Guard goose with Ducks

[bmal75]

Hi all,

I had a grand plan that all fell apart yesterday. I had ordered some ducklings, 6 female Pekins, one male Pekin and and Embden male Gosling. Th gosling I ordered as a guard goose. I had read that if they were raised with the ducklings they would develop a bond and serve as another source of deterrent from our local predators, the big ones being a fox that we see on a nearly daily basis, patrolling the treeline, and red tailed hawks that come and go. Between the goose, good fencing with electricity and a fortress like coop I was going to build, I figured I had minimized the dangers.

That plan all went south when the gosling unexpectedly died yesterday for unknown causes, He was great the night before and 12 hours later was gone. The ducklings are in great health still. My question is, I can have the gosling replaced in 1 week with a new one and another duckling ordered because you have to order at least two. Will the gosling bond with the duckling enough to get his protective instincts up and want to take ownership of the rest of the flock when integrated and grown or is the on month difference in age too much for them to develop a bond? The ducklings had looked at the original gosling as a leader and followed him. I just don't know if they will see the new one in the same way. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

As someone who raises geese (along with other poultry), I encourage you to consider the needs of geese before you get another single gosling.

I've encountered a number of people lately who have apparently read the various articles online and in print about using geese as poultry "guardians", and subsequently decided to consign a single gosling to a life without others of its own kind in the interest of trying to keep chickens or ducks safe from predators. For the wellbeing of the gosling, it needs to be with at least another goose. This BYC thread explains why, and I hope you'll give consideration to its points.

Best of luck.

 

[KimberBee]

As someone who raises geese (along with other poultry), I encourage you to consider the needs of geese before you get another single gosling.

I've encountered a number of people lately who have apparently read the various articles online and in print about using geese as poultry "guardians", and subsequently decided to consign a single gosling to a life without others of its own kind in the interest of trying to keep chickens or ducks safe from predators. For the wellbeing of the gosling, it needs to be with at least another goose. This BYC thread explains why, and I hope you'll give consideration to its points.

Best of luck.

I so wish I'd seen this earlier. I have 6 welsh harlequin ducks. We originally had 8 ducklings, but a chihuahua got thru the fence and killed two. One was the drake. (The chihuahua moved away from our farm to a loving home.) I ordered a drake from Metzner farms but had to order another animal. I read about using a guard goose to warn of the hawks and chase the barn cat away. I got a gander and 2 drakes (long story there, the first drake died upon arrival so Metzner sent two more). The gosling and ducklings are about 4 and 3 weeks old respectively now. The ducklings love the gosling. Goose herds Mavrick1 and Mavrick2 them if they stray away from him when they have free time in the yard.
After reading this post, I feel terrible that I've sentenced him to a life of loneliness. I thought I was making an educated decision.
1. Can I get another gander, or will they fight? I do not want female goose for the nesting issues... and I already have more eggs than my family can eat with these welsh harlequins (4-6 eggs per day from 6 ducks).
2. How will I know if he's not happy. For now, he does seem happy, but I recognize that they are still young. Thank you for the information.

respectfully - Kimber

 

[Miss Lydia]

My gander was brooded and hatched by a Muscovy duck. He was very bonded to his muscovy flock. He lived like this for his first 5yrs. Then I brought home a female goose for him. Of course he had never seen a goose before and since he was very happy with his fock of Muscovy didn't want anything to do with the new goose . It took 3 months and separating him form the Muscovy to get him to bond with the goose. Now he is 14 and she is 9. And they are inseparable. I said all of this to get here, now that you have your gander it will be fine. He will most likely mate with your female ducks though so don't freak out. And they cannot reproduce. Like I said my gander [Embden] lived and mated with my Muscovy females for 5 yrs and none were hurt or injured. Matter of fact geese are much better lovers than drakes. They don't rape, are more like gentlemen. lol My Muscovy loved him. My Muscovy drake not so much. They are to this day mortle enemies.