My Gosling is Ripping Chicks Feathers Out

[Mycrazypets]

I have 2 guard embden goslings and 14 chicks. Recently one of the goslings has gone to each of the chicks and begins pulling and biting their wing like food. The chicks sqauk in pain but it doesn’t stop until it rips out feathers. I need solutions! I have tried distracting them with some spinach and other treats but then they go back to it....

 

[sourland]

You may have to separate them from the chicks until the chicks are larger and more mobile.

 

[Goosebaby]

You have to separate the goslings from the chicks, bigger sized birds have a habit of picking on the smaller ones.

 

[Mycrazypets]

You may have to separate them from the chicks until the chicks are larger and more mobile.

So should I separate both geese even though only one is pecking? I am afraid reintroducing them will be a problem, plus due to their large size I think they will always be much larger than them.

 

[keith14]

So should I separate both geese even though only one is pecking? I am afraid reintroducing them will be a problem, plus due to their large size I think they will always be much larger than them.

I would separate both geese together because geese prefer living with other geese.

 

[Mycrazypets]

Does anyone know what age geese would outgrow this behavior?

 

[Goosebaby]

Does anyone know what age geese would outgrow this behavior?

It’s hard to say, henpecking is pretty common among birds, it can start in any bird, sometimes it resolves, sometimes it reappears only to disappear again, other times it never goes away.
Sometimes keeping them in a larger area can help to curb it, a lot of geese will tolerate other species as long as they don’t get into their personal space, other times if they’ve developed a hatred of certain birds or types for whatever reason they’ll never be safe around the goose.
For a few years I had the ducks living in the same enclosure with two of my ganders perfectly peacefully, but a few years ago they couldn’t be out in the yard together without the ducks obsessively bullying my female geese and the ganders trying to kill the ducks. My geese currently tolerate my ducks as long as the ducks keep six feet away.

Point is a multi species flock is a constantly evolving relationship.

 

[Mycrazypets]

Does anyone know what age geese would outgrow this behavior?

It’s hard to say, henpecking is pretty common among birds, it can start in any bird, sometimes it resolves, sometimes it reappears only to disappear again, other times it never goes away.
Sometimes keeping them in a larger area can help to curb it, a lot of geese will tolerate other species as long as they don’t get into their personal space, other times if they’ve developed a hatred of certain birds or types for whatever reason they’ll never be safe around the goose.
For a few years I had the ducks living in the same enclosure with two of my ganders perfectly peacefully, but a few years ago they couldn’t be out in the yard together without the ducks obsessively bullying my female geese and the ganders trying to kill the ducks. My geese currently tolerate my ducks as long as the ducks keep six feet away.

Point is a multi species flock is a constantly evolving relationship.

Got it thanks. I just moved them to a larger area recently so as long as the chickens are not bleeding or severely injured I might just try to wait it out. Distractions like food do help temporarily too...

 

[Goosebaby]

You could try toys too, my geese like holl-ee-rollers, ropes, and busy bags, any chewy, crinkly, jingle thing in a bag, those crinkly animal toys are a good version of that. Most importantly it can’t be anything they can swallow though.

 

[TwistedTayy]

I had a similar problem with my two pilgrim goslings... the female would rip out the males little bum fluff and when she started pulling out blood feathers I got really worried because they were so attached to each other I couldn't separate them. It was suggested to me (by my BYC fam) to get some Blue-Kote from tractor supply and just spray that spot that she was targeting. Its a wound dressing which was good but apparently also has a menthol-y taste that they dont appreciate. I applied it at night (it started when they were in the brooder in the same spot but when they moved outside it stopped for about a week before beginning again hence the pin feathers growing in) and after two nights she had stopped and I haven't had any issues since.

I would for sure remove the goslings from the chicks but if the culprit starts doing that to the other gosling, that might help with that. Definitely wouldn't suggest coating the poor chick in blue dye lol.

Once they all move outside, maybe house them beside one another so they can still see and interact but not hurt for a few days before letting them together. Theres plenty of info on here regarding introductions but I think the risk of dealing with reintroductions is outweighed by the damage that a gosling could do to a baby chick.