Helping sex geese

[wlhtx]

That would be nice if you had 1 gander and 5 females.

Wouldn't it though? I don't think I have that kind of luck... My DH and I really studied them this afternoon, and I'm fearful we have 3 ganders and 3 females... The scarred neck one is pretty much beyond all doubt a male in my opinion now. He is obviously the main flock guardian and stands at attention (very tall) at all times. My 3 year old daughter clearly cannot be trusted in his opinion and he is very wary. I have two others that stand almost as tall as scarred neck and three that stand around looking quite plump with pretty, petite heads. What happens if there are three pairs? Will they mate up, or will the ganders always be fighting for supremacy (much like multiple roosters)?

 

[marvun22]

Wouldn't it though? I don't think I have that kind of luck... My DH and I really studied them this afternoon, and I'm fearful we have 3 ganders and 3 females... The scarred neck one is pretty much beyond all doubt a male in my opinion now. He is obviously the main flock guardian and stands at attention (very tall) at all times. My 3 year old daughter clearly cannot be trusted in his opinion and he is very wary. I have two others that stand almost as tall as scarred neck and three that stand around looking quite plump with pretty, petite heads.

What happens if there are three pairs? Will they mate up, or will the ganders always be fighting for supremacy (much like multiple roosters)?

I think they pair up until a certain point. I think 3 males and females would pair up. I think it starts getting bad at around 10-15 birds.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

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[Ultra]

You can always vent sex them yourself or have your vet do it for you. If they have a penis, it's pretty certain they are ganders.

Alternatively, you can have a feather DNA sex tested for 10 bucks at http://accu-metrics.com/avian.php

I am not associated with the above site and not promoting them, it just came up in a google search.

 

[flockman]

My guess is that the main gander will claim all females. Especially being African geese. A friend of mine has Embdens and 1 gander took all 3 females leaving the other ganders with none.
My pair last year was a little difficult. My female had a thicker neck than my gander. I now realize she was huge for a goose. I am trying to decide if the 2 females I bought are females or a pair.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I might have sexed my geese. I think I have one Gander and one Goose. I'll tell you every sign. First, these are methods I have read about online, so I'm not sure if they're reliable. 1: The possible male is obviously bigger. 2: The male has a thicker neck. 3: The female has a narrower and smaller head. 4: The male is more high pitched in his sounds. 5: The male has bitten me. The male has a knob developing under its head already. They might not all be reliable, but if all of them match up, I'm guessing I have 1 male and 1 female.

Sounds good so far.

 

[wlhtx]

You can always vent sex them yourself or have your vet do it for you. If they have a penis, it's pretty certain they are ganders.

Alternatively, you can have a feather DNA sex tested for 10 bucks

Unlike with my own children (where I was dying to know the sex from the moment I knew of their existence, I'm actually okay with hanging back and waiting to see with the geese... While it's fun to speculate at this point, I don't HAVE to know (which is why I can't bring myself to chase them around the yard for an hour in order to try and vent sex them). I figure at some point it will be pretty obvious!

Approximately how old will they be when they begin mating activities? I figure that will pretty much be the ultimate tell of male/female. (I was going to search around for this info, but figured I'd go ahead and ask here.)

 

[flockman]

Late fall and winter. Mine started mating in February last year.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Late fall and winter. Mine started mating in February last year.

Maybe depends on where in the world your located. Mine began mating around second week Jan of this year and Missy laid her first egg Jan 31

 

[wlhtx]

We are in east Texas with (usually) very mild winters. I'm not expecting eggs until next spring, but I wasn't sure if they would start mating way before then or not... So they only mate come baby hatching time (i.e. early spring)?