Making goose preparations!

[Bellatrixed]

So, I posted for input a little while ago about the two pairs of geese I have coming from Metzers at the beginning of April. Thanks to the responses, I have started building the future goose house so that the two pairs can be kept separate at night.

I would just like to make sure my plans are reasonable before proceeding with fencing.

I will have a Tufted & American buff pair, so only 4 geese total--2 ganders. Am I correct in thinking that they should (taking into consideration that some individuals may simply be aggressive/not get along, of course) be able to coexist as a flock for the majority of the year and only be separated during the day during breeding season?

They are going to have several fenced acres to roam during the daytime. I am planning on making a smaller daytime pen for next year's mating season to keep the boys separate during the day, and they'll be separate at night year-round. But is it okay to plan on having two pairs together for the majority of the year? I wanted a little flock, not two geese in separate pens year round, so I'm hoping this is correct.

Also, will the addition of more females in the future make problems with aggression better or worse?

I'd like to throw out there that I have no qualms culling or rehoming extra aggressive birds, so if one proves to be more trouble than he's worth I'll likely have to go that route. But I'd like to plan things to go as smoothly as possible from the start!

 

[FeatheredFreind]

So, I posted for input a little while ago about the two pairs of geese I have coming from Metzers at the beginning of April. Thanks to the responses, I have started building the future goose house so that the two pairs can be kept separate at night.

I would just like to make sure my plans are reasonable before proceeding with fencing.

I will have a Tufted & American buff pair, so only 4 geese total--2 ganders. Am I correct in thinking that they should (taking into consideration that some individuals may simply be aggressive/not get along, of course) be able to coexist as a flock for the majority of the year and only be separated during the day during breeding season?

They are going to have several fenced acres to roam during the daytime. I am planning on making a smaller daytime pen for next year's mating season to keep the boys separate during the day, and they'll be separate at night year-round. But is it okay to plan on having two pairs together for the majority of the year? I wanted a little flock, not two geese in separate pens year round, so I'm hoping this is correct.

Also, will the addition of more females in the future make problems with aggression better or worse?

I'd like to throw out there that I have no qualms culling or rehoming extra aggressive birds, so if one proves to be more trouble than he's worth I'll likely have to go that route. But I'd like to plan things to go as smoothly as possible from the start!

am sorry that no one has answered you, I wish that I could be of help but I too would like to know about the geese .Hopefully you hear from a few people soon.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Most are asleep over night so answers come as every is waking up.


Bella..............yes the four pack can live together 24/7 most of the year. Jan/Feb (depends on your area and your geese) you will need Separate daytime pasture as well as night time housing. You cant put two ganders into a goose house during breeding season and expect anything good to come of it.

 

[Iain Utah]

Bella, I have 6 pairs africans on my horse property, 4 pairs of dewlaps in my front yard, 2 pairs of dewlaps in my side yard, and a couple of pens with pairs/trios. Of course you can run into an extra aggressive gander here and there, but my ganders get along just fine with no serious fighting during breeding season. If your 4-pack are being raised as babies together, I think they will be fine all year together if you give them the space and time to work things out amongst themselves. I hatched/raised a few sets of gander pairs last year and those pairings are still best friends today and we are in the peak of breeding season.

 

[Bellatrixed]

Wonderful, thank you for the responses!

Like I said, I'm already making separate night housing for each pair, and had planned to make a smaller (but still roomy) day pen during breeding season. I decided to rotate which pair is in there so they each get the benefit of being in the big yard, just not together. The nice thing is that since I'm starting with a big unfenced piece of property, I can do pretty much anything design-wise. Well, nice but expensive...

So, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't off in thinking they could be together the rest of the year. This makes me happy!

I'm so excited for the babies to come, it's crazy. I had geese in the past, but at first they were ridiculously loud Chinese that didn't endear themselves to me, and then I got some gorgeous Pomeranians & Embdens right before I had to sell my flock for college. I loved them but never had to deal with breeding season since they had to find new homes at 6 months or so. So while I have a ton of chicken & duck experience, geese are sort of new and exciting territory.

It's good to hear the fighting isn't always a sure thing, but I wanted to be prepared in case there are issues! So if they're born in April they won't breed til next year?

 

[flockman]

You are right they won't breed till next year. Glad to hear that you are preparing for the worst, separate pens for pairs during breeding season. Some ganders could be fine in one pasture during the mating season. Some ganders would claim both geese and the other gander would be an outcast. If you want your tufted pair to pair up and the buff pair to pair up you will need to separate them a little while before breeding season.

Congrats on the geese you will love them.

I have an American Buff gander. I had a pair from Metzer's but my goose became egg bound at the beginning of the breeding season and died. I have a couple of female buff goslings coming next week.

My gander gets cranky during breeding season. He only nipped me once. That was when I showed him that his mate had died so he wouldn't keep looking for her. Now Boris will have 2 girls to himself for next year.

Join the American goose thread. Make sure you post pictures.

 

[Bellatrixed]

I definitely will join the American thread and post pics when they get here!

Sorry to hear about your eggbound goose

Where are you getting females from? Everywhere I've found but Ideal either sells straight run or pairs and I kept reading Ideal's geese were bad quality so I steered away!

 

[flockman]

I posted a response but it didn't come up.

Unfortunately I ordered from Ideal. I ordered 2 females. I wanted to order from Metzer's but they did not have goslings available till the end of May. Had something happened to my goose earlier in the season I would have gotten them from Metzer's. I hope to find a breeder to buy a better quality goose. You could say that the females from Ideal are a back up plan in case I can't find a nice quality goose. Metzer's quality varies as with all. My gander is very nice quality. My goose was not. My geese are for meat production. My plan was to use Boris and Natasha to produce offspring which I would not be as attached and put into the freezer at the end of the summer. As Natasha developed I could tell she was not a great quality so I knew that I would not be selling any of their offspring.

I have heard from a few others that the geese were not too bad from Ideal. I only advise Metzer's to others.

I hope our weather warms up soon so that Boris will get to see them sooner rather than later. Last year at this time I had to mow the lawn and this year we are expecting snow for the next few days. He follows the ducks around during the day but you can tell that he is a little lonely. I try to spend more time with him which he surprisingly seems to enjoy although if he could talk I don't think he would admit it.

Enjoy those goslings. Mine arrive this week!