Pilgrim geese - male or female???

[Camotracey]

@Camotracey @JLynnsDuckies has a couple pilgrim ganders and I am pretty sure the dark goslings would be the females the light one the gander. if they indeed are Pilgrims. They sure are adorable.

Welcome to BYC

Yes,

Very cute

. I think based on the fact that they have gone through several hands, I have to wonder if they are definitely Pilgrims (not necessarily someone trying to deceive, just a case of getting confused along the way). Visually they all look similar in colouring and beak colour except the largest one is different (in the first picture bottom left, and in the second picture in the middle with back facing the camera), it has a yellow beak and the lighter colours. I am not sure if perhaps that one just hatched earlier, or if that may be a sign it is a different sex.

Not that it really matters at this stage (not like they can be changed

), but if they can be confirmed as probably Pilgrims, then I will try to take regular photo's and post them as they grow (might help to explain for the next person how you tell a male from a female at certain stages).

Cheers,

Cameron

 

[JLynnsDuckies]

Hi,

Just joined and was going to start a new thread, but I thought this was an appropriate thread, and perhaps could help others in the future with similar aged goslings, if they are at an age to identify sex (or we can add photos as they grow).

We were at a poultry auction this weekend, and to our surprise there was 6 goslings (very rarely come up). According to the seller, they had bought fertile eggs, and got far more goslings than expected or could home. The auctioneer suggested they were Pilgrim's and about 1 week old.

Here are some pictures of them enjoying a swim





So obviously, things can get mixed up when a seller tells an auctioneer and the auctioneer tells us, so is it possible to confirm if they are Pilgrim goslings at this age? If they are, they still young enough to identify sex?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, the pictures above were taken not thinking about trying to identify sex, so if it would help to have different photos, I can take some more (not really certain what exactly would be needed).

Thanks for any help in advanced,

Cameron

Such adorable babies and welcome!

They look like pilgrims to me, although the one with the really light head is questionable. It also looks like 3 of them are female. Females have an olive green hue to their down and are darker compared to the males who have more of a silver or gray hue to their down. Also females have darker bills. You will know for sure what you have when they start to feather out. Typical female pilgrims have light gray feathers and get white spectacles around their eyes with age. Males will have white bodies with gray highlights in their wings. Please keep us updated with lots of pictures as they grow... Which will happen in a blink of an eye!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Such adorable babies and welcome!

They look like pilgrims to me, although the one with the really light head is questionable. It also looks like 3 of them are female. Females have an olive green hue to their down and are darker compared to the males who have more of a silver or gray hue to their down. Also females have darker bills. You will know for sure what you have when they start to feather out. Typical female pilgrims have light gray feathers and get white spectacles around their eyes with age. Males will have white bodies with gray highlights in their wings. Please keep us updated with lots of pictures as they grow... Which will happen in a blink of an eye!

X2 yes lots of pics they change so fast we don't want to miss any of it.

 

[Camotracey]

Some hot weather the last few days, so plenty of baths, and shade. As I am not certain of the age, they have spent the nights indoors, and during the day I had them in a temporary enclosure while I built a play pen (I had a play pen ready to go, but our mascovy duck surprised us with 13 babies, she had been hiding the eggs, so we were about 1 week out on our hatch dates).

We have a resident hawk (it circles high every afternoon, we have never had issues, but we always keep young birds in pens if they are not being supervised by us), so I want them to be able to graze, but wanted them in an enclosure with a lid, until they get a bit bigger.

Here they are, enjoying the newly built pen

It won't be long until they outgrow this pen, but we have a bigger pen, but I think the mesh is too large for them at this stage (would hate for them to get hung up).

We got a bit concerned last night about one of the goslings. It is the smallest, and while the others were running around the yard eating clover, it just wanted to sleep. I ended up holding it and handfeeding, and this morning it is eating again and more energetic (fingers crossed).

Cheers,

Cameron

P.S. I am not sure if I should start a new thread? I don't want to hijack this one, but I also think as they grown and I show more photo's it might be a good way to demonstrate how to tell a male from a female at different ages. Would the moderators, or other members prefer me to start a new thread, or continue on this thread?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I doubt the mods care one way or another, up to you if you want your own thread with your little ones in it we'll follow either way.

