Is my goose molting?

[Magriet]

It is me and the goose again that we had to "adopt" because the owner of the property does not really do anything. He or she is still alone because we cannot find another goose we can afford and the property is not ours so we cannot really do anything. I know he or she is supposed to eat mainly grass, but as the property only has lawn that is kept short there is no real grass to eat. He does eat a little though. We are feeding him or het layer pellets and corn as well. He is looking in a good condition and we try and give him attention to combat loneliness but as he or she is old already and not really used to human contact we cannot really cuddle him, he is very fond of my husband though.

This long story is to ask if he or she is molting or not. He seems to groom himself and then quite a lot of feather seems to come loose, but there are no bald patches and he feather actually appears very good. Can he be stressed? I attach some photos

 

[sourland]

He appears to be fine. Perhaps he is starting to molt.

 

[Callender Girl]

My only experience with geese is with my two female American Buffs, but the amount of feathers your goose is losing doesn't seem substantial to me. Even in northern Iowa's too-frigid winters, Gussie and Golly shed a fair amount of downy, white feathers. During warmer months, they actually lose the big feathers. From what I can see, your goose is only dropping the downies, so I wouldn't worry.

My girls do eat a lot of grass, when we have it. Right now, it's all under the snow. While I do let them have layer feed in the spring when they are producing eggs, the rest of the year, they get all-flock feed -- which might be a good idea for your goose, especially if it turns out to be a gander.

Kudos to you for caring about this bird and taking care of him/her.