Goslings of 2014 Hatch-a-long

[livininbrazil]

Well I didn't get it on camera because I had the camera too high and only got Sams head but I sat up there for a while today and Sammy would nibble on Toots the Buff and she'd get out of the pool then she would get back in and he'd start again then she would get out so i decided to do something else while the pool was filling and as soon as i got down off the hill Sam lets out the victory yell dh and I run to look up at the pool and Could only see 3 heads the Sammy, Toots and Babe. and although I didn't get it on camera yet[I moved the camera down ] for tomorrow I'm pretty sure it is Toots he is mating with because the whole time the 3 of them were in the pool it was Toots he was nibbling on not Babe.

So now the question if Sam has mated with Toots does that mean if Babe turns out to be a gander he is going to be left out? And since Sam has been mating with Toots will she begin to lay eggs soon.? This is so strange to be getting goose eggs this time of year but since J is getting them I'm thinking I may get some soon too. Toots and Babe are so young I didn't expect this till next Jan or Feb. I guess they are not gozzies anymore. I will say that Babe hasn't acted the least interested in any mating.

I´m so surprised at only 4 months!
Have to wait and see what happens as far as Babe´s concerned. Sam´s probably going to claim the two females, and Babe may play it cool as he´s so young...or he may use his strength come January and knock Sam off his perch! Or he may be another female!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I´m so surprised at only 4 months!
Have to wait and see what happens as far as Babe´s concerned. Sam´s probably going to claim the two females, and Babe may play it cool as he´s so young...or he may use his strength come January and knock Sam off his perch! Or he may be another female!

Or he may be another female!

That's what I am hoping.. way too much testosterone here as it is.

 

[livininbrazil]

Just wanted to share a few pics of my 2 they will be 4 months old on the Sept 30th. Babe from back view

Toots

Missy farther est

Babe and Toots

Toots

There´s something about Babe that looks very masculine. The way the head is held, the size of the head, the way it´s the closest to you in the pic, with the two females tucked behind...and that last pic, how the neck is so arched..... I´d guess he´s a he, and at only 4 months old, he´s just behaving normally....
And that little Toots is a rather early developer!

She´s so pretty.

 

[Miss Lydia]

There´s something about Babe that looks very masculine. The way the head is held, the size of the head, the way it´s the closest to you in the pic, with the two females tucked behind...and that last pic, how the neck is so arched..... I´d guess he´s a he, and at only 4 months old, he´s just behaving normally....
And that little Toots is a rather early developer!

She´s so pretty.

It can sure be a mystery , I've been keeping an eye on the lobes and Babes lobes are much larger and hang farther down between the legs than Toots does. Right now Toots lobes aren't even same size. Time will tell I reckon

and I have the camera set almost on the ground fastened to the tree so if anything happens today it will be on camera, But I thought that was interesting how Sam didn't pay a bit of attention to Babe when all 3 of them were in the pool. I was so hoping that if Babe turned out to be a gander he'd pair up with Toots and Sam and Missy would be a pair.

 

[livininbrazil]

It can sure be a mystery , I've been keeping an eye on the lobes and Babes lobes are much larger and hang farther down between the legs than Toots does. Right now Toots lobes aren't even same size. Time will tell I reckon

and I have the camera set almost on the ground fastened to the tree so if anything happens today it will be on camera, But I thought that was interesting how Sam didn't pay a bit of attention to Babe when all 3 of them were in the pool. I was so hoping that if Babe turned out to be a gander he'd pair up with Toots and Sam and Missy would be a pair.

They just don´t see it the way we do...

I´d hoped that my 3 mixed-breed geese would pair off with 3 young pied ganders, but the only ones that did that were the ones I´d penned off. The others have chosen the Pilgrim-type ganders again! And not the same ones they mated with last year, either... those have gone out of the way, but these females certainly like their white ganders!
Yesterday, a little gosling hatched, I´ll go and try to get a pic today. It may be the result of a young pied gander with his pied sister, so it could be an interesting result...or not!

