how are geese with ducks?

[sydney13]

i have always wanted a duck to be a friend with my goose and the other day i saw some muscovy ducks who needed homes so i brought one home. she is only a tiny duckling so i wasn't expecting my goose to be to friendly but i didn't know she would hate the duck this much. i have to hold her back and she starts hissing and trying to bite the duckling. so do you think when the duck is older my goose will begin to like her? i have the duck in a pen out side for the day and the goose is able to see her through it. should i not let the goose and the duck she each other or should i let them get to know each other through the pen?
an by the way te goose and duck are both imprinted on me so they both think they are humans.

 

[redhen]

My geese are fine with my ducks..
Heck.. he lets my drake mate my female goose in front of him..

They all sleep in the same house and eat together too.

 

[cracking up]

She might just be trying to 'shape up' the duckling. I would let them spend more and more time together (well supervised) We thought our female goose was going to kill our little duckling because she kept grabbing its neck but they get along great now. She did the same thing with goslings.

Our goslings had only seen us and were pretty well imprinted too but they switched over to the goose pretty quickly.

 

[sydney13]

Quote:
how long did it take for your goose to warm up to the duckling?
ive never seen my goose hiss before or try to attack, normally she is just a big baby who likes to be cuddled so this behavior has really surprised me. the thing that worries me is that she is imprinted on me so se doesn't know the duck is related to her? how long do you think it will take for them to get along if ever?

 

[cracking up]

It was about a month before we could leave them alone together all night and not worry. It didn't take that long to leave them during the day.

 

[Kim65]

Your goose is human imprinted. It will be easier for her to make best buddies with other humans. Ducks and other geese probably look like weird, misshapen feathery interlopers

.

Still I think if you expose them to each other, keep the duckling safe, your goose will learn to tolerate her duckling friend. Geese are pretty hard core imprinters, and after goslinghood, don't bond completely with anything other than the first imprint. That's why you have abandoned pet geese coming up to you at a lake, they never forget humans and bond to them for life.

Nancy Townsend, the Mother Goose lady, had several fully imprinted on humans geese as pets. They tolerated each other, but weren't bonded together in a flock. She wrote a lot about imprinting, and discovered that they didn't recognize other geese as "themselves".

When my geese were very young, like under six months, they did not like any other of my poultry. The gander was aggressive toward them. He became much more tolerant (in a stuck up but gentle way) when he got older. Some of this may be your goose's age, too.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

I find this all so interesting...so if I purchase babies from a hatchery and raise them, they will imprint on me. Kind of like the movie "Fly Away Home"?

 

[sydney13]

well its been three days and im starting to see a little improvement in Delilah's behavior. she is able to be in the same yard supervised while the duckling sits in the grass and doesn't try to kill it. i think in a few weeks when the duck is larger she will be able to tolerate the duck

 

[Kim65]

D'Angelo N Va. :

I find this all so interesting...so if I purchase babies from a hatchery and raise them, they will imprint on me. Kind of like the movie "Fly Away Home"?

Yes. Exactly

I had a large flock of ten on my farm in Idaho, and though flying was out of the question, they saw me come in the yard and came a runnin'

If you have low self esteem and need a pick me up, get a few goslings. They will love you and think you are the bees knees their whole lives long.​

 

[shelleyd2008]

My geese really don't like my ducks, only letting them 'near' them at bedtime. Other than that, they are usually trying to bite them.