Next Steps with a Dumped Goose

[Featherwooddarci]

Hey there everyone!

I've been a chicken and duck keeper for nearly a decade now, even raised some button quail, and now the universe has gifted me a goose.

A couple of weeks ago someone dumped a male brown Chinese goose at my farm and after making sure he didn't belong to any neighbors, I realized I now was a goose owner.

I kept him quarantined for a bit to ensure he was healthy and he is now getting along well enough with my flock of 40 chickens and my two Muscovies. By getting along I mean everyone tolerates one another and there is no aggression. He's quite smitten with me, but now that I know he's staying with us I want to get him a friend.

My question is which route should I go. I didn't anticipate getting geese anytime soon so I really don't want a flock. I would be happy with two, three if absolutely necessary. Do I try to add a gosling or an adult? Should it be male or female? I would prefer to avoid the springtime nest aggression that can happen and so I've been considering introducing another male. Can I successfully introduce two adult ganders? Would a single adult gander be too rough if I introduced a gosling (say 2 months old)? I've done every combination of introduction with chickens and ducks, but geese are out of my realm of familiarity.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[alinas2010]

Hello welcome to the site! Cute little (big) guy you’ve got there! Congrats on the addition, very kind of you to take him in. I don’t have experience with geese, so let me take some goose people for you.

@Goosebaby @fowltemptress and @oldhenlikesdogs i believe these folks all have geese.

 

[Goosebaby]

Congratulations on your new gander!

Two ganders can and do bond and have wonderful relationships with each other but it comes with it’s own set of drama just like if you had a gander and goose pair.

Ganders will bond but how their relationship dynamic turns out will be based on their individual personalities. Most bonded gander pairs will still squabble with each other to an extent in breeding season “winter to spring.” How intense those squabbles are depends on them. At worst you may have to temporarily separate them, but they will lose their minds while they’re separated. Most squabbles generally last no more than a minute though and they end the fight with congratulating each other and parading around the yard like dorks.

The main issue with a bonded pair of ganders is they can feed off of each other’s energy. They will become protective of each other and defend each other from perceived rivals, but if one targets the subject of their ire, the other will too and the fight can go on longer than it should because they’re reacting to each other’s energy rather than just focusing on the opponent.

If you get another gander make sure you bond with him as much as your first gander so that you’re part of their clique and not deemed an outsider who can be seen as a rival in breeding season.


Male + females has its own issues. Female geese tend to be more submissive and less confrontational, but not always. Some girls are Amazonian warrior queens, others are sassy drama instigators. Most of my fights between ganders were caused by one of the girls starting s, and when a female goose does the rage cackle, a high pitched rapid war cry, ganders instinctively can barely resist it and will attack whatever their girl is cackling at in most situations.

For my ganders that I have a close relationship with, they don’t bother me if one of their girls is cackling at me, even if I’m approaching a nest. If you have a close bond with her she’ll be more tolerant too. Some girls will even let you reach under and pull an egg out while they’re on the nest.


You can introduce a gosling to him for supervised visits until they’re about 4 weeks old. Some ganders you can leave with goslings sooner but it really depends on personality. Goslings bond more quickly than adults do.
If introducing an adult they can bond quickly or it can take months, there’s really no saying because it depends on personality.