Newbie in many ways!

[jtn42248]

So...we tried lettuce a couple of days ago hoping that if they like it then we could use it to lure them into their house of an evening, i'm not sure what to make of the outcome, they appeared to love it, we threw small pieces of it to them and they ate it without a second thought and ran for other bits that we threw to them, I couldn't quite believe how keen they were, the Gander then started hissing at us, he's never done this before and it seemed a bit weird, do they his if excited? or is he getting angry because we're not feeding him quickly enough? confused!!

We couldn't lure them into their house with it though, they still don't like the sawdust I think after three days they still don't want to go in at night and had to resort to using poles to guide them but it took some effort again, we put some lettuce in with them overnight but it was still there this morning only adding to the confusion.

Never met a goose that didn't like lettuce. The hissing might be because they are still new and confused. Give it time, and by time I mean it could take months. You also will be coming up on breeding season in a few months and he will be particularly unpleasant then. But remember that you are the alpha at all times and let him know that. Do not show any fear because he will never forget that if you do. He may never be really friendly to you since he is mostly an adult when you got him. But with time and patience he will become more tolerant of you and your presence.

When you say sawdust do you mean sawdust like what drops to the floor when you cut/saw wood? If so you might have bedding that is too fine for them and gets in their nostrils. Try to find either shavings (the large ones not the really fine ones) or even straw. If you use straw try to keep it as try as you can and replace it often. Wet straw is/can be a bacteria farm and that is really unhealthy for geese and ducks. I use straw but I stir it daily and replace it about every week for my three.

 

[Numero182]

Thanks again for the replies.

We might try the plastic flooring option to see how it differs although they wen tin a bit easier tonight, could be just a fluke though i suppose.

The sawdust is more like shavings, it's not too fine at all so think it's OK regarding nostrils etc, I HOPE!

Their hay bedding is dry these days, they used it and everything else as a toilet for the first few days so i changed the hay daily but now they get out of bed to use the toilet (floor next to it) so dampness not an issue, i topped it up with fresh stuff a couple of days ago so suppose I should do a complete change soon.

The hissing only happens when he sees we have lettuce, any other time they both waddle as far away from me as i can, having handled him a couple of times i'm not too intimidated by him but he is never aggressive unless we have the magic lettuce. weird!

Did i mention he flew over the fence a couple of weeks ago? Heard a load of honking and found him on the driveway below honking his little head off! Was worried he was going to hurt himself trying to get back up the large bank to girlfriend so i had to pounce on him and pick him up holding his neck in case he fancied a bite, fortunately my father in law was here and he grabbed scissors and clipped his flight feather while i held him up by his feet, no further escape attempts after his first traumatic attempt though.

 

[jtn42248]

The hissing only happens when he sees we have lettuce, any other time they both waddle as far away from me as i can, having handled him a couple of times i'm not too intimidated by him but he is never aggressive unless we have the magic lettuce. weird!

Could be that his instincts are telling him to stay away from you and his stomach is screaming LETTUCE!!! so he is hissing to warn you not to try anything funny.

Did i mention he flew over the fence a couple of weeks ago? Heard a load of honking and found him on the driveway below honking his little head off! Was worried he was going to hurt himself trying to get back up the large bank to girlfriend so i had to pounce on him and pick him up holding his neck in case he fancied a bite, fortunately my father in law was here and he grabbed scissors and clipped his flight feather while i held him up by his feet, no further escape attempts after his first traumatic attempt though.

Silly goose

 

[livininbrazil]

Thanks again for the replies.

We might try the plastic flooring option to see how it differs although they wen tin a bit easier tonight, could be just a fluke though i suppose.

The sawdust is more like shavings, it's not too fine at all so think it's OK regarding nostrils etc, I HOPE!

Their hay bedding is dry these days, they used it and everything else as a toilet for the first few days so i changed the hay daily but now they get out of bed to use the toilet (floor next to it) so dampness not an issue, i topped it up with fresh stuff a couple of days ago so suppose I should do a complete change soon.

The hissing only happens when he sees we have lettuce, any other time they both waddle as far away from me as i can, having handled him a couple of times i'm not too intimidated by him but he is never aggressive unless we have the magic lettuce. weird!

