Goose Questions

[TheHappyHen678]

Hi! I have a toulouse goose, (could be a gander, no one in my family wants to vent sex them.) I have a couple of questions about them. The Goose's name is Goose,(i know, very creative lol) and he's just a singular Goose in a flock of chickens and ducks. They're not there as a guard Goose, we just only got one Goose and didn't think about it. Does he need a partner? If we do get him a another Goose does it matter what sex it is? We're also worried that they might fly away if there are 2 of them. Would this actually happen? Also they are about a year old, and if we got another Goose, should we try to get one that's a similar age? Also on Goose's beak there is a whiteish spot slighly above between his nostrils that you can see in the picture. Should I be concerned about this? Sorry to dump all of this on you guys..... I'm just very new to Goose keeping and want to know.
This is Goose:

 

[Pyxis]

He or she does need a goose friend, yes. Any adult goose will be fine. Sex-wise, if you don't know the sex of this one, a female is always a safe bet - two females get along fine, and a male would regard a new female as a possible mate.

If all you can find is males, that's okay too - there may be some squabbling to establish dominance, but generally two ganders can also do fine together. The trouble with ganders is that they may try to mate with your chickens come breeding season, if they don't have female geese.

They will not fly away. Domestic geese cannot fly like wild geese - they have been bred to be too large and heavy.

You can try sexing Goose if you want to find out his actual sex. You can try to tell by behavior - ganders tend to stand more erect, with their necks upright and held proud. They also often will get between a threat and their mate or flocks and extend their necks and hiss. Vent sexing is the surefire way to tell, but can be tricky, and you can hurt a goose doing it if you are not careful.

https://amerpoultryassn.com/2022/06/sexing-geese/

 

[Goosebaby]

It’s pretty difficult vent sexing a full grown goose so I wouldn’t bother anyway.

Geese are happier with another goose.

Ganders can and do bond with other ganders but it can create its own challenges, sometimes they’ll squabble in breeding season and they can feed on each others hormonal energy. A female goose isn’t necessarily going to be an instant bond if you have a gander but it’s usually easier.

Age doesn’t really matter, if you get a gosling just introduce them slowly with supervised outings with the older goose until they’re large enough to not be trampled.

Domestic geese can fly but aren’t usually that great at it. Mostly young geese like to make attempts but they usually don’t fly more than a few yards. They won’t leave their home.

The white spot is fine.

 

[TheHappyHen678]

Thanks so much!!!!! This is really helpful.