hen did nothing wrong.

 

[newbiechickenlady20]

Rehome the chickens or the goose? The geese will be devastated if you seperate them and rehoming one is no guarantee the other won’t turn aggressive towards the chickens either.

Oh no, I didn't mean splitting up the geese. I know that they bond to one another, we wouldn't do that.

 

[newbiechickenlady20]

Try fencing them off first. Separating is the way you can keep them all.

The geese may well just take it out on some other hen. They are the bullies here- maybe its worth thinking about rehoming them, as the the hen did nothing wrong.

This is probably what we will try. I don't want to re-home anyone. All of our animals are like pets to us, not just livestock. We did think about rehoming the geese, but we like them too much lol. We got them initially for protection from hawks and such so we'd want to keep them around if at all possible.

 

[Goosebaby]

This is probably what we will try. I don't want to re-home anyone. All of our animals are like pets to us, not just livestock. We did think about rehoming the geese, but we like them too much lol. We got them initially for protection from hawks and such so we'd want to keep them around if at all possible.

You’re not alone, my geese are my babies!

 

[newbiechickenlady20]

You’re not alone, my geese are my babies!

I wish they'd let me pet them a little more! But they always yell a greeting, and come over to be a "flock" when we go out to sit with the animals, which I love