Help With a Decision

[3xhhheather]

Sorry for the novel, TL : DR at the bottom!

So back in the spring I bought two French Toulouse goslings (both female), everything has been going great, they've been getting along with our ducks just fine. Over the past couple of weeks, one of the females has become seriously aggressive to me. It doesn't really matter what I do, she starts vibrating her head & neck and then goes crazy trying to attack me. I've done all that I've read, picking her up, pinning her to the ground, kinda chasing her off by waving a bamboo stick. It doesn't really deter the situation and honestly I feel like it's just made things worse. So I've tried to ignore it or just push her head away, but nope, still aggressive. The other goose will actually try and attack her while she's attacking me, kinda like, "why are you doing this to the one that feeds us?!" Of course, she's a cuddly little peach to my husband, the one who could care less if we have these dang birds.

While I can learn to deal with an a*hole of a goose, she's now being the same way with the ducks. She keeps biting their wings and not letting go, almost drowning them in the pool. I've intervened each time and cannot keep them separate right now due to a lack of funds to build a separate coop & pen. I'm getting ready to introduce a new set of ducks, and am worried about things escalating further.

I'm debating a few things - rehoming or butchering, but would like to keep the goose that's not being an a*hole, she would be the lone goose unless I could find a companion before the spring. Or I guess just try to keep an eye on things and hope she straightens her personality back out? Open to suggestions! Maybe give her a goose version of Xanax? (kidding...maybe).

TL : DR: Goose is now being a major jerk to me & my ducks. I'm trying to figure out what to do: Keep her and have one goose, or rehome them both? Or option C...something else?

 

[sourland]

Are you certain that it is not a gander exhibiting misplaced mating activities ?

 

[Callender Girl]

What a quandary you have on your hands! One of my two female geese is much more mellow than the other, but even my "bad" goose isn't as difficult as your girl. And, they both occasionally nip at my runner ducks, but I very rarely have to intervene.

Butchering would be my last choice. She might behave better in a new home, but getting it for her might be a hard sell. Not everyone will want a problem goose.

Can you think of ANYTHING that's changed in the last couple of weeks that would make her behave badly? My first spring I thought Golly was a gander because when Gussie would lay eggs, Golly got incredibly aggressive. Then, Golly started laying, too.

Your good girl would probably be pretty lonely without her bad sister. My two girls are rarely more than a few feet apart.

I don't really have any useful answer for you; hope someone does or that she snaps out of it!!

 

[3xhhheather]

Are you certain that it is not a gander exhibiting misplaced mating activities ?

Pretty sure, the goose in question has a huge paunch, almost touches the ground and while she hasn't laid yet, she's shown nesting interest (thinks my hose nozzle is an egg lol) and was vent sexed by the breeder, but I know that vent sexing isn't 100%.

 

[3xhhheather]

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Those are all the thoughts I’ve been having, like if I rehome her now, would someone else just butcher knowing she’s a problem goose? Because I do wonder if she would be happier in a larger flock of just geese. And same my two are always together, they cry out if one wanders away, I would just hate to say goodbye to the one who’s still sweet.

The only thing that’s changed is I’ve flipped their sleeping arrangements, its the same coop, same size space, the geese just sleep on the right instead of the left (theres a screen divider) because it was a pain trying to get the geese in before the ducks.

Ugh, I wish she could just tell me what’s going on in that lil goosey brain of hers lol

 

[Iain Utah]

I'd bet money that your goose is a gander.

 

[Leader Bee]

I posted a similar thread about one of my geese becoming agressive, but they're both boys. I hope it's just a hormonal thing.

 

[3xhhheather]

I'd bet money that your goose is a gander.

Erghhh that would be frustrating. I know pictures aren't always super helpful, but here are a couple. In the first one, the problem child is on the left (she just bathed, so that's why her wing is weird, normally it's tucked) and they're in the front of the second one.

 

[3xhhheather]

I posted a similar thread about one of my geese becoming agressive, but they're both boys. I hope it's just a hormonal thing.

Oof sorry to hear about that! I read something that right now it could be considered "pairing season" so hormones might be going off, but that was just in a Facebook group about geese so who knows lol

 

[Goosebaby]

I have a girl that’s started challenging her brothers for dominance, she’s a little spitfire. Some females can be more dominant than others so she may just be a dominant female.
Aggressive males or females can be treated the same, spending a lot of time with them, holding them and giving a stern “NO” when they act aggressively and picking them up when they misbehave can train them out of some of their bad habits towards you, but it depends on how much time you want to devote to it, because it only works if you put the time in.


Unfortunatly I’ve never really had luck getting ducks and geese to coexist peacefully, I had two ganders that were nice to the ducks for a few years, but then one day that changed and I had to seperate them permanently.

If you had one goose only raised around ducks so that she thought she was a duck she would get along, but it’s still a lonely life, they do better with their own kind. If they know they're a goose eventually it usually turns bad even with the sweet ones, they end up getting bullied by the ducks and if they decide to stand up for themselves it ends with them possibly killing a duck.

I wouldn’t seperate the girls, they’ve bonded and the one will pine after the other if she’s taken away, if you have to seperate it’s better to introduce a new goose before than after so no one is alone, but it’s still really painful to them emotionally.

For the safety of the ducks you do need to seperate them, I know you said you only have one coup but is there a shed or garage you can set up a little area for them in? Temporarily it might be the only option.