They are so precious and your doing a great job protecting them. I had a very brave Red tail come right up close to the house to kill one of my bantam chickens so keeping them covered is a very good idea..

Thanks so much for sharing them with us and I hope the littlest one continues to grow and stay up.. Congrats on your Scovy Ducklings too.

 

[Camotracey]

I will keep going on this thread then, I may sidetrack from the initial male vs female question, but it should make a good reference in the future, as they grow.

Yesterday was a big day (3 days since they came to us). Needed to finish off the outdoor pen, so the wire mesh offcuts made a pen just high enough to keep them in during the final touches.





This is a better image of the largest of the 6, definitely the boss but is she/he a Pilgrim ? (one with the orange beak)



and showing across the back



After the pen was complete, we let them out and laid down on some towels (our hope is to imprint, oh and of cause have some fun).

As they got tired, they all snuggled together



Time to go back to bed. The little one has had a good day, eating a lot more, but you can tell he/she is way behind the rest, so we are keeping a close eye.

Cheers,

Camo

 

[JLynnsDuckies]

Some hot weather the last few days, so plenty of baths, and shade. As I am not certain of the age, they have spent the nights indoors, and during the day I had them in a temporary enclosure while I built a play pen (I had a play pen ready to go, but our mascovy duck surprised us with 13 babies, she had been hiding the eggs, so we were about 1 week out on our hatch dates). We have a resident hawk (it circles high every afternoon, we have never had issues, but we always keep young birds in pens if they are not being supervised by us), so I want them to be able to graze, but wanted them in an enclosure with a lid, until they get a bit bigger. Here they are, enjoying the newly built pen It won't be long until they outgrow this pen, but we have a bigger pen, but I think the mesh is too large for them at this stage (would hate for them to get hung up). We got a bit concerned last night about one of the goslings. It is the smallest, and while the others were running around the yard eating clover, it just wanted to sleep. I ended up holding it and handfeeding, and this morning it is eating again and more energetic (fingers crossed). Cheers, Cameron P.S. I am not sure if I should start a new thread? I don't want to hijack this one, but I also think as they grown and I show more photo's it might be a good way to demonstrate how to tell a male from a female at different ages. Would the moderators, or other members prefer me to start a new thread, or continue on this thread?

Awe! I love the video! That age is so fun! I don't think anyone would mind if you posted in here... It's completely up to you really. They have a nice playpen. I agree with having the top on, especially with the hawk. Better safe than sorry. Thanks for sharing the new pics and video.

 

[JLynnsDuckies]

Ocar and Ollie as goslings... How time flies.

 

[Camotracey]

Yesterday was a big day (3 days since they came to us). Needed to finish off the outdoor pen, so the wire mesh offcuts made a pen just high enough to keep them in during the final touches.







This is a better image of the largest of the 6, definitely the boss but is she/he a Pilgrim ? (one with the orange beak)




and showing across the back




After the pen was complete, we let them out and laid down on some towels (our hope is to imprint, oh and of cause have some fun).

As they got tired, they all snuggled together




Time to go back to bed. The little one has had a good day, eating a lot more, but you can tell he/she is way behind the rest, so we are keeping a close eye.

Cheers,

Cameron

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Camotracey those pics are so adorable, the video where their running was cute too all but the littlest one. Please don't make it run right now if you have to pick it up so it stays up but having it run is not good. Are you supplementing their feed with Brewers yeast? i think that lil one especially needs some Niacin all of them can have it too but this one really needs it. Some just show the B3 deficiency more than others. Giving the goslings some nice swim time if your able to keep the temp in the pool warm enough would especially benefit the lil one too we call it water therapy gives them a good chance to gain strength in their legs just never leave them un supervised and make sure they don't chill. You could even bring the one having trouble right now and a buddy inside for water therapy in your tub that way they could have warm water. Goslings can get hypothermia pretty quick so it is always wise to not let them play in water deep enough to swim unless it is nice and warm and the air temp is very warm and still they may chill so be ready to towel dry if necessary. Or put straight under a heat lamp to finish drying. and make sure they can get in and out of the pool safely too so they don't get water logged. Once they are feathered in they they will be more water proof.. And sorry if you already know all of this but I just feel compelled to mention these things when members get new goslings/ducklings..

More info https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-and-caring-for-goslings