My flock of 2 year old geese have never laid eggs, WHY?

Rajadito

Chirping
13 Years
Jul 13, 2009
9
1
62
Hello, I have four white Chinese geese I received from Metzer’s in May 2021. I bought two males and two females and I have yet to get a single egg although they are now 23 months old. I have confirmed that two are ganders and I attempted to vent sex the other two, who I suspect are females based on their slightly smaller size and lower weight. The geese have a large yard with ample cool season grasses for grazing and exercise, containers for bathing and breeding, a 12x8 fully enclosed coop with nest boxes and deep bedding where all four are locked in at night, and they are fed duck pellets from Purina (.5lb/bird daily) in addition to small amount of scratch grain and free choice oyster shell. Here’s the problem, I’ve never observed nesting behavior nor have the geese laid a single egg and it’s now mid-April in northern Colorado.
The four birds fight each other as if they are four ganders. If one of the confirmed ganders approaches one of the supposed females she bites and fights and often all four birds join in on the mayhem with lockjaw biting and wing slapping. I have never seen a successful mating as any pote rial attempt leads to fighting. There are no obvious pairings and all four are constantly together. I trust Metzer’s ability to sex birds but I am at a loss as to why they have never nested. Could they have missexed these birds? Am I missing something that the geese need? Do my females simply dislike the ganders and refuse to mate with them? I realize that this breed can lay in their first year but that sexual maturity is often reached after year 1 and I did see changes in their knob size and body shape in the last 6 months. Perhaps my gaggle is especially slow to mature. Has anyone had a similar experience of no nesting or incorrect sexing with white Chinese from Metzers?
Thank you for any insight. It’s frustrating that they haven’t laid but also disturbing when they battle and I am worried that inevitably one or more will be severely injured.
 
Not normal. You should of had eggs last year. It is breeding season. My girls have the feathers on the back of the neck torn off where the gander grabs her. Easy to identify the girls this time of year. Even if they aren't mating, the females would be laying. Nothing you are doing is the problem. Hate to say it but it sounds like 4 ganders.
Pictures?
Would be interesting to pen the 2 known ganders up separately and see how the demeanor of the other 2 changes.
 
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Not normal. You should of had eggs last year. It is breeding season. My girls have the feathers on the back of the neck torn off where the gander grabs her. Easy to identify the girls this time of year. Even if they aren't mating, the females would be laying. Nothing you are doing is the problem. Hate to say it but it sounds like 4 ganders.
Pictures?
Would be interesting to pen the 2 known ganders up separately and see how the demeanor of the other 2 changes.
I agree that you should have definitely had eggs from Chinese geese by now. I bet they’re all males. I had a trio that was male heavy and I observed males mounting each other in the pond from time to time and this made me think I had one male and two females. Vent sex them. It’s the only way to know for sure
 

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