How to quiet a loud goose?

[Haunted55]

I think he's calling out for your daughter. He is imprinted on her and can hear her, so he's honking to let her know where he is. Geese do a lot of "here am I - where are you" communication so they won't get lost from one another and the flock. When he hears your daughter, he thinks she is calling out to find him, and he yells at the top of his lungs, not understanding why she can't find him.

My late goose would always honk when she heard a neighbor friend clear his throat (he does that really loud). She obviously thought he'd gotten lost. If he came over, she'd run to greet him.

X2 !!!! He's lonely. Just my own experience....geese will tolerate ducks and sometimes even show affection, but they do much better with another goose. I agree with what others have said, if you can get a mate for each of them.

 

[beachbumdad]

As for the duck I thought I'd just keep him in there with them, but maybe I should get him a mate too??? This is exciting, but when I shared it with my daughter she said, "I don't want to get him a mate!" After talking it over she's concerned he'll forget she's his mom How cute is that. I assured her that he will never forget. But she's going to need more convincing, the prospect of having eggs and baby goslings is helping

Thanks again for all the great replies.

John

 

[Stormy Cashmere]

Both my chinese gander and african goose honk when I go outside and it usually stops after a minute. But when the gander sees something he doesnt like,he honks,REALLY loud. A person,animal,car parked beside our house,that's it. Just like any dog would. Only one person has complained,but he never honks at night,and in the day,he rests,eats,bathes. Only honks if he's disturbed. I don't know what to do to quiet him.

 

[archives2001]

Hey everyone! Thanks for the fast replies.

Some quick deets:
We got the duck and goose together at 2 days old and raised them. Gus (the goose) imprinted on my daughter and the duck just follows the goose around.
They are about 10 months old (we got them April 23 2012)
I keep food out for them during the cold months as there isn't any verdure in their pen.
They have a kitty pool I keep fresh water in for swimming, wading, bathing.

Just to clarify, currently I am using an outside Ultrasonic Dog Bark Controller, I would never try to put the collar on my goose, either the shocking or the ultrasonic one...I don't believe in causing physical pain to any animal or human, so that's out of the question.

Also as an update, I put a new battery in the Ultrasonic device and it seems to be working better, he only screams about 5 times and then quiets down. But it's still very frequently, usually triggered by my daughter and her friends playing outside or inside (making noise), but when they are outside he just keeps going and going. I want her to be able to play outside freely without the goose annoying the neighbors etc...and if he is hearing the ultrasonic sound, which I believe he is based on his response, I don't want to cause him continual agitation either.

I really like the idea of getting him a mate, 1MrsMagoo you said I don't have to get the same breed, what is the best breed to get (that is also quiet so I don't inadvertently make the problem worse)? And do I get the mate as a gosling or an adult?

Thanks!

John

Hi John, I'm a 79 yr old partially disabled Vet living north of Seattle on Lake Washington and used to having birds of some kind for most of my life.
I recently had a wonderful male goose and lost him. Now I'm looking for another (female since they don't honk as loud?) Also I'm looking for the best diaper situation because we'd like to have her inside. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I'd greatly appreciate knowing what the best kind/breed for minimal honking is awa the best way to keep the honking at a minimum.

Thank you very much!
David (alias archives2001)

 

[Clucksworth12]

Chinse geese are repeatedly recommend for guard geese, due to the fact they are the loudest of geese breeds. There really is no way to quiet him, since males are even louder than females. Especially if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of car honking, dogs barking, etc.

 

[bobhoke]

I have a white Chinese swan goose and a mallard duck. I grew up with this same combo and loved them! I don't, however, remember the goose being this incredibly loud and often annoying with his honking. He honks a LOT of the time and sometimes gets going and won't quit for a while.

On another forum I read about getting a dog bark ultrasonic control, but the one I've bought just doesn't seem to be teaching him anything!! I got a really nice one with a 50' range and their pen is only about 60' across, so not sure if they don't hear that frequency or what.

Any other ideas or help on how to quiet my crazy goose would be GREAT. My 9 year old daughter loves him and so he's permanent in our family.

Thanks,

John

We have the same concern with our gander. A gentlemen sold this Pilgrim breeding 2 year old pair and their two goslings to us because he couldn't tolerate the ganders honking any longer, and now I see why. Having a mate will not solve your problem, but give your gander yet another reason to honk. He will look for his gaggle (your daughter) as long as he lives. The bigger his gaggle, the more reasons to use his "honker".

I don't know the answer to your question, but I can share my experiences and perhaps we can chip away to find a "humane" solution - but I believe there is only one and its not nice.

Based on what I have meticulously monitored I conclude that like us they all behave differently. When we buy geese we just don't know what we'll get. In my case I did know what I was getting.

Our gaggle will be harvested because we are meat farmers. I would have kept the breeding pair but he is way too loud to keep around. Their goslings have now learned their behavior and are siblings so they will be harvested too. Later on we added a breeding gaggle of Embden goslings from the cackle hatchery so the first people they seen (imprint) are no longer around. After that they were put with a number of chicks so they know them best. These goslings seem much calmer than our breeding pair and their goslings. I assume the Pilgrim breeding pair are like a product of society. We are their third home (step or adopted children). I say this because they hiss quickly and display a lack of trust too quickly unfortunately. Of course he honks often and loud too. Lesson learned - no used luggage. We'll keep a breeding pair of the Embden geese and harvest the rest. We know no gander will be perfect but hope to find a more tolerable one and breed them for our annual harvest. If you'd like I can keep you posted on what I learn. To start though, I believe geese are like people in that you get what you raise and how you raise them coupled with their genetics. We hope to find one moderately loud breeding pair quickly. It should be interesting to say the least. Good luck.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Embden gander and Toulouse goose are pretty noisy during breeding season but after that are fairly quiet. Thankfully we have no close neighbors to offend. But during breeding season you can probably hear them at least a mile or 2 away.