My loving 3 mo old goose attacking my 6 yr old son

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OK, now this is a deal breaker... for the last couple of days Buzz has been being overly aggressive w/ my son. Buzz has always sort of disliked my son, but never been aggressive until now. Just a minute ago Buzz went after Parker. So... I think I know the answer to this question, but does anyone have any advise? Buzz is also following the dog around and biting her. I totally love my geese but other than keeping the geese pinned up when Parker is out playing, is there any other way?? Desperate! Should Parker whack Buzz with a stick? I think that Parker should not act scared, but he's only 6... suggestions, advise... please, I don't want to loose my geese. jennifer

 

[Jenifer Kraus]

I alway told my son to be very tall and raise his arms up high in the air and it always works. If he sees Buzz coming just calmly raise his arms in the air and he is instantly tall and hopefully Buzz will walk away.

 

[duck walk]

that could work for you...my geese are such ninnies...they are very easy to herd from place to place...I can be 20 feet behind them moving them and turn them left by sticking out my right arm or right with the left arm out...if I raise my arms, they pick up the pace as in run like the fox is after them...they are funny...your son just needs to appear bigger and more scary...hope you can work it out...

 

[Jenifer Kraus]

Quote:
That makes me think of my flashlight with a red lazer on it. I can be 50ft away and move them around with that red light and I am not even close so they don't think it is me.

 

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You can move your geese with a red laser light???

I can do this with the cat, but we've never tried the geese - hysterical! j

 

[Jenifer Kraus]

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You can move your geese with a red laser light???

I can do this with the cat, but we've never tried the geese - hysterical! j

It is so cool and I can herd a lot of geese. Try it , it is hysterical.. I have to be careful because if it shines is my house and the Macaws see it ,well let say they don't like it and I love my Macaws.​

 

[Kim65]

This is the downside of geese

argh. My gander does not like my daughter or my infant grandson (16 months old). He would attack the baby if we gave him half a chance, so I don't. But what about the future? Well, I have to be realistic. I ain't gettin' rid of neither of them

. Petey cannot be trusted unless he is penned or I am right there. I have taught Petey very consistently, and lately I've noticed him avoiding the baby and I when we are together in the back yard. All I have to do is hold out my hand to Petey and he backs off, but you can see it in his beady little eyes, he'd like to take a chunk out of that helpless baby.

Your choices are hard ones to make whichever ones you choose. A six year old, if he's willing, can be taught to show your goose who's boss. A couple of big long sticks, one in each hand, make giant wings and he can advance toward the gander with the sticks in the air (you nearby to assist and goad him on

). Depends on how committed and brave your son is. And yourself.

Geese are geese, and some of the ganders are just . . . well, ganders. During breeding season it will be EVER so much worse!

 

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Thank you Kim, and to think that I thought I had escaped this behavior... ahh, what was I thinking. Well, Parker and I had an experiment with a drum stick and I really tried to pump him up so that he wasn't scared. I told him about how the dogs handle the geese, so hopefully Parker will show Buzz who's boss - I am keeping a close eye, and I can always put him in the coop (either Buzz or Parker) if things get crazy. I do love them both...

 

[Sunny Side Up]

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... Should Parker whack Buzz with a stick?...

Answer: NO.
In my opinion, a hit bird becomes a scared & wary bird, one more likely to be defensive & aggressive in the future. And a 6-year-old doesn't have the finesse to keep from doing a real injury to the bird and/or himself.

If you cannot bear to re-home the goose (and I know how hard that would be if we had to rehome our gander) then you MUST keep Buzz penned when Parker is out by himself, or be by Parker's side at all times when he & Buzz are out in the yard.

As Parker grows, and hopefully Buzz mellows, you can show him how to stand up to a gander's advances, how to make the right swooshing motions with his arms to shoo him away without hurting or frightening him.​

 

[sourland]

Overly socialized geese, especially ganders can become very human aggressive. Nip this behavior in the bud or it will escalate. He must be convinced that humans are dominant to him. He's just a gosling now. Imagine the damage he could do next breeding season as a mature gander. This is the down side to making pets of ganders. That being said, I had a pet Embden gander when I was a kid that never became human aggressive, but he was never allowed to bite or even nibble.