Goslings of 2014 Hatch-a-long

[livininbrazil]

It has been a while since I posted any status updates about my goslings. I don't think I can call them that any more, they are big. It turns out that Snow is a goose not a gander! I have no idea why she was so aggressive before, but she has now settled down. Noel is the only gander in the flock, which means he has 3 white Chinese and 4 African girlfriends. So I guess Noel is spared from culling for this year, lol. I have been trying to sell some of my extra females but no one in my area is interested. I'm building an addition to the goose and duck house (they are side by side) so that I have enough room to winter all of them. Then next spring I should be able to sell my extras.

I do have a question though. Is it normal for a female goose, who was hatched this spring, and who has not laid any eggs, to try and sit a nest? Because Snow is running the ducks off their nest and trying to sit the eggs. She isn't dedicated, she gets off during the hottest part of the day, and I go raid the nest at that time. But every morning she goes back there and sits for a couple hours on that nest.

Well, I´ll be blowed! That´s such a surprise. How do you know it´s a female? The knob? Can´t necessarily go by the messing with nests, as some ganders do it too.
Wow, what a stroppy lady she is/was, then!
I find my young females like to 'play dolls' in old nests, by sitting in there, playing with the grass, etc, but they don´t lay eggs at that stage. Well, that´s mine, at least!
Any new pics of them?

 

[livininbrazil]

Here is my other Tufted x Toulouse gosling. Almost feathered. Its a paint! And im sure its a gander. The pic is fuzzy because the little squirt never walks slowly. I swear i came up with a "Runner" goose lol

I can see what you mean about 'runner goose'!

Love that little dark head. Seems to have gander attitude, but then...look what happened with Starfire´s!!

 

[8GeeseALaying]

I can see what you mean about 'runner goose'!     Love that little dark head.  Seems to have gander attitude, but then...look what happened with Starfire´s!!  

I could be wrong, i hope im wrong! If it is a he then im crossing him back to one of his aunties or the lavender i kept. It acts like a female. Its not lavender as much anymore either. It looks like a really washed out barred rock chicken.

 

[Starfire669]

How many months old is she now? I was thinking that she was an early hatch?

I got Snow, Jasmine, and some of the chickens in April.

 

[livininbrazil]

I could be wrong, i hope im wrong! If it is a he then im crossing him back to one of his aunties or the lavender i kept. It acts like a female. Its not lavender as much anymore either. It looks like a really washed out barred rock chicken.

Well, let´s hope.. I´ve put some of my young pied ganders with thier aunties this year, and the auties don´t want to know. Their mum´s busy with nesting, but the aunties take off as soon as the young males get near! And the two young males are quite happy keeping company with each other, and they both only breed with one of their sisters, leaving another sister and aunties to themselves! Geese! Haha, no matter...

 

[Starfire669]

Well, I´ll be blowed!  That´s such a surprise.  How do you know it´s a female?  The knob?  Can´t necessarily go by the messing with nests, as some ganders do it too.
Wow, what a stroppy lady she is/was, then!  
I find my young females like to 'play dolls' in old nests, by sitting in there, playing with the grass, etc, but they don´t lay eggs at that stage. Well, that´s mine, at least!
Any new pics of them?  

I know Snow is a goose by voice, size, and behavior. Noel is definately a gander, the only gander with 7 girlfriends, and a pain in my butt too. The nesting behavior has been going on for a while. I placed a wooden egg where I wanted to convince the ducks to lay. I never moved it and Daisy duck and Snow take turns sitting on it, and while they are on it both hiss at me! I have to sneak out there to collect eggs during the hottest part of the day, lol. Snow is the dominant female, she definately leads them all. When she goes to the nest first thing in the morning when I let them out, all the other geese follow her and drive the ducks and chickens away while she makes herself comfortable.

 

[livininbrazil]

I know Snow is a goose by voice, size, and behavior. Noel is definately a gander, the only gander with 7 girlfriends, and a pain in my butt too. The nesting behavior has been going on for a while. I placed a wooden egg where I wanted to convince the ducks to lay. I never moved it and Daisy duck and Snow take turns sitting on it, and while they are on it both hiss at me! I have to sneak out there to collect eggs during the hottest part of the day, lol. Snow is the dominant female, she definately leads them all. When she goes to the nest first thing in the morning when I let them out, all the other geese follow her and drive the ducks and chickens away while she makes herself comfortable.

I have a goose that I thought was male for a number of months, right up til breeding time, and discovered she was female! One bossy whatsit, too...the leader of her little flock!

 

[Starfire669]

I could be wrong, i hope im wrong! If it is a he then im crossing him back to one of his aunties or the lavender i kept. It acts like a female. Its not lavender as much anymore either. It looks like a really washed out barred rock chicken.

You know what makes things even funnier? The first batch of geese were 5 white Chinese and 1 tufted roman. 1 Chinese died and I traded the ruffed for a pair of day old white Chinese, which is how I got Noel. Of the 4 remaining white Chinese, I kept Snow and Jasmine believing they were a pair, and sent 2 to my sisters. All 4 are females, though 1 of my sisters acts like a gander the same as Snow was doing here. I suspect the females did/do that when there is no gander present, someone has to be the protector I guess, lol.

Cream is also a female, though she is also a bit more outgoing than the other ladies. Cream is now the same size, and has the same low voice as the other ladies. So i guess she just had an early growth spurt and dominant personaility, which made me think gander. Noel, aside from being much larger than all the other ladies, has a high pitched, screechy voice that really sets your teeth on edge, lol. So now there are no doubts, I have 4 African ladies, 3 white Chinese ladies, and 1 white Chinese gander. This is actually a good thing for me, I really can't have more than 2 ganders here and I want a white African pair. I will have to select which ladies I want to keep, but I think I can sell female geese easier than ganders next spring.

 

[Starfire669]

  I have a goose that I thought was male for a number of months, right up til breeding time, and discovered she was female!  One bossy whatsit, too...the leader of her little flock!

That's Snow alright! But Snow and Jasmine are still my most affectionate geese

 

[Starfire669]

Well, let´s hope..  I´ve put some of my young pied ganders with thier aunties this year, and the auties don´t want to know.  Their mum´s busy with nesting, but the aunties take off as soon as the young males get near!  And the two young males are quite happy keeping company with each other, and they both only breed with one of their sisters, leaving another sister and aunties to themselves!  Geese!  Haha, no matter... 

Noel jumps any goose that's in the pool with him. I have even seen a pyramid of 3 geese on top of each other. Noel comes running when he sees 2 females climbing each others backs! I think I need another gander to keep the ladies happy, but they will wait till next spring so I can get a white African gander. I don't plan on hatching any of my own eggs, so fertility isn't a problem for me this year.