goose questions UPDATED w/ PHOTOS!

[ohiofarmgirl]

i dunno Eggs4Sale but i've been laughing myself silly over your posts.. yes geese are 'immature' in the way they behave! ours are dillies (see my signature)

our Cindy Lou start to lay and sat a nest this spring - she was a year. as for the food - honey - put them out in the grass! unless the weather is bad we dont hardly feed them at all. and they keep the grass down.

i'm sure that someone has told you there is a way to vent sex them.. but honestly i saw it done and i couldnt tell the diff. we can tell by subtle, SUBTLE, behaviors described best as the females act a little more 'demure" and ours have slightly deeper keels.

those pix are great

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Thanks, Ohiofarmgirl! Well, since they both act the same, and neither could be described as demure, and with my long history of bad luck, I'd say their boys. So boys and girls have the same beaks and tails and all? That's just inconsiderate of them.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yes i know! we couldnt tell who was who until we saw them on the nest!

now tho, i can tell the diff. a lot of it has to do with behavior - but if you dont have others to compare, you wont know until next spring!?!?!?

geese are goosey! i ask my silliest hen all the time "are you a goose? because i have a goose and i can tell" - i think its hilarious but she just looks at me like i have lobsters growing out of my ears!

and yep they are the same same - i think only pilgrim geese look different. sheesh!

(and i could never tell by the sounds they make - there is always a rackus)

 

[Kim65]

I'll agree, based on experience, that males and females act differently.

My goslings are five weeks old, and were sexed, a male and female pair. Either the breeder, or more likely ME, got them turned around when I picked them up and in the last week, I've had to concede and switch their names LOL!!

Petey holds his head up high and looks you right in the eye. He is bigger, heavier, and has a bit more "personality". He is bolder and when the dog comes around, he stares the dog down.

Lila holds her head down, is smaller, lighter and a lot shyer. Petey comes forward, she hangs back.

Otherwise, they are identical. Up until Petey began to grow larger, I could only tell them apart by the shape of their eyes.

Lila's namesake was a Toulouse I had years ago, the female of a sexed male/female pair from Privett's. She never laid a single egg, so obviously she was a gander. There are lots of geese with gender-opposite names LOL, that's the nature of having geese.

Yes, put them in the yard, in the grass, or cut them grass. Keep them with the chickens, they keep away the hawks.

If you want eggs, get sexed female geese, it's really the only way to tell for sure (well, mostly for sure

)

 

[Eggs4Sale]

That's funny about getting them switched around when you picked them up!
The lady who owned these geese named them Barney and Fred (but I have conveniently forgotten to call them by those names). I have my fingers crossed that I'll have to change their names to something more feminine.
But they sure do BOTH act the way you describe your male. Maybe it's because it's me and they're okay with me? If I took a threat in there, like the dog (who only wants to sniff their food), would that be a better way to see the behaviors you describe? Or do they act that way with you too?