I'm starting to think my new duck is a goose...?

[kzane23]

Also, African geese will end up weighing about 20 lbs. Females are smaller (around 18lb) but thats not really going to help if you dont have something to base height off of...

 

[EvenLater]

Fog horn. Awesome. My neighbors will love that lol. Either way we all love him (or her) dearly and when he cries for us it's literally heart breaking. If it's warm enough outside tomorrow i might take him in the yard for some sunshine and greens

 

[kzane23]

LOL Fog horn more in tone and not volume thank goodness lmao

 

[The goose girl]

Think about getting him/her a goose companion. Geese don't really thrive on their own; they're much happier when they have at least one companion they can talk to - who speaks their language.

 

[Skyfire]

Wonderful! That last picture really helped too because that's how it looks when i put my Cas next to my friends two actual Welsh harlequins! Ok now to start preparing for a much larger house "duck" than i originally planned on! Lol Thank you!

Will Cas be an indoor pet goose or do you plan to house him outside at some point?

 

[EvenLater]

He will be a primarily indoor house goose wearing diapers but will get lots of outdoor play time to forage and swim in the small pond in our yard every day too

 

[Skyfire]

He will be a primarily indoor house goose wearing diapers but will get lots of outdoor play time to forage and swim in the small pond in our yard every day too

Then you and I have much in common


We are also raising a single gosling as a diapered indoor pet goose. I am going to offer insight that goes against traditional advice, but please know I am by no means an expert. I am a novice at this too. I invested three months of intense research on this board as well as sites dedicated to owning indoor pet geese. My actual real world experience with Jupiter is three weeks. No matter how prepared you think you are, Life has a way of dishing out the unexpected.

Ok, now that disclosure is out of the way, here is our story:

Jupiter started off as a pair. My intent since I first made the decision to have an indoor pet goose, was to get only one. After reading the overwhelming consensus on this board that a single gosling cannot be happy or thrive, I buckled. At first, I was happy about getting two. I felt like I made the "right decision". I didn't want to put my selfish need to have a single pet above a baby gosling's happiness. The one we did not keep, became rapidly aggressive with my husband, with me, and with our Jupiter. I went through three sleepless nights trying to break through to him. I used training I learned from this board and elsewhere. It didn't work. With my husband's support, I decided to revert back to my original plan of having just one.

I feel there is a big difference between raising an indoor pet, and having an outside farm goose. Having two indoor pet goslings is exactly double the work. In my limited experience, having a pair is no less needy than having one. In my limited experience (I feel like I need to stress this, sorry for being redundant) having a pair was in reality much more needy than having just Jupiter. The other one would make that high pitched gosling distress call constantly, even if I was in the same room. In the process, he'd get Jupiter hollering right along with him. I was baffled and briefly felt irrational anger because the traditional advice I followed, did not work. At all. The aggressive gosling rebuked Jupiter's affections. The only language he communicated to her was, "Stay away. I don't like you" Every time Jupiter tried to snuggle him, he yelled at her, then pecked at her face. It was hard enough that I thought the irritation I saw in her eye and around her beak was some sort of fungal infection until I witnessed first hand what was happening. She was arguably more lonely when she was a pair as my time was being consumed working one on one with the other.

Two weeks as a single gosling, Jupiter is thriving and shows no signs of stress or loneliness. She is very routine oriented. After breakfast, she snuggles against my body, underneath a soft blanket. I am mimicking (to the best of my ability), taking her under mother's wing. She makes clicking and cooing sounds as she nestles into me. These are the sounds of contentment. We also have a social time initiated by her. About mid morning, she comes to me wanting in my lap. She just wants to sit, gently nibble on my clothing, and "talk". We sing to each other, sometimes I just talk to her. I may not speak goose language, but the language of Love is universal.

She has designated the laundry room as her private spot to go when she wants to nap in a quiet, darkened place during the day. The door remains open so she can watch me cooking and cleaning as she drifts off. I take her outside to graze during the day. She loves playing with my husband's phone. He uploaded a seascape screen saver that allows Jupiter to control how the fish move. During quiet time in the evening, Jupiter loves sitting between us on the couch, joining in the conversation and getting cuddles. Here is the biggest kicker of all: Jupiter accepted sleeping in her private space at night whereas she wouldn't when she was still a pair. The first night, she squalled for a few minutes, then snuggled into her stuffed animals. We recently moved her bed from a bin to the bathtub in a spare bathroom. The transition was seamless. I check on her at least once (most times twice) during the night to change out her bedding and give her clean water and fresh feed. I also sing a few songs to her which sets her right to sleep.

