Helping traumatized African geese

[telandra2]

My neighbor's pair of African (I think) geese have temporarily joined my flock of 6 Ancona ducks. This is my first experience with geese so helpful advice is sought.

1) They won't go in the shed to sleep but are out all night. (It took me 10 seconds to get them to join my ducks in their night quarters.)
2) They wake the owner up at night and he goes out to chase off up to 5 raccoons. (Which I assume means they are very traumatized and sleep deprived.)
3) The gander stands in the center of the food dish and won't let the ducks near. Which I am guessing means there is food insecurity as well, or food guarding just a goose thing?
4) The gander is in great feather condition other than a bit of underside flab (which is why I'm guessing they are African and not Chinese.) The female goose looks at bit ratty feather-wise. Are her feathers a sign of bad nutrition, young age, season, lack of grooming, etc?
5) They hang out by the back door. I don't know if that is fear (waiting for a human protector) or friendly.

The owner admitted knowing nothing about geese, got them from someone else, will be selling his house soon, and is babysitting them until his parents finish building their dream house by the pond where they will then go to live. They are only a year old.

When they return home (which is not a given) I'd love to be able to go give him a handful of non-threatening tips (beyond what I've been studying in my 'do I want to get geese' research). I'm thinking inspect the coop and suggest proper diet. Any other suggestions?

Any tips for me on how to help them recover from night terrors and food insecurity beyond secure sleeping quarters and bountiful food?

On the plus side, they are wonderfully socialized. No hissing or bitting or flapping even when stranger-me picked up the goose right in front of her gander. They came from a feed store as goslings so not human imprinted AFAIK.

Thanks!

Edit: I forgot to say they are living in a city backyard lot, I have 3 acres.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

@Goosebaby ?

 

[Goosebaby]

Geese like routines so once you get them used to something it’s easier to get them to do it from then on.

1 Maybe tossing treats into their shed and slowly guiding them in, let them inspect the shed and go in at their own pace the first time, it helps to repeat a phrase while doing this which will train them to do what you want in future, I say “IN IN IN” when it’s bedtime and my geese know to go into their bedtime pens.
Sometimes it’s easier to do it the first two times with a second person to help guide them in. Once geese figure out what you want them to do they’ll usually keep doing it.

2 Were the raccoons inside the shed or out in the open with the geese?

3 Geese can be possessive over food, it usually helps to have multiple food and water dishes, they don’t always like to share with others besides their partner.

4 feathers can be an indicator of health.
Festher loss can be a symptom of mites, a health issue or nutritional deficiency, feathers are essentially protein, and it requires a lot of protein to produce them, if they’re deprived of this, or other vitamins that could otherwise stress their body’s it will cause the feathers to be poorly formed and brittle. Sometimes you’ll actually be able to see lines in the feathers if it’s severe enough.
Certain diseases or parasites can cause malabsorption which will cause poor quality feathers and lines too if the issue is going on while they’re molting.

For example these came from my gander who has chronic pancreatic problems


You can see the lines in his feathers here too


That ratty looking feather that looks half torn was a polycystic feather that would irritate him every year when it grew in until he pulled it out. Last year when he molted it grew in normally for the first time and hasn’t been an issue since.

Molting on the other hand is natural, sometimes geese will lose a feather here and there out of season, but most of the molting typically happens once a year, it it’s happening more frequently it can be a sign of health issues.

If a goose isn’t feeling well they may not preen, their feathers will start looking unkept and scrappy and they won’t be waterproof, so that’s another sign that shouldn’t be ignored.

Geese like to hang out by doors, they’re very curious and seem to gravitate towards people, even aggressive geese will do this, hover around where they know their humans will emerge from. It’s normal goosie behavior.


Other things to know. Geese do well on a diet that’s between 17% and 20% protein, they need to be on the higher protein food if they’re molting, it’s cold out, or they’re laying. Females need extra calcium while laying but being fed layer feed long term is not healthy for males, or females if they aren’t currently laying, so the best option I’ve found is to provide oystershell along with an all flock or flock raiser feed.
Geese also love treats, but can be picky, geese are very individualistic, some will like some things that others do not, they can also be very suspicious of new foods. It can help to introduce a new food by mixing it with water which will encourage them to play with it, and get them used to the taste.
If they see you or another bird eat or touch something they’re more likely to want to inspect and sample it.
If you don’t want them eating somethin sometimes if you touch it then immediately wring your hands and shake hour head in disgust it will tell them that whatever it is is bad, it doesn’t always work but disgust is a universal concept and they’re less likely to want to try something someone else thinks is “icky.”

Certain things are really toxic to birds and should not be left around them, things like galvanized paint, metal bits, wires, things that generally have zinc or lead in them, mold, plants like foxgloves, moonflowers, etc..

Birds in general can hide illness pretty well, sometimes it’s intentional if they don’t trust us humans or others around them, but some of it’s also because us humans are hardwired to recognize signs of illness in each other, but not in other species, so it’s easy for us not to notice signs in our feathery companions.

Some more obvious signs that something is wrong are “the feather issues,” laying down and not moving for long periods of time, open mouth breathing, regurgitating, runny nose, foamy runny eyes, voice changes, not eating, excessively drinking water, green or yellow urates in droppings, red or black droppings, excessively white droppings, undigested feed in droppings, coughing, sneezing, snicking, gurgling, or wheezing/ raspy breathing.

Less obvious signs are standing with their head tucked into their back feathers while peering out for long periods of time, subdued behavior as compared to normal, avoiding the flock, reduced socializing, increased polyuria “seeing more watery droppings than usual, only having watery droppings” Reduced preening, poor appetite, standing with feet splayed “this can be hard to recognize for first time owners, but it indicates stomach discomfort,” itching more than usual.