Goose croons to a nest of eggs

[Miss Lydia]

"Lets see if @jchny2000 has any ideas."

How do I go about getting his attention to read these posts? I'm still learning how to navigate the forum. Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

when you do @jchny2000 yourself it will appear blue and it is a great way of getting our attention . She has Chinese and Africans i believe so hopefully she'll see this and give her ideas.

If you know any one BYC name you can use this method to get our attention quicker. like this @Sumartae once it comes up in blue click on it write out your message and your done.

 

[Sumartae]

Thanks.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

All my hens of any species talk to the eggs. But, some of the fellas do also, especially geese, guinea and turkeys. I have my first chicken roo ever to actually help incubate. He is an EE.
I look for these things to determine goose or gander....Voice, high sounds in chinese/african especially are gander. More forward, openly walking up and meeting as a gosling. Goose babies are less open and outwardly friendly unless raised alone. Also depends on breeds, chinese are easy since the sexes have such a different voice. Embden, buffs and some other popular breeds are a bit more difficult. The real spoiler is the legs, ganders are heavier, thicker legged. Necks are longer, voices as mentioned higher and shrill. Ganders get larger faster than goose.
Post lots of pics, we can probably figure out what you have. I will go back and read the rest, in case you did, LOL! No matter what gender, you will love them. I can't imagine daily living without my goose flock, would just break my heart.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I have a 13 week old brown Chinese goose that I've named Peepers. I still don't know if this goose is male or female, but he/she sure mimics our 18 month old white Chinese gander in body language, has the same long neck, is about the same size as the gander but the nose knob isn't as large and the voice is lower, almost hoarse. Now I'm hearing him/ her croon in a mournful way over a nest of eggs. This seems so strange since having waterfowl is a new experience for me. Someone suggested I vent sex him, but I know now I'm not up to doing that and I'm hoping someone would have enough experience with these birds to be able to make an educated guess on the gender based on my description. Other wise, time will tell, but I'm dying to know now.

. The crooning really has me puzzled. Thanks for any help you have to offer.

Oh my, they are lovely! Thats a long neck on the brown chinese for the age... but the suspected hen, have you seen the parents? And on the eggs just wondering who laid them. true chinese have huge knobs and amazing long necks almost like a swan, they are descended from swans, actually. The knobs will come in much later, don't use them as a tool to judge sex, its different for each bird. Massive to almost none, just depends on the parent birds. The mimicking is common, goose flocks try to be as one, and follow a lead/alpha bird. Voice is your best tool, GEEE GEEE is a gander, WaahWaah is a hen. huge difference in the tone and once the adult voice is there you will know.