Maybe my story is a freak of nature, but maybe having a single indoor pet goose, isn't an automatic fail either. Metzer Farms, a very reputable and highly regarded hatchery answers the question, "Can I raise a single duck or goose?" with this: Yes, you can raise a single duck or goose, especially if it has not been raised with other goslings. The goosemotherandfather website also state that it is advisable to start with only one goose as you want it to be imprinted to humans if you are keeping it as an indoor pet. There is enough information out there that supports the notion you can successfully raise one happy, healthy house goose.

With all that said, I am a homemaker and my husband works from home. My son is grown and long moved away for college life. My baby making days are over, but I have so much mothering left in me. Where I struck out with the one gosling I took back, I feel like I hit the lotto with Jupiter. She has an amazing personality and breaks the norm of how geese tend to be described.

If you only want one, see if you can make it work with just Cas.

 

[EvenLater]

Thank you so much for your reply. I was really begining to think I would be hurting Cas by keeping him as a lone goose

but your post gives me some hope. He is VERY VERY human friendly. He 'talks' back to us when we talk to him, he knows and comes to his name, he greets us and wiggles his little butt so happily when he sees us! He's grown by leaps and bounds in the few days he's been here (I'm going to post an update thread after this lol) and he's doing great! Very strong! I just ordered his growth size adjusting baby diapers to get him used to being "dressed" now and they should be here in a few days. I may have to find you again when they arrive if I can't figure out how to put them on his little butt! LOL

Thank you again for your post. It really helps me. Keeping geese outdoors is one thing, but having them in your home is a completely different thing! And a whole new learning experience for me!

 

[Carrosaur]

Then you and I have much in common


We are also raising a single gosling as a diapered indoor pet goose.  I am going to offer insight that goes against traditional advice, but please know I am by no means an expert.  I am a novice at this too.  I invested three months of intense research on this board as well as sites dedicated to owning indoor pet geese.  My actual real world experience with Jupiter is three weeks.  No matter how prepared you think you are, Life has a way of dishing out the unexpected.

Ok, now that disclosure is out of the way, here is our story:

Jupiter started off as a pair.  My intent since I first made the decision to have an indoor pet goose, was to get only one.  After reading the overwhelming consensus on this board that a single gosling cannot be happy or thrive, I buckled.  At first, I was happy about getting two.  I felt like I made the "right decision".   I didn't want to put my selfish need to have a single pet above a baby gosling's happiness.  The one we did not keep, became rapidly aggressive with my husband, with me, and with our Jupiter.  I went through three sleepless nights trying to break through to him.  I used training I learned from this board and elsewhere.  It didn't work.  With my husband's support, I decided to revert back to my original plan of having just one.

I feel there is a big difference between raising an indoor pet, and having an outside farm goose.  Having two indoor pet goslings is exactly double the work.  In my limited experience, having a pair is no less needy than having one.  In my limited experience (I feel like I need to stress this, sorry for being redundant) having a pair was in reality much more needy than having just Jupiter.  The other one would make that high pitched gosling distress call constantly, even if I was in the same room.  In the process, he'd get Jupiter hollering right along with him.  I was baffled and briefly felt irrational anger because the traditional advice I followed, did not work.  At all.  The aggressive gosling rebuked Jupiter's affections.  The only language he communicated to her was, "Stay away.  I don't like you"  Every time Jupiter tried to snuggle him, he yelled at her, then pecked at her face.  It was hard enough that I thought the irritation I saw in her eye and around her beak was some sort of fungal infection until I witnessed first hand what was happening.  She was arguably more lonely when she was a pair as my time was being consumed working one on one with the other.

