PRODUCTION Toulouse Geese Thread!!

[Miss Lydia]

If I might toss in my 2 cents worth (3 geese worth?) my three have been mating about once a week for almost a month. One gander and two females. I have been putting it off to having a cold spell followed by late spring/early summer like weather. We are due to a change in weather this week so will be interesting to see if the gang slows down. No eggs yet and no apparent attempt to make a nest. Just the mating. Maybe it is a Northern Hemisphere thing?

Oh and mine are only 7-8 months old.

Is Sting mating with Lydia and ? sorry I forgot her name but both?

 

[jtn42248]

Is Sting mating with Lydia and ? sorry I forgot her name but both?

Primarily with Lydia but I did see him once with Pauline. He has started hissing at me when I go in the pen but stops right away and it is only the open mouth hiss not the open mouth with tongue his he give the dogs if they get close to the fence. Lydia is his "chosen one" and I was worried that Pauline would be all alone and an old maid so I was happy to see them together that one time. There may be more that I have not seen.

 

[Carrosaur]

Goose dynamics... I wish I had more than two so I could see friendships and such.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Primarily with Lydia but I did see him once with Pauline. He has started hissing at me when I go in the pen but stops right away and it is only the open mouth hiss not the open mouth with tongue his he give the dogs if they get close to the fence. Lydia is his "chosen one" and I was worried that Pauline would be all alone and an old maid so I was happy to see them together that one time. There may be more that I have not seen.

That's great that he is shown her some love. I think that's my worst worry is Babe is going to get left out of the family dynamics. Whether girls or boy.

 

[livininbrazil]

Primarily with Lydia but I did see him once with Pauline. He has started hissing at me when I go in the pen but stops right away and it is only the open mouth hiss not the open mouth with tongue his he give the dogs if they get close to the fence. Lydia is his "chosen one" and I was worried that Pauline would be all alone and an old maid so I was happy to see them together that one time. There may be more that I have not seen.

Well, I have a trio of auto-sexing geese that I´ve tried to make into 2 separate pairs by keeping the gander with his favourite, and putting No.2 goose with another gander. didn´t work. she wanted the gander. so, I left the 3 together. What usually happens is that the favourite goose gets to have all the goslings, and the No.2 follows along. she knows they´re her goslings, and I feel sorry for her. It always happens, but she´s attached to that particular gander. so, this year, there we are with the 2 geese and their goslings between them and the gander. Well, he also mated with his daughter. She laid eggs, and I let her keep one and it hatched. She also adopted other young goslings that needed a momma, doing really well in her pen with her goslings. No gander in sight. well, after the usual 2 weeks I let them out to mix with the others, and two weeks on, she´s joined forces with her parents and their goslings and those parents have now adopted the younger goose´s goslings, along with the momma goose, of course. they´re all in a flock of one gander, three geese and 11 goslings, and the favourite goose is like Matron. She´s adopted the little goslings, as well as having her own and No.2´s. They just all poodle about together.
I think there´s a small chance that Pauline will be ostracised, and a good chance that she´ll have her own brood.

That's great that he is shown her some love. I think that's my worst worry is Babe is going to get left out of the family dynamics. Whether girls or boy.

Just wait and see. they may be fine. I already said, I think, that I have 2 little flocks of 2 ganders with 2 geese and their goslings, and they´re doing fine.

