Raising Geese 101

[Kevin565]

Congrats!

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Ok,i'm getting my first geese possibly,they are 5 months old.I;m assuming they are just now beginning to mate.

What happens when they come in contact with wild geese?

Are they good "pond" foragers,our ponds tend to get a little dirty.

Has anyone ever had a goose go in full combat with other animals (Such as snapping turtles).I saw that they usually flap wings and bite to defend their territory.

Will the gander and my 3 drakes be okay together?

Also,will they kill my rooster?He is very bossy and I do not have absolutely any kinda idea how he will react towards them.But,hoping they will stop his bad behaviors that he has with the ducks.

Will they brood a lot in the spring? (I think we will allow them to hatch eggs.)

I noticed that some will mate with the ducks,so are there such thing as half duck half goose?

Will they became aggressive with me during mating season?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ok,i'm getting my first geese possibly,they are 5 months old.I;m assuming they are just now beginning to mate.

What happens when they come in contact with wild geese?

Are they good "pond" foragers,our ponds tend to get a little dirty.

Has anyone ever had a goose go in full combat with other animals (Such as snapping turtles).I saw that they usually flap wings and bite to defend their territory.

Will the gander and my 3 drakes be okay together?

Also,will they kill my rooster?He is very bossy and I do not have absolutely any kinda idea how he will react towards them.But,hoping they will stop his bad behaviors that he has with the ducks.

Will they brood a lot in the spring? (I think we will allow them to hatch eggs.)

I noticed that some will mate with the ducks,so are there such thing as half duck half goose?

Will they became aggressive with me during mating season?

@TheTwoRoos

Please don't get 5 month old geese and put them out on a pond. They are still young and will need protection from preds but even when adult they will still need night time protection. They really don't have any defense against snapping turtles snapper have been known to bite feet completely off of water fowl also huge chunks of flesh can be ripped off too. Goslings will be eaten. Best get rid of all snapping turtles before letting domestic water fowl onto your pond. Most geese don't start breeding till the following year after they hatched. and will mate starting in late winter brood and hatch in the spring. Geese are very protective of their off spring [very natural] to see a pair with wings open ready to defend their babies from predators including their keepers. But as for being able to really protect themselves and their babies they can flog and nip but since they don't really have fangs like most preds can't really do much unless in huge flocks and then most likely someone will give their life for the rest.

My gander and drake[Muscovy] have an on again off again relationship my drake is in charge in summer after geese breeding season is over and my gander is in charge when goose breeding season is on. They do have their spats but usually one will give up depending on time of year. If you have drakes most likely your gander won't mate with your female ducks unless she happens to be with out a drake and asks for it.[Happens here at times] No they won't have any gucks either. lol

As for your rooster hard to say how that will go My oldest roo who is game bantam is very feisty and can keep the drake in place but My geese will not let him intimidate them . Just let them all work things out.As long as no one is getting hurt. Best way to do introductions is to have your new geese in a secure pen and let all the resident birds meet them this way it may take a week or less for them all to get to know each other but all your birds you have now will look at the geese as intruders so it's best to let intro be slow. All the best and hope you have many enjoyable years with your new geese.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Alright we got them.We will be keeping them in a dog pen and they willl have the choice to sleepveither outside or inside the dog house since thats what the old owners did.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Alright we got them.We will be keeping them in a dog pen and they willl have the choice to sleepveither outside or inside the dog house since thats what the old owners did.

Your taking a risk preds can climb and dig but all we can do is give advise it's up to the member to take it.

What breed are they do you have pics?

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Ok we put a top on the dog pen so nothing can climb into.But as far as digging thier in a rocky not very good digging area,plus we do not get visited too much,atleast I do not think so.

They are 5 month old chinease geese. I will get pics soon.

After they have had a chance to get to kniw everyone we will put them in with the rest,maybe.But I noticed that when the ducks came over I belive the girl goose kinda sat her head down and pointed her bill at them,not sure if that was an aggression thing or what

 

[gander007]

My geese would not be quiet for almost a week and after checking I found a yellow house cat was bothering the flock and I also went to check on the grow out pin and found this same cat in there but it ran and the next day I found one of the young pullets was dead but this weekend when the geese would not be quiet and tried to stay on the porch I went out to check just before 8 AM and a yellow tom can took off running so I went in the house to get a .22 pistol and worked my around the yard and watched this creature harassing the ducks and geese but staying back about ten feet or more and never closing in any closer and not watching for me so I ended the harassment to the flock and they have been so quiet ever sense ..

It is so nice to have a peaceful environment for the flock but with the temps dropping down into the 90's the hunters are starting to show up again the funny thing is last month it was normal to be a 114F degrees before noon and now in the 90's and it is only October, November I can see but maybe we will have a nice Fall and cool winter maybe it will get down into the low 30's now that would be nice .

 

[Miss Lydia]

My geese would not be quiet for almost a week and after checking I found a yellow house cat was bothering the flock and I also went to check on the grow out pin and found this same cat in there but it ran and the next day I found one of the young pullets was dead but this weekend when the geese would not be quiet and tried to stay on the porch I went out to check just before 8 AM and a yellow tom can took off running so I went in the house to get a .22 pistol and worked my around the yard and watched this creature harassing the ducks and geese but staying back about ten feet or more and never closing in any closer and not watching for me so I ended the harassment to the flock and they have been so quiet ever sense ..

It is so nice to have a peaceful environment for the flock but with the temps dropping down into the 90's the hunters are starting to show up again the funny thing is last month it was normal to be a 114F degrees before noon and now in the 90's and it is only October, November I can see but maybe we will have a nice Fall and cool winter maybe it will get down into the low 30's now that would be nice .

So 90's is nice weather for you @gander007? lol I guess so if temps were 114* how does your birds do in those temps.?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ok we put a top on the dog pen so nothing can climb into.But as far as digging thier in a rocky not very good digging area,plus we do not get visited too much,atleast I do not think so.

They are 5 month old chinease geese. I will get pics soon.

After they have had a chance to get to kniw everyone we will put them in with the rest,maybe.But I noticed that when the ducks came over I belive the girl goose kinda sat her head down and pointed her bill at them,not sure if that was an aggression thing or what

@TheTwoRoos Geese do the head down pointed bill as a warning to keep your distance mine do it too. Very rarely do my geese actually grab another bird as long as the rest heed the warning they are usually all fine together. Now during breeding season it's a different story I have a fenced off area just for my geese once breeding season gets going because my gander {Embden} can be very ornery to the rest of the flock including us humans too. lol

Your geese are new to the rest so they will need time to realize where they are and this is their new life. Water fowl don't do well with change so give them some time they will fit in eventually.

 

[spoilt70]

I don't know if this is off subject or not but it is about geese I have a female goose that started breaking duck eggs and then walking away wherever she finds one she breaks it she does not eat it just breaks it. I guess I should have added why is she doing this