Two weeks as a single gosling, Jupiter is thriving and shows no signs of stress or loneliness.  She is very routine oriented.  After breakfast, she snuggles against my body, underneath a soft blanket.  I am mimicking (to the best of my ability), taking her under mother's wing.  She makes clicking and cooing sounds as she nestles into me.  These are the sounds of contentment.  We also have a social time initiated by her.  About mid morning, she comes to me wanting in my lap.  She just wants to sit, gently nibble on my clothing, and "talk".  We sing to each other, sometimes I just talk to her.  I may not speak goose language, but the language of Love is universal.

She has designated the laundry room as her private spot to go when she wants to nap in a quiet, darkened place during the day.  The door remains open so she can watch me cooking and cleaning as she drifts off.  I take her outside to graze during the day.  She loves playing with my husband's phone.  He uploaded a seascape screen saver that allows Jupiter to control how the fish move.  During quiet time in the evening, Jupiter loves sitting between us on the couch, joining in the conversation and getting cuddles.  Here is the biggest kicker of all:  Jupiter accepted sleeping in her private space at night whereas she wouldn't when she was still a pair.  The first night, she squalled for a few minutes, then snuggled into her stuffed animals.  We recently moved her bed from a bin to the bathtub in a spare bathroom.  The transition was seamless.  I check on her at least once (most times twice) during the night to change out her bedding and give her clean water and fresh feed.  I also sing a few songs to her which sets her right to sleep.

Maybe my story is a freak of nature, but maybe having a single indoor pet goose, isn't an automatic fail either.  Metzer Farms, a very reputable and highly regarded hatchery answers the question, "Can I raise a single duck or goose?" with this:  Yes, you can raise a single duck or goose, especially if it has not been raised with other goslings.  The goosemotherandfather website also state that it is advisable to start with only one goose as you want it to be imprinted to humans if you are keeping it as an indoor pet.  There is enough information out there that supports the notion you can successfully raise one happy, healthy house goose.

With all that said, I am a homemaker and my husband works from home.  My son is grown and long moved away for college life.  My baby making days are over, but I have so much mothering left in me.  Where I struck out with the one gosling I took back, I feel like I hit the lotto with Jupiter.  She has an amazing personality and breaks the norm of how geese tend to be described.

If you only want one, see if you can make it work with just Cas.  

Geese usually do need companions. Even if you think your goose is very happy, it will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be happier with another goose.
My house goose was my best friend but when I got her a friend I had never seen her so active and so happy. A goose is a goose.

 

[Skyfire]

Geese usually do need companions. Even if you think your goose is very happy, it will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be happier with another goose.
My house goose was my best friend but when I got her a friend I had never seen her so active and so happy. A goose is a goose.

I understand your experience is different than mine, but it doesn't make mine any less valid than yours. Jupiter was not nearly as social and happy with the other gosling as she is now. As I stated, there is enough information on the internet from experienced people (including Metzer Farms from whom a lot of BYC members purchase their poultry) who support raising a single goose under the right circumstances. Now....if something changes down the road with Jupiter's behavior, we will revisit the possibility of getting her a husband or gosling of her own, but right now we have a happy family. She has full time attentive parents who cater to her every need. She never has to worry about predators, she will never be culled because she isn't "breed perfect", she is always treated with love and respect, and her food choices are hers to decide, not what will fatten her up for meat or produce the most eggs. If she falls ill, she won't be put down. She has an exotic animal vet who specializes in geese, in the same town we live in. It may not seem optimal to you, but from where I'm sitting, that's a pretty good life for a pet goose. Dogs are pack animals. Rather than buy two dogs, a lot of people choose to make their pet dog part of their pack.

If you are of the mind set that a goose cannot ever have a full happy rich life without another goose, by all means don't get a single goose. I honestly don't mean this is in a snotty way, just that we really need to respect other people's choices, even ones that vastly differ from our own. There are plenty, and I mean PLENTY of posts criticizing the concept of raising a single goose. There are very few who report success with such an endeavor. I have to wonder in my time observing this board, if people who are doing it successfully, are simply reluctant to share because the general mentality is so deeply set against it.

I'm going to be brutally honest for a moment. The duck forum, which is much more welcoming of diversity, also gets a lot more traffic. My snow cone machine at Christmas sees more action than the goose forum. There might be a reason for that.


EvenLater, I did a video review for the Grow with Me Diaper. I think you can see it from my profile page. I might do a follow up video as I've had to adapt to her rapidly growing body. Who did you buy your diapers from?