Mom, Dad, and Son -- UPDATE! New gosling!

[Goosehaven]

I agree with Kim in that I would start introducing your new baby to the adults early on. I made the mistake of keeping my goslings from the grownups for too long and now I have to keep them seperated because one gander and one goose act like they want to tear them up through the fence. ( they are just now around 10-11 weeks old). I'm going to try to integrate them later when they can stand up for themselves but for now my backyard is a series of mazes and pens which could have all been avoided if I had introduced them to the geese when they were smaller. It sounds like your adult geese are really coming around. That's great!

 

[grubbygirl]

Quote:
Yes, we hand-raised Piper and Indi. Indi was always the friendliest goose, while Piper tends to hang back and observe. I do think parenthood had a lot to do with their changes in attitude, so I'm very glad that things seem to be returning to normal.

I have taken everyone's advice and have been taking Violet outside every day to expose her to the other birds and to let them get used to her. Indi and Andy hissed terribly the first time they saw her -- disheartening to say the least! They were very angry. Violet has accepted everything so far without batting an eyelash, so that has been reassuring. I was afraid she would be frightened of the other birds (geese, ducks, and chickens). The ducks have ignored her from the start! Now the adult geese seem to have accepted her. I took her outside today to walk around in the yard, and the adult geese were completely unconcerned. No hisses, no feather-ruffling, no neck-shaking. Piper barely glanced up from grazing. Indi came closer to examine her, but his stance and attitude remained completely calm and neutral, and after a few moments he casually started nibbling on grass. The four of us even strolled around the property together as a proper gaggle (with me carrying Violet) -- in the past this would not have been possible. Either the geese would flee from me, or they would try to chase me off.

Today was a great day, to say the least! I'm going to continue to take things super slow, but so far I have a really good feeling about this. I think Violet is going to fit in just fine. Andy is on notice, though -- no more shenanigans allowed, and he is required to be on his best gentlemanly behavior towards Violet and his parents at all times. Should I be worried at all about the possibility of Indi and Andy eventually fighting over Violet? Indi is quite devoted to Piper, but I seem to have lousy luck with these things!

And yes, Kim, I do take Violet into the bathroom with me! Ha! Something tells me you've done this before!

 

[Kim65]

It's better than to listen to them cry for you

I'll bet you've prepared meals either holding her or something similar too

It's hard to predict who's gonna be Violet's man. I've heard that geese tend to avoid "incest" or relate to sibs/parents as potential mates, so Andy has been in a nice safe limbo unless he gets an Oedipus complex. With the addition of Violet . . . you could see Andy and Indi competing with one another. At that point you could separate them, so that Andy and Violet are in one pen, and Piper and Indi in the other, with chicken wire between so the family can still see each other. I'm guessing here, but just like with people, what turns you on is pretty personal and not under your control as much as should be reasonable

Geese get protective of goslings whether they are their own or not. They may have been hissing and shaking their necks at you as much as the little intruder because YOU had THEIR baby. Whatever it was, it's water under the bridge as they seem to have accepted her.

Now the hard part will be giving Violet TO them

I can totally relate with that one.

 

[grubbygirl]

I really hope it won't come down to having to separate the two pairs -- my geese are free-range, and I really don't want to have to keep them in pens. Do you think introducing Violet to Andy first will do any good? Indi really doesn't seem to have issues with Andy at all. He still treats him like his son. Whatever attitude there is comes completely from Andy's side, the big dummy -- and luckily it seems to have completely resolved with the end of mating season. Hopefully this will have some bearing on Violet's integration into the group.

Indi (foreground) & Piper (with the black-tipped beak):

The Three Geese of the Apocalypse:

We're doomed -- they're climbing the stairs!

Chivalrous Indi keeping his lady neat and tidy:

Piper taking issue with the paparazzi trying to photograph Baby Andy:

Indi is so photogenic:

 

[Kim65]

AWWWWWW

I miss my Toulouses so much, thank you for those pics

I could never pen my geese either

and feel good about it. I do because I work, but when I'm home they have free run of the yard.

I just don't know how you can encourage/guide them. Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match

The chances of Andy and Violet getting together are good, really, or perhaps because they are father and son, they might not mind "sharing" Violet. In the very least you have a nicely balanced flock, the two ganders are bonded and friendly, that's not too likely to change. I really don't know. It sure will be interesting, though. I like to think they know what is best for themselves when it comes to relationships, that is what geese do best

Now for some pics of Violet??

 

[grubbygirl]

 

[Kim65]

Eeeeeeee

thank you. Oh, so precious

I see you have a boneless cat too. Something to warm Violet's feeties on

 

[grubbygirl]

Since I mentioned Violet in another thread, I thought I'd give her a little photo update in her own thread.

She is doing great! She is still quite bonded to me, but not unhealthily so. I let her move outdoors on her own terms; she still comes inside for visits when she feels inclined, but for the most part she's off doing her own thing. I don't think she's 100% clued into the fact that she is, in fact, a goose, but the other geese are certain of it and have been trying to explain this to her. I can tell they're quite befuddled sometimes. Mostly they just trail along behind her as she roams about the grounds on her goose business. When she stops for a nibble or a nap, the others will gather around and say, "Now look. Here we all are, standing around being geese together. See? Look at what we're doing. Now look at what you're doing. It's the same. Because we're all the same. We're geese." Violet kind of listens with half an ear and wanders off again when she gets bored.

One huge plus is her status as goose/human ambassador. She follows me whenever I'm outside, although at a much more lackadaisical pace than when she was tiny. Generally she will show up wherever I'm at and then confine her wanderings to my general area. (I have a hilarious picture of myself sunbathing in the backyard with Violet napping contentedly on my rear/thigh area.) This has done wonders for my relations with the other geese. When Violet greets me noisily and hurries over to cuddle or sit in my lap, they are overcome with curiosity and follow her over, then stand around staring at me with expressions that clearly say: "I don't get it. What's so great about her? She doesn't even have food."

My best day this summer was when I fell asleep on a blanket under a tree and woke up with Violet sleeping beside me and the other 3 geese nibbling fondly at my toes. Such progress!

Here's Violet at the Del Taco drive-thru:

And here's Violet patiently waiting while we returned pop cans at Fred Meyer (after happily following me across the parking lot -- boy, did that draw some stares):

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

Simply, AWESOME!