Goose or Ganders?

[9to5]

Just joined BYC to make my first post!

I currently have 6 fun and smart Pekins. I have four females and two drakes, one I adopted from a friend looking to rehome him. They all get along extremely well, but for the longest time I've wanted geese as well. So, I ordered two Pilgrim geese from Metzer farms, one goose and one gander. They are set to come in late April.

I've been looking for weeks for advice on how aggressive the gander will be. From what I've read, it appears Pilgrim geese are relatively calm, but can anyone give me some insight on how the ganders are? Would I be better off with the goose and a gander or two geese? And will they get along with my Pekins?

Thanks!

 

[Poultrybonkers]

geese are only aggressive if treated badly my geese are friendly i over snuggled them as babies

 

[Goosebaby]

Spend time with them as you would any pet and they’ll adore you, geese are very social so regardless of species if they’re around certain individuals all the time those individuals will be just part of their flock family.

Ganders tend to get hormonal around winter and spring. You may have varying degrees of territorial behavior and grumpiness, the more time you spent with them the less extream their grumpiness towards you.
Geese do fine with ducks if they’re raised around them. I’ve seen drakes get agressive towards goslings and try to kill them so while they’re little the babies may not be safe with the ducks. If the geese aren’t bonded with the ducks though geese can be agressive towards them and even kill them.

As a whole ganders aren’t to difficult from my own expierience, I’ve had mostly ganders, not nearly as many girls. Geese are all highly individual so you don’t always know what the flock dynamic will end up being, but it really helps if you socialize them, spend a lot of time with them.

 

[9to5]

geese are only aggressive if treated badly my geese are friendly i over snuggled them as babies

Ok good to know! I definitely plan on spending lots of time with them when they are goslings, and spoiling them like my ducks when they're older!

 

[9to5]

Spend time with them as you would any pet and they’ll adore you, geese are very social so regardless of species if they’re around certain individuals all the time those individuals will be just part of their flock family.

Ganders tend to get hormonal around winter and spring. You may have varying degrees of territorial behavior and grumpiness, the more time you spent with them the less extream their grumpiness towards you.
Geese do fine with ducks if they’re raised around them. I’ve seen drakes get agressive towards goslings and try to kill them so while they’re little the babies may not be safe with the ducks. If the geese aren’t bonded with the ducks though geese can be agressive towards them and even kill them.

As a whole ganders aren’t to difficult from my own expierience, I’ve had mostly ganders, not nearly as many girls. Geese are all highly individual so you don’t always know what the flock dynamic will end up being, but it really helps if you socialize them, spend a lot of time with them.

Thanks for your input! My plan was to begin introducing them to the ducks on "supervised" visits when they get larger, just so the geese know the ducks exist and vise versa. And its good to know ganders aren't too difficult then, I originally got the male and female because I was hoping they'd become a pair and be happier that way. I've read that geese mate for life.

Hopefully my geese will spend lots of time with me when I'm outside, my ducks follow me around everywhere and love when I throw them bugs and small weeds when I'm in my gardens.