Please help! Over-protective parenting.

[alexalet]

We have five Embden geese here (3 gander and 2 gals) who just hatched out their first four goslings (hoping for more as they are brooding about thirty eggs between them). Unfortunately, the first three were born just before an ice storm and froze to death. The one surviving one seems to be doing well (3 days old now), but her protective parents won't let me put the chick waterer down anywhere near the nest! I've tried everything I can think of. I reach down around the bale of hay they're using for shelter and slowly lower the waterer, but I just get attacked. The two mommas and one dad go at me from the front, and the other two attack my legs. I just got back in from another try at it, and I got 18 goose bites on my hands and 26 on the backs of my legs. After all that, I finally got the waterer down about 3 feet away from the gosling, and the dad in the nest area latched onto my nose and then when I finally got him off he proceeded to tip over and drain the water.

I don't know what to do! Any advice at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for looking.

 

[RURU]

First off if you can before you do anything try to get the ganders out of there. Then try putting the water in there for the goslings. I know the gals on the nest are still hatching right? If so they should stay on the nest like a rock but will defend for the goslings too. Sometimes with my experiences in the last five years the ganders can cause more damange like going into the nest with the female and break the eggs. Turn waters over and ect. So I kind of take the ganders out from the girls. Right now I have a female sitting on a nest all by herself in a pen so she or the eggs do not get disturbed.
I will put the gander back in at bedtime, but lock them out during the day so the female has piece and quiet day sittting.
Now this is just my opion and what I like to do.

 

[Miss Lydia]

We have five Embden geese here (3 gander and 2 gals) who just hatched out their first four goslings (hoping for more as they are brooding about thirty eggs between them). Unfortunately, the first three were born just before an ice storm and froze to death. The one surviving one seems to be doing well (3 days old now), but her protective parents won't let me put the chick waterer down anywhere near the nest! I've tried everything I can think of. I reach down around the bale of hay they're using for shelter and slowly lower the waterer, but I just get attacked. The two mommas and one dad go at me from the front, and the other two attack my legs. I just got back in from another try at it, and I got 18 goose bites on my hands and 26 on the backs of my legs. After all that, I finally got the waterer down about 3 feet away from the gosling, and the dad in the nest area latched onto my nose and then when I finally got him off he proceeded to tip over and drain the water.

I don't know what to do! Any advice at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for looking.

You need to carry something with you like a long plastic pole easy to hold in your hand or a broom or large bucket. get in there and run the ganders out, then make sure you keep what ever you bring with you between you and the mamas, If you have to swat them with the pole or broom the do it, not to hurt them but to let them know they are not the boss you are, I have been bitten many times by my gander but since I carry broom along he keeps his distance, but if he does act like he is coming after me[you can tell, head down] then he gets a swat with the broom. I also use an old mop stick to teach them to stay clear of the dogs. I just put it between them and the dog they maybe wanting to bully. You cannot let these geese get the best of you, I almost lost my upper lip from a goose bite, they can cause serious damage. Please do what RURU says and also carry something with you, to teach them your are head goose. Good luck.