Geese hate their house!

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

Hello! Meet Gus & Gil our almost one year old pilgrim ganders. My boyfriend built them a wonderful house that they absolutely hate. He even insulated it so they would be nice and warm in the winter. They spend their days free ranging on our land and they are the funniest to watch. We have an acre pond that they have full use of. We’ve had problems getting them to use their house since we built it. People told us to get them into a routine and after a few weeks they would go in on their own… it took more like three months. Every night we had to spend 30 minutes on average catching them and putting them to bed. Then, one night they started going in on their own which lasted for two weeks until they decided they weren’t going to do that anymore. We’ve been catching them, but my boyfriend works a lot out of town and it’s impossible for me to catch them on my own and I don’t like running around in the dark when there’s nobody with me. And on top of that the pond is starting to thaw and they sit right in the middle of it knowing we can’t get to them. For the past week we have been unable to get them in their house. We have predators and catch bobcats, raccoons, fisher and coyotes on our trail cams further back in the woods but I think our two dogs, although kept in the house, keep predators at bay. We are debating if we need to just build a lean to type shelter for them with a door on it and wire so they can still see out. Their current door doesn’t allow them to walk freely in and out, they have to duck just a little bit. I’d also like something a little bigger so we can have their food in there for winter time. But I’m very worried they still won’t use the house and we will waste another nice shelter on them! I would sleep so much better at night if they would just cooperate! I would love anyones input on what they do for their geese!

 

[addctd2plnts]

I wonder if the reason they don't want to go in has to do with size of the door? If the door was as big as the whole front square, I bet they'd go in easily. Ducks and geese are very spatially oriented. If something feels too small, they don't understand it will be bigger on the other side of the door. Their instinct kicks in to not get trapped anywhere they can't get out of. I see this with my ducks because twice a day we use two puppy pen panels with a hinge in between to make a smaller area to herd them into, so we can put them in totes and transfer them to vetween the coop in barn to movable pens. If I leave the opening too small, the ducks try to run outside the catch pen, but if I open it slightly more, they'll run right inside.

 

[AGeese]

Neat house, but does look on the smaller side and especially the door. Maybe it would be best fit for a guard dog? Then they could stay out on the pond. Whatever you do I would make it big enough to walk in and not have to bend or duck.

 

[addctd2plnts]

Neat house, but does look on the smaller side and especially the door. Maybe it would be best fit for a guard dog? Then they could stay out on the pond. Whatever you do I would make it big enough to walk in and not have to bend or duck.

I'm curious, because I have 3 pairs of Pilgrim Geese ordered from Bell's Conservancy. Do you use separate sheds to house each pair during breeding season? (What size do you use? Does the size differ between varieties of geese, due to differences in aggressiveness? (I'm aware there may be differences within a variety, but just looking for general trends)

 

[Karasu]

I wonder if the reason they don't want to go in has to do with size of the door? If the door was as big as the whole front square, I bet they'd go in easily. Ducks and geese are very spatially oriented. If something feels too small, they don't understand it will be bigger on the other side of the door. Their instinct kicks in to not get trapped anywhere they can't get out of. I see this with my ducks because twice a day we use two puppy pen panels with a hinge in between to make a smaller area to herd them into, so we can put them in totes and transfer them to vetween the coop in barn to movable pens. If I leave the opening too small, the ducks try to run outside the catch pen, but if I open it slightly more, they'll run right inside.

I second this.
That house looks better built than my house, honestly.

 

[sourland]

In my experience geese and ducks have preferred sleeping in the open and are very unhappy about going into 'smaller' confined areas. Perhaps attaching a predator proof pen and feeding in it in the evening would make bedtime easier.

 

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

I second this.
That house looks better built than my house, honestly.

I asked him to make a little hut and he went and built a whole freaking mansion. Lol. I think we are going to make them a new shelter this week.. and hopefully it’ll take just a few hours. This house will be retired and gives us an excuse to find a new pet to house it.

 

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

In my experience geese and ducks have preferred sleeping in the open and are very unhappy about going into 'smaller' confined areas. Perhaps attaching a predator proof pen and feeding in it in the evening would make bedtime easier.

Ugh, anything to make bed time easier. Our closest neighbor is right across the street but we are back pretty far in the woods. He told me the other night he got home late and he could see someone running back by our house with a flashlight and could hear the geese putting up a fit lmao.

 

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

Neat house, but does look on the smaller side and especially the door. Maybe it would be best fit for a guard dog? Then they could stay out on the pond. Whatever you do I would make it big enough to walk in and not have to bend or duck.

I think you’re right. I want them to easily go in and out, and he made this freaking house so well it wouldn’t be easy to just cut a bigger door into it. I think itll be easier just to make the a new little shelter hour with a door!

 

[sourland]

I asked him to make a little hut and he went and built a whole freaking mansion. Lol. I think we are going to make them a new shelter this week.. and hopefully it’ll take just a few hours. This house will be retired and gives us an excuse to find a new pet to house it.

Great coop for a bantam flock. Just trying to help here.