Gosling is afraid of the dark!!

[Wolffranch]

I have a 5 day old gosling in with my 3-5 week old chicks. No one is picking on anyone and things seem to be going great for my flock. Except I think my gosling is afraid of the dark. We had to turn off the lights for a little bit to re-arrange and clean the brooder pen and 'Goose' freaked out! He/she (not old enough to sex yet) was screeching and making a horrible racket the entire time the lights were out. Is this something I'm going to have to worry about in the future? Am I going to have to put a 'night light' in the coop for Goose, or will the red lights I have installed be fine?

 

[candyNflowers]

I dont know about gooses but my rooster is afraid of the dark and wouldnt go into the coop at dusk until i installed some solar lights. i got a strand of garden solar lights cheap at walmart and they work great. best wishes with your goose.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, wolffranch, and

! Great to have you here. Don't know if you have neighbors or how patient they are but I think I'd let the goose tough it out until he got used to it. Good luck to you!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC!!!

Glad to have you aboard!!

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have a 5 day old gosling in with my 3-5 week old chicks. No one is picking on anyone and things seem to be going great for my flock. Except I think my gosling is afraid of the dark. We had to turn off the lights for a little bit to re-arrange and clean the brooder pen and 'Goose' freaked out! He/she (not old enough to sex yet) was screeching and making a horrible racket the entire time the lights were out. Is this something I'm going to have to worry about in the future? Am I going to have to put a 'night light' in the coop for Goose, or will the red lights I have installed be fine?

Are you saying the gosling was in complete darkness? I wouldn't think as long as it has it's brooder mates with it would be afraid,. Night light probably wouldn't be a bad idea though I have one in my duck house. but not my goose house, my 2 geese keep each other feeling secure I guess. I would think about getting your gosling a gosling for a friend though they do so much better if they have one of their own kind to grow up with. and

 

[The goose girl]

My own gosling feels unsafe in the dark and wants to be held and snuggled. She sleeps in my bed, and when I turn off the light she has to be settled right up next to my face, otherwise she panics and acts just like you described.

Maybe your chicks aren't ideal snuggle partners for the gosling?

 

[Wolffranch]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone! The gosling was in complete darkness, but most of the other chicks were in there with her. The oldest chick (6 weeks) who I call Big Momma, snuggles with Goose quite a bit and we figured out that these two cannot be separated. We had split the chicks up into smaller crates just so we could clean out the brooder, didn't realize the bond between Big Momma and Goose, and had them in separate crates for the cleaning. My boyfriend has tested the theory, and as long as those two are together Goose does fine in the dark. Big Momma roosts and feeds and wanders around when Goose is awake, and gets down to cuddle when it's nap time.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone! The gosling was in complete darkness, but most of the other chicks were in there with her. The oldest chick (6 weeks) who I call Big Momma, snuggles with Goose quite a bit and we figured out that these two cannot be separated. We had split the chicks up into smaller crates just so we could clean out the brooder, didn't realize the bond between Big Momma and Goose, and had them in separate crates for the cleaning. My boyfriend has tested the theory, and as long as those two are together Goose does fine in the dark. Big Momma roosts and feeds and wanders around when Goose is awake, and gets down to cuddle when it's nap time.

 

[The goose girl]

So happy to hear you figured out Goose's problem!