Pilgrim pics

[Southerngirl]

I wish you were closer too !! They are such good boys !

 

[Julie_A]

Crevecours? How do they look?

 

[Kim65]

One of the ganders will appoint himself as the leader and will drive the other ganders to the edge of the flock. They will hang out on the periphery but may not be driven away entirely. With lots of room, they might co-exist OK. I had a flock of almost ENTIRELY male Toulouse in Idaho. I bought four females and had six males (a year older) and SOMEHOW they managed to stay in a flock.

Maybe next year purchase a couple of female pilgrim goslings and when they are about a month old, you could let the adults raise them from there. Ganders are just as maternal as the geese (in my experience). My nasty lead gander Pinhead was especially nurturing and protective of those four little goslings females.

You may have to separate out a couple of the boys during breeding season, leave one gander with the goose and then bring in female goslings to be with the extra boys. I never could DOWNSIZE my flock very well ppffffft. So my solution is very biased.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

I'm just disappointed that the breeder should know what they are selling. I drove 4 hours for two pairs of pilgrims (goslings). I went with that breed because they are suppose to be gentle and sexed by color. I'm a newbie so I wasn't all sure what to look for when sexing them. I just assumed the breeder would have known. The breeder did offer to trade when I found out that I have an extra male but that would involve driving again and I cant do that. Breeder offered to meet some where and again drive time. I have not gotten a response to my last email

which was a least a month ago. I really don't have the room to get 2 more females for the two lone ganders. They are about 4 mos. old now. I would rather give away the two extras, if I can't they will make the trip to the pond if they get nasty. I assume the attitude wont really show up till next spring when breeding season starts? ?

 

[goosedragon]

Henry'schickens :

I'm just disappointed that the breeder should know what they are selling. I drove 4 hours for two pairs of pilgrims (goslings). I went with that breed because they are suppose to be gentle and sexed by color. I'm a newbie so I wasn't all sure what to look for when sexing them. I just assumed the breeder would have known. The breeder did offer to trade when I found out that I have an extra male but that would involve driving again and I cant do that. Breeder offered to meet some where and again drive time. I have not gotten a response to my last email

which was a least a month ago. I really don't have the room to get 2 more females for the two lone ganders. They are about 4 mos. old now. I would rather give away the two extras, if I can't they will make the trip to the pond if they get nasty. I assume the attitude wont really show up till next spring when breeding season starts? ?

They MAY NOT be as bad as you think. Can you see an established pecking order yet? They should have one and the Female shouldn't be counted out as boss goose. I had one goose and 3 ganders and the female was boss. she chose who and when to mate. If they stepped out of line she would beat the tar out of them, but most of the time she would just raise her voice and expected them to obey. If one bird clearly dominates the rest it can make for a peaceful flock.​

 

[Southerngirl]

Thanks for the info, the female is definetly in the hierarchy so it will be interesting in spring !

 

[ScoobyRoo]

goosedragon,,
My group are just approx. 4 mos. old. Will it be next spring before I do see who is boss? Right now they all seem to be on even terms. One of the gander is a little aggresive to a new duck that was adopted. He seems to have backed off though. I did expect something to happen anyway. I have been watching and so far all is well. I'm just not looking forward to the mating season. That is when the trouble will start, wont it??

 

[newgoosegal]

Hi everyone! I understand that pilgrims can suffer lower fertility so pairs or trios are best right? I took over a flock for someone losing their farm, and now have 29 pilgrims (and a smaller group of toulouse too) to figure out! They are a several generational family, but I don't know who is who. Can I leave them all together through breeding season, if they seem ok together? or will father mate with daughter, or will siblings mate? The gaggle has 20 geese and 9 ganders, could I assume all the eggs (hopefully) coming along are fertilized? We're still in a foot of snow, so they can't be out in the pasture yet, so do you have any advice about the proper size enclosure for a group this size? Right now they are in a space about 32x20, it's in a hoophouse so it's really light and bright.
I adore these geese, and am loving how the ganders and geese have very different ways of talking. I appreciate any insights!

 

[tbishop]

Here's some pics of my Pilgrims I took today...

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