I was mean to my goose

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

One of my Pilgrim geese has been biting me for weeks. My thighs are covered in enormous bruises and sores. This all started with her first egg. Before that, she would squat and want me to pet her. There was some nibbling, but certainly no breaking the skin!! I have held her on the ground for minutes at a time, but the moment she gets up, she runs at me. I can’t do anything outside because she is always there ready to bite me. I have held a stick to keep her away and she forces her way through it to get to me. I have sprayed her with the hose on high, no effect, she charges. I have yelled and screamed and flapped my arms. She charges. I am often able to grab her head to avoid the bite, pick her up, and put her in a large time out location where she fights hysterically to get out. That’s often inconvenient when the chickens are playing in there.

Today I did not know she was behind me until I received a brutally painful bite to the back of my thigh. I turned around and reached out to grab her head like I usually do to stop the next bite, and she tried to bite my hand. My automatic response, to my complete and utter horror, was to slap her face. Her head was forced to the side, then came back up, totally unaffected, ready to bite me again. I just ran. Thank god I did not hurt her! But I hurt ME! This is not who I am. I LOVE my birds. Every single one them. Adore them like you can’t even imagine. They are my life. I cannot be a person that smacks an innocent precious creature that I love far more than myself! This goose isn’t even mad at me! She just wants to bite me so that I will bend down and pet her while she happily squats. But it doesn’t end after that. She wants that all day long and she bites me the second I stop petting her, or she repositions herself. Bite and squat. Bite and squat.

Should I attempt to re-home these geese? There is nothing worse than an animal abuser, and I simply will not be one. But it appears I cannot handle her properly. And I have goose eggs in the incubator because I love my geese so much. They are Sebastopol’s, so if they hatch, I likely will be able to find someone to give them to. I’m just sick and devastated about this whole situation.

 

[Goosebaby]

I know you’re feeling bad because you love your goosie but don’t beat yourself up too much, it’s breeding season and the geese are pretty hormonal and more than willing to push a few to many buttons.

A few questions if that’s alright.

Is she squatting for you when she bites? Or is she charging you and then biting?Have you actually seen her lay an egg? Nesting behavior doesn’t mean she’s female, ganders will build nests and sometimes sit on eggs too.

There isn’t all that much you can do to reduce aggression in hormonal geese, they’re a little nuts this time of year and waiting it out is the only thing you can do, yjey do settle back down thankfully, things will get more normal after breeding season.

Other than that you’re doing what you should be doing, picking her up when she’s being naughty. Just remember to reinforce it by saying “NO” so she learns that when she hears that she’s doing something wrong. This time of year geese require much more reminding and it won’t seem like it’s having much effect.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

I know you’re feeling bad because you love your goosie but don’t beat yourself up too much, it’s breeding season and the geese are pretty hormonal and more than willing to push a few to many buttons.

A few questions if that’s alright.

Is she squatting for you when she bites? Or is she charging you and then biting?Have you actually seen her lay an egg? Nesting behavior doesn’t mean she’s female, ganders will build nests and sometimes sit on eggs too.

There isn’t all that much you can do to reduce aggression in hormonal geese, they’re a little nuts this time of year and waiting it out is the only thing you can do, yjey do settle back down thankfully, things will get more normal after breeding season.

Other than that you’re doing what you should be doing, picking her up when she’s being naughty. Just remember to reinforce it by saying “NO” so she learns that when she hears that she’s doing something wrong. This time of year geese require much more reminding and it won’t seem like it’s having much effect.

She is charging me and biting. Sometimes I go out of the fenced area to get away from her. When I shut the gate, she grabs on to the wire fencing and continues viscously biting and jerking at it. That is what she would do to me if she ever really got a hold of me. As soon as I grab her head to protect myself from being bit, and place my hand on her back, she squats and seems content with no biting. I never know at what moment she is done squatting and ready to bite though, so I have to keep my hand on her head so she doesn’t reach around and bite me. Maybe I am actually rewarding her for biting me by petting her when she squats? I am just a terrible goose mama.

She is female because she is a pilgrim and the females are gray. I have seen her lay an egg too. Geese really don’t hide it and it looks pretty gross. She sits on her nest all night long, and when I put her in time out, she sometimes gives up the tantrum of trying to get out and goes and sits on her eggs again. Do you think I should keep her locked up all day and maybe just let her out for an hour or two for a swim in the pond? At least until this terrible behavior stops?

I will start telling her NO also. I’ve been so upset that I think I’ve skipped some of the most basic steps. Thank you!

 

[Goosebaby]

She is charging me and biting. Sometimes I go out of the fenced area to get away from her. When I shut the gate, she grabs on to the wire fencing and continues viscously biting and jerking at it. That is what she would do to me if she ever really got a hold of me. As soon as I grab her head to protect myself from being bit, and place my hand on her back, she squats and seems content with no biting. I never know at what moment she is done squatting and ready to bite though, so I have to keep my hand on her head so she doesn’t reach around and bite me. Maybe I am actually rewarding her for biting me by petting her when she squats? I am just a terrible goose mama.

She is female because she is a pilgrim and the females are gray. I have seen her lay an egg too. Geese really don’t hide it and it looks pretty gross. She sits on her nest all night long, and when I put her in time out, she sometimes gives up the tantrum of trying to get out and goes and sits on her eggs again. Do you think I should keep her locked up all day and maybe just let her out for an hour or two for a swim in the pond? At least until this terrible behavior stops?