Did i mention he flew over the fence a couple of weeks ago? Heard a load of honking and found him on the driveway below honking his little head off! Was worried he was going to hurt himself trying to get back up the large bank to girlfriend so i had to pounce on him and pick him up holding his neck in case he fancied a bite, fortunately my father in law was here and he grabbed scissors and clipped his flight feather while i held him up by his feet, no further escape attempts after his first traumatic attempt though.

Could be he really wants to come to you for the lettuce, but is still scared at the same time. It´ll improve, though.
And watch out for those wings when you pick them up, they can pack a punch! Much worse than a pinch from the bill.
Also, if you need to carry a goose, best not done by the feet like chickens, as they´re a very heavy bird. You can carry them by their wings, the closest part to their body, or hand under their bodies, with arm around the wings to stop them wacking you, and other hand around their head or neck. You´ll get the hang of it once you do it a few times. Best not by the feet, though.

And strange it was the male that flew out.

 

[Numero182]

A question on feeding if I may, we keep nothing in their house overnight now as we don't want them soaking the place with water and food without water is not good so we hang their feeder in their during the day and remove it at bedtime. All seems to work OK except they don't budge from their middle terrace, rhe one the walk out onto from their house, it's pretty muxh just become bare of grass and we've noticed rheir grain consumption has now gone up but they show no interest in moving to another grassy terrace, we've shepherded them onto new pastures a few times but within half an hour they've gone straight back to their comfort zone, should we try keeping the grain out during the day too to force them to find more grass?

 

[Numero182]

A picture of our geese having their pre-bedtime lettuce.

 

[mightymax]

You could definitely try not putting anything out for them except fresh water for a few days and see how they do. But personally, I would feel as if I were starving them if
I did that. Or you could usher them over to where ever it is you want them to be each day and let them take it from there. They may not eat the grass where you want them to
eat it and they may not even stay over there for more than a few minutes after you get them there, but if you do this with them every day it will become a familiar routine for
them and believe me, geese like routine...and after a few days, weeks your geese will at least know that they are free to travel to other terraces and eat. If worse comes to worst, I know they sell portable fencing that you can set up in different locations whenever you wanted them to mow a particular area. I know that sounds like a lot of work, but if left to only
do their bidding, all of your young tender seedlings and saps would be eaten along with the grain and everything else (the weeds) would flourish. If you give them a smorgasbord,
you can't get upset when they decide to pick and choose !!!l

Good Luck

-kim-

 

[livininbrazil]

A question on feeding if I may, we keep nothing in their house overnight now as we don't want them soaking the place with water and food without water is not good so we hang their feeder in their during the day and remove it at bedtime. All seems to work OK except they don't budge from their middle terrace, rhe one the walk out onto from their house, it's pretty muxh just become bare of grass and we've noticed rheir grain consumption has now gone up but they show no interest in moving to another grassy terrace, we've shepherded them onto new pastures a few times but within half an hour they've gone straight back to their comfort zone, should we try keeping the grain out during the day too to force them to find more grass?

@mightymax makes a good point about feeding them where you want them to eat the grass. I do this. I never use a feeder either at night nor during the day.
Twice a day they get a little corn/maize. (I don´t leave it out, it could make them lazy and fat) I chuck it about and they go rooting around for it. While they´re rooting around they eat the grass too. And like mightymax said, geese like regularity.
If you make sure there´s some water, too, on the area that you want them to be, that´ll encourage them even more to stay there... even just a bucket of water.
I have areas here that are very well cropped, and others that I have to encourage them to work. And they don´t usually like terraces much, but they will go up and down them if encouraged to. I have a terrace here, and they´ll go up there if there´s good reason!

 

[Numero182]

Hello all! Just thought I'd let you know that we've had our first two eggs from our lady!! Three days between eggs but was starting to think we weren't going to get any at all and OMG how delicious!! Thanks for all your support so far!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hello all! Just thought I'd let you know that we've had our first two eggs from our lady!! Three days between eggs but was starting to think we weren't going to get any at all and OMG how delicious!! Thanks for all your support so far!!

That's awesome I was just thinking of you all the other day and wondering how everyone is and if the winter was as bad there as here. I have just started getting eggs to matter of fact making an omelet right now. Pics when you can would love to see them.