problematic goose and gander

[chickenlittle32]

Ok, so heres the problem. My goose and gander are becoming mean...but not to us..but to the broody hens/broody mallard. They will take the hen or the mallard out of the nest and harrass them...pluck feathers etc. What should I do with them?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

you need to separate them from the other fowl. i have the meanest darn gander you can imagine (see my signature) who was determined to kill one of my older hens. he almost got her one day....

as soon as i took them out of the hen yard my love for his mean self increased about 100% and EVERYONE was happier.

 

[chickenlittle32]

What I don't understand is, that they were all raised together. They all of a sudden started this.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

they probably started to mature - is the goose laying? geese can be wildly territorial.

or - is it just one particular hen? is she older? sick?

or maybe that chicken just gave that gander too much lip and he had just about enough of her squawkin'
;-)

 

[chickenlittle32]

The goose already had a clutch of eggs that hatched. We sold all the goslings. The mallard hen is getting the worst part of it, but they are also going after one other chicken hen. They are only doing this when they are sitting on the nest. They have broken about eggs also. They have also pulled most of the feathers from the mallards back.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep. this was the situation that was happening to a friend of mine. his gander KILLED his best laying hen!

i'm not sure of the dynamics or what causes it. there is a gal on this board - cottage rose or something that knows a lot about geese - and you can try moving this to the waterfowl section - those folks have their ducks (geese!) in a row

 

[chickenlittle32]

How do I move it? LOL

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

golly lets give this a go....hold on....