Introducing A New Sebastopol Goose

[Isaac 0]

That sucks, my grain mill has it, 40Lb bag for ten bucks, lasts me a year, and the Geese go bonkers. I believe it's pretty good for them too.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Runner duck club recommends feeding wheat to Runners if I could find it I’d def be feeding it.

 

[Stowe Farm Community]

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies! We did bring in the male and I think he was more nervous at first than she was, but she acts very protective over him. That was the opposite when the older male. But they've both been doing great. I think I was more stressed out about it than I needed to be.
Side question if anyone sees this; do your geese ever like anything as a treat? I've been offering the new male some "treats" to get him to warm up to me, but nothing seems to be very appealing to him. They free range so get a lot of clover daily and I've offered them several selections of chicken scratch and poultry mixes with no luck.

 

[Stowe Farm Community]

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies! We did bring in the male and I think he was more nervous at first than she was, but she acts very protective over him. That was the opposite when the older male. But they've both been doing great. I think I was more stressed out about it than I needed to be.
Side question if anyone sees this; do your geese ever like anything as a treat? I've been offering the new male some "treats" to get him to warm up to me, but nothing seems to be very appealing to him. They free range so get a lot of clover daily and I've offered them several selections of chicken scratch and poultry mixes with no luck.

We had a similar experience. I’m glad to hear that our female Sebastopol goose will accept a new mate!

 

[helgaruss69]

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies! We did bring in the male and I think he was more nervous at first than she was, but she acts very protective over him. That was the opposite when the older male. But they've both been doing great. I think I was more stressed out about it than I needed to be.
Side question if anyone sees this; do your geese ever like anything as a treat? I've been offering the new male some "treats" to get him to warm up to me, but nothing seems to be very appealing to him. They free range so get a lot of clover daily and I've offered them several selections of chicken scratch and poultry mixes with no luck.

Glad everything is working out. Our geese love watermelon and many greens just remember no iceberg lettuce or spinach.

 

[HuertaFarm]

Hello again everyone! I wanted to leave a comment if anyone finds this post and has a similar question. I find it hard to find goose information online. We've had a series of unfortunate events and a couple more geese have come and gone. A weasel or mink of some kind was sneaking in at night killing chickens and then caught a bobcat munching on one of our favorite geese while she free ranged at 4:00pm. (I blame Amazon warehouses for dislocating over 100 acres of wildlife nearby.)

If you have similar situations and need to replace your goose; Sebastopols are so docile and easily bond with a new mate. Making a replacement right away has had the best results for me. This could be just my experience, but I have found that having ducks in the same pen has helped the transition even more. The ducks seem to get distraught after the loss and will excitedly flock around the new goose (especially when it has been a male) which aids in getting the old goose to warm up faster. I have not had much luck in getting a new adult goose to become warm and cuddly with me, but they do stop honking and will come close to receive treats. Favorites seem to be watermelon, sprouted grasses, and corn. I also recently gave a 6 month old gander to my 3+ year old female and that has also gone well. Letting them get out and peruse the yard for clover or take a dip in a kitty pool helps. I just wanted to encourage those who are going through something similar!