On April 21st, I got three, three-year-old geese from a friend of my older sister. She said they were Africans, two geese and a gander. When my mother picked them up, she realized that she knew the people who owned them. They used to own a hoard of horses, housing them in a mud pit pasture full of rusty nails with little room. They were reported repeatedly until they were forced to give all but one away. That horse now has a pasture barely bigger than the size of a living room full of mud and fenced in with very rusty, sharp fencing. She has a dozen geese now. She was forced to downsize because they would not stay off the road, and she already had one die and another get crippled. She gave us the crippled one, saying it was a female, and a boy and a girl. The girl was being separated from her mate. The owner said that the goose would get over it and that if we did not take her, someone else would. So, we took her screaming and flailing with the other two. They were extremely flighty and did not really care for each other because they all had been separated from their mates. I did not intend to keep them, but find a good, permanent home for them like she would not.
Well, it turned out that they were two ganders and a goose, and Chinese to boot. I did not know any better at first because these were my first geese. The ganders started to mate the goose, but they did not truly care about her. Instead, they became pals and were very protective of each other. She was the odd one out. We found them a home on a very large farm with a pond. The issue was that the goose had become broody on seven eggs. The ganders were not protective of her and more or less forgot about her. The two ganders went to the farm, and here the geese remains. She will go to the farm with her goslings later. She is obviously lonely and barely comes off the nest, and when she does, she call for the ganders. Today is her 21st day.
Today, we also got a Canada gosling. He/she hatched by himself, and has imprinted on people. The elderly woman who hatched him kept him in a brooder in the dining room, and now he loves people. I put him in a bottomless cage earlier today to play around in the pasture. He did not want the turkey poults, nor the chicken chicks, but the people. He squalled and squalled.
I went to get water for the birds and came back to an odd sight(I dropped the waterers).
The goose had come off her nest and came to the cage to see the gosling. She was not angry, nor wary, but making soft noises and attempting to coax him to her. At the sight of me, the gosling got excited and wanted to come to me. I sidled past her and opened the cage door. I walked quickly away to see where he would go, and he chased me. The goose was trying to urge him to her, but he kept running to me. I picked him up, and she must have thought I was hurting him, becuase she started hissing and charging. I put him back down and she was calm again, calling to him. He just wanted me.
She came out later today calling and calling for him and pacing his cage, and he hesitantly peeped back. My mother said we could try giving him to her after her babies hatch, because we have done adoptions with multiple week old chicks with chickens, but I am afraid of all the ways it could go wrong. She wants him even though he is old, but he loves people; way too much. He is in the house right now, and every time he sees a human face or hears their voice he gets excited. I want to wean him off people and give him to a mother, but I do not know if she will change her mind after she has babies, or he will not accept her anyways.
Do you think I should try the adoption? Keep a gosling or two of hers to keep him company? Just let him chill with people regardless of the issues it could cause when he is older?
I would appreciate advice and others' opinions. I have had chickens for a while, and used to have ducks, and now turkeys, but I have no previous experience with geese. Help!
Well, it turned out that they were two ganders and a goose, and Chinese to boot. I did not know any better at first because these were my first geese. The ganders started to mate the goose, but they did not truly care about her. Instead, they became pals and were very protective of each other. She was the odd one out. We found them a home on a very large farm with a pond. The issue was that the goose had become broody on seven eggs. The ganders were not protective of her and more or less forgot about her. The two ganders went to the farm, and here the geese remains. She will go to the farm with her goslings later. She is obviously lonely and barely comes off the nest, and when she does, she call for the ganders. Today is her 21st day.
Today, we also got a Canada gosling. He/she hatched by himself, and has imprinted on people. The elderly woman who hatched him kept him in a brooder in the dining room, and now he loves people. I put him in a bottomless cage earlier today to play around in the pasture. He did not want the turkey poults, nor the chicken chicks, but the people. He squalled and squalled.
I went to get water for the birds and came back to an odd sight(I dropped the waterers).
The goose had come off her nest and came to the cage to see the gosling. She was not angry, nor wary, but making soft noises and attempting to coax him to her. At the sight of me, the gosling got excited and wanted to come to me. I sidled past her and opened the cage door. I walked quickly away to see where he would go, and he chased me. The goose was trying to urge him to her, but he kept running to me. I picked him up, and she must have thought I was hurting him, becuase she started hissing and charging. I put him back down and she was calm again, calling to him. He just wanted me.
She came out later today calling and calling for him and pacing his cage, and he hesitantly peeped back. My mother said we could try giving him to her after her babies hatch, because we have done adoptions with multiple week old chicks with chickens, but I am afraid of all the ways it could go wrong. She wants him even though he is old, but he loves people; way too much. He is in the house right now, and every time he sees a human face or hears their voice he gets excited. I want to wean him off people and give him to a mother, but I do not know if she will change her mind after she has babies, or he will not accept her anyways.
Do you think I should try the adoption? Keep a gosling or two of hers to keep him company? Just let him chill with people regardless of the issues it could cause when he is older?
I would appreciate advice and others' opinions. I have had chickens for a while, and used to have ducks, and now turkeys, but I have no previous experience with geese. Help!