They seemed to work out the dominance thing by the males 'mating' each other in the pond. after that happened a number of times, they were fine. Best Buds, both groups. Must be a gander thing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well, I have a trio of auto-sexing geese that I´ve tried to make into 2 separate pairs by keeping the gander with his favourite, and putting No.2 goose with another gander. didn´t work. she wanted the gander. so, I left the 3 together. What usually happens is that the favourite goose gets to have all the goslings, and the No.2 follows along. she knows they´re her goslings, and I feel sorry for her. It always happens, but she´s attached to that particular gander. so, this year, there we are with the 2 geese and their goslings between them and the gander. Well, he also mated with his daughter. She laid eggs, and I let her keep one and it hatched. She also adopted other young goslings that needed a momma, doing really well in her pen with her goslings. No gander in sight. well, after the usual 2 weeks I let them out to mix with the others, and two weeks on, she´s joined forces with her parents and their goslings and those parents have now adopted the younger goose´s goslings, along with the momma goose, of course. they´re all in a flock of one gander, three geese and 11 goslings, and the favourite goose is like Matron. She´s adopted the little goslings, as well as having her own and No.2´s. They just all poodle about together.
I think there´s a small chance that Pauline will be ostracised, and a good chance that she´ll have her own brood.


Just wait and see. they may be fine. I already said, I think, that I have 2 little flocks of 2 ganders with 2 geese and their goslings, and they´re doing fine.

They seemed to work out the dominance thing by the males 'mating' each other in the pond. after that happened a number of times, they were fine. Best Buds, both groups. Must be a gander thing.

Isn't amazing the family tree that your geese have produced and for all of them to be hanging together, does the newest goslings accept the one goose as mama or do they stick with their own mama even though they are with everyone else.

I know I am probably worrying about nothing you just get so attached and see them hanging out together and so close, just don't want that to change.

 

[jtn42248]

I think there´s a small chance that Pauline will be ostracised, and a good chance that she´ll have her own brood.

I hope so. I would hate for Pauline to be left out completely. If needed could I safely separate Pauline and her eggs so that Sting didn't take any of her goslings and give them to Lydia? Would Sting allow that?

 

[jtn42248]

I know I am probably worrying about nothing you just get so attached and see them hanging out together and so close, just don't want that to change.

You and I both know that these things have a way of working out just perfectly. We just worry about them and don't want them to be confused or lonely.

 

[livininbrazil]

Isn't amazing the family tree that your geese have produced and for all of them to be hanging together, does the newest goslings accept the one goose as mama or do they stick with their own mama even though they are with everyone else.

I know I am probably worrying about nothing you just get so attached and see them hanging out together and so close, just don't want that to change.

The babies know who their mom is, but they feel quite safe with the Matron, the gander, the other goose and the older goslings. The mom looks a bit stressed sometimes when she wants the 5 of them to stick with her, but they just mix in. at feed time I separate the tiny ones so they get a good go at the crumb, but often they just want to be with the older ones anyway.
I´ve learned that whatever it is I want for the geese, they have their own ideas! I´m sure Babe will be fine once he knows where his place is.

The second group of 2 males, 2 females that I have are actually made up of a couple of young males, a young female that didn´t successfully hatch anything, and has abandoned her nest now, and another young female with 4 goslings that I gave her to adopt after hers died by being too keen to keep it safe, if you remember!!!!! Well, she´s doing just great with her 4 now. Interestingly, the two males hang out together nearly all the time. and they keep good company with the female that has abandoned the nest. But, when I let the female out of her pen with her 4 goslings, the 2 males go potty over the goslings, looking after them, etc, and shoo the poor goose with no goslings away! Well, each time I let the goslings out and their mom, the other goose is getting closer and closer and sometimes she´s allowed to be part of the flock. Each day gets better. Geese are so interesting.

So, the reason for this rambling is, it´s quite possible that even though Babe may get a bit of a telling off by Sam, once they´re sorted, they may well be just fine.

 

[livininbrazil]

I hope so. I would hate for Pauline to be left out completely. If needed could I safely separate Pauline and her eggs so that Sting didn't take any of her goslings and give them to Lydia? Would Sting allow that?

Depends on how sting is with you. You could separate them from him, but wait until Pauline has hatched her babies, then just pop a fence around her, she´ll be far more settled. And she may actually prefer to be with the others once they get bigger. They like a flock, after all. Depends on the babies, really. I tend to keep my little ones with their mom for the first two to three weeks, separate from the others, as they´re just so tiny.