Help 3 week old goslings pulling and eating chicks feathers

[love465mustang]

Help 3 week old goslings pulling and eating chicks feathers. What to do about it and how to make them stop. They have grown up together. Chicks are a week older then my Roman tufted goslings. Goslings are three weeks old now. Not sure what the deal is. They have all flock feed plus stuff to chew on but still can't get them to stop I'm raising them to be livestock guardians for my 50 chickens and I know they aren't going to protect them as dogs would but they will definitely sound off when needed. I do not own roosters nor do I want any as I sell my eggs. I love them so much I really hope this is just a phase and they grow out of it. I'm wondering if it's just boredom while in the brooder. They do not do this behavior outside of it. Please any advise would be grateful.

 

[nuthatched]

Seperate them away from the chickens.
The livestock guardian goose thing, is popular misinformation. They won't be interested in protecting them and can hurt them.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-goose-and-why-you-should-not-get-one.77508/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/things-to-know-before-raising-geese.77623/

 

[mumma g]

Sounds like they are bored, goslings are very intellegent and fast learners, they get bored very quickly so give them some toys to play with like bright coloured baby teethers or dogs toys and more room Also, when they are older they will call an alarm if a predator is around but then your hens need to understand what the geese are telling them, if they dont understand the alarm call they will just ignore it!

 

[love465mustang]

Sounds like they are bored, goslings are very intellegent and fast learners, they get bored very quickly so give them some toys to play with like bright coloured baby teethers or dogs toys and more room Also, when they are older they will call an alarm if a predator is around but then your hens need to understand what the geese are telling them, if they dont understand the alarm call they will just ignore it!

Thank you for the information. I put some toys in there they can safely play with. I seperated the month old chicks but they can still see them up close. Trying to see if I can break the habit by separation. They get let out multiple times a day to follow me around and check out the rest of the flock plus to get some swim time in. They are in the brooder when we aren't home and night time. I'm hoping they forget about wanting to eat feathers they have been with chicks since they were 2 days old so hopefully the new bigger brooder and a brief separation will help.

 

[Farmerlaney]

Help 3 week old goslings pulling and eating chicks feathers. What to do about it and how to make them stop. They have grown up together. Chicks are a week older then my Roman tufted goslings. Goslings are three weeks old now. Not sure what the deal is. They have all flock feed plus stuff to chew on but still can't get them to stop I'm raising them to be livestock guardians for my 50 chickens and I know they aren't going to protect them as dogs would but they will definitely sound off when needed. I do not own roosters nor do I want any as I sell my eggs. I love them so much I really hope this is just a phase and they grow out of it. I'm wondering if it's just boredom while in the brooder. They do not do this behavior outside of it. Please any advise would be grateful.

Separate them. My geese have a separate stall where they are in the same barn as my chickens and free range in harmony together but for putting the birds in at night you really need to have separate spots for all the species. I cannot keep my breeding flock of runners with my chickens at night. I cannot keep my geese with my ducks or chickens at night together. I cannot keep my turkeys with other species of birds at night......but I can let them all out in a 2 acre yard which is my yard to free range with many places to get water and feed so there is not much drama. The bigger birds do help protect the flock with spotting predators the geese would not save my chickens or ducks from predators but they would lay down their life for my children and they would most certainly attack anything anyone they are not familiar with.

 

[Farmerlaney]

Make your geese your family or be pinched lol