Introducing goslings to broody goose?

[RealMotherGoose]

I have one 3 year old broody goose (she has been sitting on unfertile eggs for 30 days now), and I have 4 goslings and 8 ducklings arriving by mail on Wednesday.

My current plan is to introduce the goslings to my broody goose and watch to see how she cares for them. If she accepts them and does a good job, I will keep them with her in her area. If not, I will keep them with the ducklings full time.

I live in central Texas, and it's already in the 90s here during the day and 70s at night, so I'm not too concerned about temperatures except at night. But what should I be looking for to make sure she is caring for them properly?

 

[The goose girl]

This is what I did: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/adding-gosling-to-human-imprinted-goose.1173484/page-3

My goose is imprinted, so she didn't mind me poking around her nest. That made it a lot easier for me to put the goslings under her.

The first day she hissed at them almost constantly, but she stayed put on her nest and never tried to bite them (good sign), and she raised her wings when they tried to get in under her (also a good sign).

Next day the hissing had subsided significantly, and on the third day it was gone - except for when the goslings dived in the pond.

 

[N ID Goose mom]

This is what I did: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/adding-gosling-to-human-imprinted-goose.1173484/page-3

My goose is imprinted, so she didn't mind me poking around her nest. That made it a lot easier for me to put the goslings under her.

The first day she hissed at them almost constantly, but she stayed put on her nest and never tried to bite them (good sign), and she raised her wings when they tried to get in under her (also a good sign).

Next day the hissing had subsided significantly, and on the third day it was gone - except for when the goslings dived in the pond.

Yippee. The gosling are going to be so happy having a mother to show them the ropes. I’m so glad she took them. Have fun this spring/summer watching them grow.

 

[The goose girl]

Yippee. The gosling are going to be so happy having a mother to show them the ropes. I’m so glad she took them. Have fun this spring/summer watching them grow.

This was last year - and it was a joy to watch them grow. This year the surviving gander has paired up with the goose. He's young, so he's still curious about everything and follows me around when I weed in the yard.

 

[wagoncab]

I did this very same thing with "Spike". She sat faithfully on eggs that would never hatch. I bought her 2 babies and put them under her one night and took the eggs away. Instant motherhood! Took to them right away.

 

[Purple_grape84]

I'm working on introducing the babies. Today is day 3 of putting them in a run near where the parents hang out. They check them out and stay close. No aggression, just curiosity so far.

 

[N ID Goose mom]

I'm working on introducing the babies. Today is day 3 of putting them in a run near where the parents hang out. They check them out and stay close. No aggression, just curiosity so far.

Very cute fuzz balls.