Reasons Why You Shouldn't Keep Just One Goose

[Miss Lydia]

@Pyxis

 

[Pyxis]

It sounds like geese will be equally effective LGAs with two or three as with one... I’m wondering if they’ll be equally as friendly to humans (and little humans who occasionally visit)? I had read in several poultry magazines that one goose was preferable in an LGA role, and that an excellent choice for a friendly breed was a Buff, so I ordered a Buff gander from Running’s a few days ago.

The lady happened to be preparing the order when I came in, so there’s probably no adding anything to that particular shipment. I also ordered 4 BBW turkeys, all of whom are coming in time to share a brooder with 25 “Color Yield” broilers. (I suspect this variant is some mixture of Red Rangers and Dixie Rainbows, but they’re supposed to finish a week or so faster than the Rangers. Hopefully they’ll grow fast enough to avoid being trodden on by a gosling.)

I may be able to have Running’s poultry mistress get me a goose or two for the little gander, but they’d more likely come later and be relegated to sharing brooder space with heritage poults and assorted (full-size breed) chicks. With slower-growing heritage breed chicks in the brooder would that even work or would the gosling(s) need separate accommodations?

So, my questions are:

Will multiple geese bond with their humans as well as a single goose would?

Will multiple geese be more tempted to terrorize the occasional visiting grandchild?

Will the brooder arrangements I’ve described likely be a problem?

How many geese per gander would be a good number?

It may sound unkind, but I’m okay with the gander being happy while not as happy as he could possibly be in the best of worlds. We’re all of us in that boat. I don’t want to cause unhappiness, but contentment is also a great blessing.

All that said, I do see advantages to more than one goose... eggs, goslings, occasionally a holiday roast, redundancy, sustainability... My preference would be for a gander and the optimal number of lady geese, assuming they would fulfill their protectors/warning-givers role as well as a lone gander would do.

Thanks so much for reading such a long post from a newbie. I enjoyed reading this thread... lots of interesting info and discussion. I greatly appreciate any advice you all may want to share.

I have multiple geese and they are all friendly. Not touchy feely, but then for the most part waterfowl aren't touchy feely with humans. My ducks are the same way. Still, Lacie, my original goose, will eat of my hand. Her son Caesar, whom I hatched this year, will come up to me to chew gently on my pants and say hi. The rest keep their distance but aren't unfriendly.

I have young nieces and nephews. None of my geese have ever once thought about going after them, singly or in a group. Again, they keep their distance. Now, I wouldn't let small children approach geese on a nest, because they're going to be protective, but that's just instinct. If a child gets attacked in that scenario, it's the child's fault for going where they weren't supposed to. And even when my geese are nesting, they still really have never gone after anyone. I might get hissed at, but they still give way when I approach.

Generally I try to not have waterfowl in the same brooder with non-waterfowl, just because waterfowl are so much messier with their water, and if they get the brooder wet they are much better able to withstand it than chickens or poults. They won't get chilled, whereas chicks and poults might. But if you must do it, they can do fine together, you just need to stay on top of any wetness in the brooder.

Geese can do fine in pairs, but a gander can handle up to three geese, usually.

And actually this brings me to another point - by choosing a gander you're already in a bit of trouble, and I would absolutely get a female gosling or two ASAP. Ganders get very hormonal in the breeding season and without a proper outlet and mate, he is very likely to try to mate with one of the other birds he grew up with, that being your chickens. And he could kill them, either by crushing them under his weight while attempting to mate or just because goose and chicken reproductive anatomy is very different and chickens are not built to be able to handle mating with a mate that has a penis. So that on its own can also injure them or kill them.

 

[CindyinSD]

Oh geez, Pyxis! I never thought about the mating thing! Poor chicken girls! I’m aware of the, um, unique anatomy of ducks. I’m guessing geese are somewhere along those lines... I’m definitely going back in to Running’s in that case. Hopefully she can still get me some lady geese in that same shipment or within a week or so, so maybe they can brood together.
Dumdumdum! Thanks for sharing that little tidbit... or rather, that big goose-not-chicken-sized tidbit. It never even occurred to me.

 

[Pyxis]

Oh geez, Pyxis! I never thought about the mating thing! Poor chicken girls! I’m aware of the, um, unique anatomy of ducks. I’m guessing geese are somewhere along those lines... I’m definitely going back in to Running’s in that case. Hopefully she can still get me some lady geese in that same shipment or within a week or so, so maybe they can brood together.
Dumdumdum! Thanks for sharing that little tidbit... or rather, that big goose-not-chicken-sized tidbit. It never even occurred to me.

Good luck, hopefully there's still time to add a few to that shipment!

 

[Melbeforeyou]

I agree about not keeping animals alone, except if the goose is imprinted on a human. It will see the human as it’s mom and it will be bonded with that human. In that case it does not need a companion of its own species because it thinks it is a human.
http://www.thegoosesmother.com/id6.html

Ya true but humans can't take them everywhere and as I have now learned they stress out really bad when they can't go with their humans to work or to the grocery store..

 

[Ewehnes]

Any suggestions are using those color leg bands to identify each gosling? I have 3 embden and 3 african.

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC! I just go t some goslings yesterday and put colored zip ties on their legs.

 

[Ewehnes]

Great idea! We are currently using colored hair ties of my daughters until they get a little bigger

 

[Linniex]

Here is a picture of my goose Suwanee, approximately three months after his wife died. All he wanted to do was stare at his reflection in my husbands bumper, it was pitiful. We finally have gotten a replacement gosling and they’ve already bonded. I agree, geese need other geese

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes they do.