I will start telling her NO also. I’ve been so upset that I think I’ve skipped some of the most basic steps. Thank you!

Well if she’s laying then she’s for sure a female, some females are spicier than others, much spicier.
But she seems to be attacking you like a gander. Other than the egg laying thing I’d say she was a gander, pilgrims are an auto sexing breed so long as they come from a reputable breeder, I’ve seen a few occasions here where someone’s grey female “pilgrim” turned out to be male.

Females will sometimes wrestle and bite at each other or at ganders to get their attention, she could be doing that but in the most zealous way I’ve heard of. The only way to manage that is if she has another object of attention, maybe get her a gander.

I wouldn’t change her routine, this behavior could go on for weeks to months. Breeding season usually ends vaguely from late spring to mid summer, so keeping her cooped up that long just isn’t fun for her.

The best you can do is pick her up more often. In my opinion squatting down and pinning a goose to the ground has adverse effects, you’re lowering yourself down and making yourself look like a smaller, more conquerable target. Picking them up seems to have the opposite effect.
Regardless of what you do, it is breeding season and geese are fairly pea brained this time of year so they’ll take much more reminding to be behaved, sometimes a few times a day.

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

Well if she’s laying then she’s for sure a female, some females are spicier than others, much spicier.
But she seems to be attacking you like a gander. Other than the egg laying thing I’d say she was a gander, pilgrims are an auto sexing breed so long as they come from a reputable breeder, I’ve seen a few occasions here where someone’s grey female “pilgrim” turned out to be male.

Females will sometimes wrestle and bite at each other or at ganders to get their attention, she could be doing that but in the most zealous way I’ve heard of. The only way to manage that is if she has another object of attention, maybe get her a gander.

I wouldn’t change her routine, this behavior could go on for weeks to months. Breeding season usually ends vaguely from late spring to mid summer, so keeping her cooped up that long just isn’t fun for her.

The best you can do is pick her up more often. In my opinion squatting down and pinning a goose to the ground has adverse effects, you’re lowering yourself down and making yourself look like a smaller, more conquerable target. Picking them up seems to have the opposite effect.
Regardless of what you do, it is breeding season and geese are fairly pea brained this time of year so they’ll take much more reminding to be behaved, sometimes a few times a day.

She is the goose in my profile picture, so very gray and sex probably pretty clear, lol! I wish she was a boy so that her behavior could be explained! I very rarely have guests over, but I did the other day and she tried to bite them also and also squatted for them. My gentle girl that does not bite, walked up to them and let them pet her, and she also squatted for them. Both behaviors very surprising to me.

I have considered getting her a boy, and the breeder I got them from does have a boy that she could part with in May. Just worried that then I will have 2 mean geese and a bunch of scared chickens. Then next spring, I would have mean geese trying to produce mean babies. It seems there is no winning situation here.

Thank you so much for your help and advice.

 

[Goosebaby]

She is the goose in my profile picture, so very gray and sex probably pretty clear, lol! I wish she was a boy so that her behavior could be explained! I very rarely have guests over, but I did the other day and she tried to bite them also and also squatted for them. My gentle girl that does not bite, walked up to them and let them pet her, and she also squatted for them. Both behaviors very surprising to me.

I have considered getting her a boy, and the breeder I got them from does have a boy that she could part with in May. Just worried that then I will have 2 mean geese and a bunch of scared chickens. Then next spring, I would have mean geese trying to produce mean babies. It seems there is no winning situation here.

Thank you so much for your help and advice.

If you can find a gander you can raise from a gosling and spend a lot of time with you shouldn’t have too many issues. If you don’t mind getting a different breed you might also think about a buff gander, a dewlap African, jumbo African, or dewlap Toulouse, they’re known for being calm breeds. I don’t have Pilgrims myself but I’ve heard they can be feisty.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I don’t own geese but have read tons as I hope to one day in the future
My guess is you are her gander and she is in hormone state
I would guess if she had a gander this could stop her
I could be wrong but geese do much better with a partner
@Miss Lydia has a goose maybe she can help

 

[Isadora]

Please try not to feel so bad about yourself. I highly doubt you hurt her in any way at all. She was probably more shocked than anything else. It's totally natural to want to defend yourself when something hurts you. Reflexes, you know.
You've had some good advice in this thread. I hope you can work something out because her biting you and giving you bruises on a regular basis should not be tolerated.

 

[Goosebaby]

Please try not to feel so bad about yourself. I highly doubt you hurt her in any way at all. She was probably more shocked than anything else. It's totally natural to want to defend yourself when something hurts you. Reflexes, you know.
You've had some good advice in this thread. I hope you can work something out because her biting you and giving you bruises on a regular basis should not be tolerated.

Breeding season is a time for violence anyway.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My meany was myEmbden gander he'd bite me every chance he could get during the breeding season. When not in breeding season he was a total fluff. My female Toulouse has never bitten me or even acted like she wanted too. I would stop petting them this sounds like breeding behavior and she is somewhat upset because she squats for you but you don't mate with her. lol When my gander was alive I would carry a broom with me to keep him at arms length during the worst of his behavior or a bucket. And many a time he got tossed into the pool just like I have to do my Muscovy drake to get him to calm down.