Geese Relationship Troubles

[rivermedic]

I had a pair of embdens, the goose was killed last summer and the gander seemed to warm up to a chinese goose that I had. In the mean time I found a guy with a pair of emdens he wanted rid of. I bought the goose and traded my Chinese to someone else. So now I have a pair of Canadians, which is obviously a pair, and the two embdens (and assorted ducks). It's been a month and my gander has never accepted the goose into the flock. She mostly eats off by herself and is never very close to the other birds. I've noticed a change in the gander's behavior lately, he's become more vocal and defensive and hisses much more often. My question is as mating season progresses will nature take its course and will he breed with her since there are no alternatives, or is she likely to go unfertilized?

 

[Goose and Fig]

You can speed things up by giving them their own little love shack. Keep them away from the Canadians for the time being, so he doesn't abandon her. I have had to introduce new birds a few times, and sometimes it just takes a while.

 

[rivermedic]

OK, so today I managed to catch them and place them in a barn stall all by themselves. Hansel was very angry and spent the first 5 minutes beating up on the goose. Then, to my amazement he actually flew out of the barn. He is very heavy and has never flown before so he must have wanted out very badly. I managed to catch him again and put him back after hanging some poultry wire. He bit me twice which he has also never done. I clipped his wings and he beat up on the goose a little more and finally settled down. She is pitiful and I feel so sorry for her. I hope he will warm up to her. He's been so violent that I went and sexed her again thinking maybe she was a male, but she's not. I raised him by hand and have always been good to him. His behavior is completely uncharacteristic.

 

[Miss Lydia]

OK, so today I managed to catch them and place them in a barn stall all by themselves. Hansel was very angry and spent the first 5 minutes beating up on the goose. Then, to my amazement he actually flew out of the barn. He is very heavy and has never flown before so he must have wanted out very badly. I managed to catch him again and put him back after hanging some poultry wire. He bit me twice which he has also never done. I clipped his wings and he beat up on the goose a little more and finally settled down. She is pitiful and I feel so sorry for her. I hope he will warm up to her. He's been so violent that I went and sexed her again thinking maybe she was a male, but she's not. I raised him by hand and have always been good to him. His behavior is completely uncharacteristic.

As you see it isn't love at first sight, My embden gander had never had a goose friend, he was hatched and raised by a muscovy duck so this past August i finally got him a girl friend. or so I thought, I was very worried about him hurting her because he was so much bigger than her he is 5yrs old she was 4 months, so i used some plastic poultry fencing and made a divider in their stall with a board across the bottom to hold it in place and cup hooks on each side to lock it in place when i put them in there, He sacred her so much she would jump out of the stall and i worried she could get hurt that way too, it took about a month before i felt it was safe to remove the divider and let them sleep with out it. He has just started to really bond with her and they have started mating in the last couple of weeks. I have found that geese take quiet a while to change their attitudes about who we think might be good for them, He will probably come around and is probably confused as to what exactly you are trying to do,. My goose would follow my gander all over the place and he would do everything he could to make her feel she wasn't wanted. It will take time but when his hormones kick in this breeding season hopefully you'll see a big change in him towards her.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Oh, poor girl!

Miss Lydia's idea with the netting is a good one.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh, poor girl!

Miss Lydia's idea with the netting is a good one.

I like the new name !

 

[rivermedic]

So Hansel spent a week couped up with her alone and they seemed to be getting along OK. Then as soon as I let them out he abandoned her again. I have 5 sebbies that are kept separate from the embdens, 2 ganders and 3 geese. Tonight I went to the barn and discovered that Gretel had snuck in with the sebbies who like her and one of the ganders was obviously gaga for her. So here's my question, are the 2 sebbie ganders likely to mate with all 4 females if I leave them together? I don't mind if Gretel stays with them since she's obviously happy but I need to make sure the 3 sebbie females get fertilized. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So Hansel spent a week couped up with her alone and they seemed to be getting along OK. Then as soon as I let them out he abandoned her again. I have 5 sebbies that are kept separate from the embdens, 2 ganders and 3 geese. Tonight I went to the barn and discovered that Gretel had snuck in with the sebbies who like her and one of the ganders was obviously gaga for her. So here's my question, are the 2 sebbie ganders likely to mate with all 4 females if I leave them together? I don't mind if Gretel stays with them since she's obviously happy but I need to make sure the 3 sebbie females get fertilized. Any advice would be appreciated.

What do you mean he abandoned her, does he go hang with other geese? I can't tell you your 2 ganders can keep all your sebbies fertlized but i have seen where others kept a gander and 2 geese together so it would probably work out. Only problem I see would be if you wanted to hatch goslings most likely with Gretel in the mix your going to have some mix breed babies.

 

[rivermedic]

When I said He abandoned her I meant he pushed her out of his own flock again which consists of the 2 Canadians and some ducks. I dont mind if she gets crossed with the sebbies as long as they get fertilized. She's obviously happier with them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

When I said He abandoned her I meant he pushed her out of his own flock again which consists of the 2 Canadians and some ducks. I dont mind if she gets crossed with the sebbies as long as they get fertilized. She's obviously happier with them.

Well sounds like everything has worked out, i'd say your ganders will take care of all the ladies since alot of folks put a trio together anyway [gander and 2 geese]