And lobes aren´t much to go by, as both males and females have them in a number of breeds. Americans, for example....
Just give it time. If Babe is a male, you may find they he´ll pair off with Sam´s least favourite female......just have to wait......He´s a bit young this year to challenge Sam for the favourite goose, but you never know with geese.....

 

[livininbrazil]

Here´s another yearling that I let keep a couple of her small eggs, and...a little one that hatched yesterday.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Here´s another yearling that I let keep a couple of her small eggs, and...a little one that hatched yesterday.

such a sweet pic. now can you tell boy or girl from coloring on this lil one?

 

[Miss Lydia]

They just don´t see it the way we do...

I´d hoped that my 3 mixed-breed geese would pair off with 3 young pied ganders, but the only ones that did that were the ones I´d penned off. The others have chosen the Pilgrim-type ganders again! And not the same ones they mated with last year, either... those have gone out of the way, but these females certainly like their white ganders!
Yesterday, a little gosling hatched, I´ll go and try to get a pic today. It may be the result of a young pied gander with his pied sister, so it could be an interesting result...or not!

And lobes aren´t much to go by, as both males and females have them in a number of breeds. Americans, for example....
Just give it time. If Babe is a male, you may find they he´ll pair off with Sam´s least favourite female......just have to wait......He´s a bit young this year to challenge Sam for the favourite goose, but you never know with geese.....

The way Babe goes after the chickens and ducks i wouldn't put anything past him/her. Watching my Scovy's The youngest 1y old this year did challenge the older 2 drakes a few times but got his butt kicked so he mainly stays clear of them, but boy has he filled out now I think next year I'm going to have some hum dingers of confrontations on my hands

Main reason I hope Babe is a girl lol So tiring having to separate all the boys from each other.

 

[livininbrazil]

The way Babe goes after the chickens and ducks i wouldn't put anything past him/her. Watching my Scovy's The youngest 1y old this year did challenge the older 2 drakes a few times but got his butt kicked so he mainly stays clear of them, but boy has he filled out now I think next year I'm going to have some hum dingers of confrontations on my hands

Main reason I hope Babe is a girl lol So tiring having to separate all the boys from each other.

There´s going to be such a big difference in size and age with Sam and Babe, that you may find that when and if Babe does challenge Sam, it may not go on long. Once they have themselves sorted out as adults they should calm down, though. My older gander (bought him as adult, don´t know how old he is) tried to intervene in a fight between a yearling Pilgrim and a big yearling mixed-breed. Both the young and the older Pilgrims got their butts kicked. They give each other space now. Mutual respect....
Is Babe the same size as Sam already? 'He' looks it in the pics... If it´s a gander, he´s going to be very strong! My Pils are quite small, but my mixed-breed gander is at least half the size again.

I have my older drake, he´s easy to deal with, is very sweet, and about 5 years old. He´s not as active as he was, and when my neighbour´s young drake got through, it really gave him a beating, and he kept his distance . I caught up the neighbour´s drake, but I now will keep two young drakes this year if they should prove to be blues, which I´m hoping for, just waiting for feathers to emerge....although they´ll 'retire' the older drake, they´ll also keep neighbours´ drakes at bay. I tend to leave them to get on with it if nothing looks like it´s in danger, as there´s a lot of space for the vanquished one to run off to, and it gets the hierarchy thing sorted out more quickly.

 

[Iain Utah]

I always enjoy the pictures, ladies. Things have been so crazy here with working full time while building our house that I never seem to have time to take pictures anymore. But, I will try to get a couple taken today of our newest ducklings.

Miss L, I am not surprised it was Toots in the pool with Sam. Production breeds tend to develop/mature much faster than other breeds. I bet Buttercup (Chicory/Beignet's buff juvenile girl) is flirting with all the boys in the stream right now, too. I do not think there will be any serious problems with Sam and Babe next year, but they may need separate night-time housing.