I introduced my young adult geese to 2 week old ducklings

[Tivona]

So I got my ducklings into an inclosed heated pen ten feet from the garden fence and my geese promptly decided they hated them and started hissing from the other side of the fence.
I spent the next couple of hours saying: Oh your such good geese. yes you are River, and you are such a sweet goose Snow. yes your so goo....NO DON'T YOU HISS AT MY BABIES Bad (flapping arms like crazy). (Pause...) Yes your such nice gooseseses ya your my sweeties aren't you my sweethear...NO BAD! I WILL PLUCK YOU! DON'T YOU HISS YOUR BAD. (Pause...) ya your okay your my good geese ya your my sweeties yes you are your so good yes we like those little baby ducks don't we yes but your my sweeties yes your my pets aren't you yes...NO BAD YOU DON"T HISS AT MY BABIES YOUR BAD (flapping arms) (pause...) yes but your my sweet River and your my sweet Snow yes you are my good geese.

On and on it went. The good side is that they have almost stopped hissing at the ducklings in just 2 days. The down side is they are looking at me like I have multiple personalities and/or have gone completely crazy and/or have been replaced with an evil look alike. And River my gander just was being so nice letting me pet him when I put him in for the night and then he started honking like I was killing him. Sigh. I think I may put something between cage and them so they can't see each other tomorrow and take the day off of be nice to the ducklings training.

 

[TigerLilly]

Well it sounds like you're on your way to having the flock integrated

Dont worry, River will come around again. He's just throwing a little temper tantrum!

 

[CMV]

Integrating ducks and geese can be tough. I introduced a group of new ducklings to my resident waterfowl last year, and it was successful, but only after a significant amount of time. It was a pretty dangerous situation for the newbies because Frenchie (my goose) decided she hated them and was going to kill them at the first opportunity. I can't remember exactly how long the whole integration process took, but it stretched for quite a while before I felt comfortable removing the barrier between the 2 groups.

Don't try to rush the process. Take as much time as you can to let them get used to each other. The longer the integration time the less likely you are to have casualties during the process.

That being said, you will need to watch the geese closely during breeding season because they will get protective, and that's when you will see injuries to the ducks. Every breeding season I have limping ducks that weren't smart enough to stay out of the reach of an irritable goose/gander. The geese will grab a duck by the leg and drag them around. This particular behavior has resulted in 2 broken legs and several sprains/strains. The rest of the year the flock gets along beautifully.

Good luck.

 

[pete55]

Looks like your on the right road

Saying that I've just had to split off a pair of Rouens from our Dewlap Toulouse youngsters as I just caught the young Ganders attacking the duck

Pete

 

[Tivona]

Well they seem to do better today with both the ducklings and being happy around me. River and Snow have never seen babies before and are defiantly not appreciating their charm. Snow couldn't seem to understand that I could hear her hissing when my back was turned.

She would wait being ever so good and 5 seconds after turning around I would hear her and spin back around and start chewing her out. River couldn't care less if I am facing him or not, when they start peeping and he can see them and is not distracted by something else he states his mind over them being so near his yard. Although he is starting to just make the motions with very little sound. But mostly they seem to be getting over them. I have no intention of letting them actually be within touching range till the ducklings are bigger, and then only through a fence for long awhile. I can't remember how long I took introducing the goslings to the older ducks, but I am more nervous about this. As I recall the goslings were a good bit bigger then the ducks by the time I actually felt safe leaving them together unsupervised.

Approximately how long did it take all of you to introduce babies to adults?

And Yikes CMV! I don't want to picture a goose hauling a duck around by the leg. All I have seen is a drake towing an upset River firmly clamped on a wing after he tried to breed one of the girls. River already has a very firm "no ducks fighting in the garden" policy and I worry what he might try when breeding season arrives. Thanks for that tip on breeding season. I'll be watching for that when the time comes.

 

[The goose girl]

Remember, the reason why the geese are hissing is that they're scared of the ducklings - however ridiculous that sounds. They're alerting each other (and you) of this new unknown potential danger and are simultaneously warning the ducklings "Don't you guys try anything funny or else...!"

I'm concerned that you yelling at them for hissing will just enforce their belief that the ducklings are a threat. The geese may see you as a giant goose equally unsettled by the ducklings.

My goose regards anything new as a potential threat and hisses at it: the new parakeet (in its cage), the neighbor's new weather vane, another neighbor's new garden gate. Over a couple of weeks of no surprise attacks from neither the parakeet, the weather vane nor the gate, the goose gradually adapts to the newcomers and ignores them.

It may take a little longer with the ducklings as they run around, but I'm sure your geese will get used to them in time.

 

[goosedragon]

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