Sebastopol Goslings-Boys or Girls? *Updated New Pics*

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Just picked up three Sebastopol goslings this morning. i am so thrilled! They are so adorable and so sweet. i've never raised geese before, just ducks, so if any experienced geese people want to throw any advice my way, it would be greatly appreciated. Right now i've given them greens and mashed hard boiled eggs. They love the greens, not so crazy about the egg. Going to the feed store in a minute to get Mazuri Waterfowl for kids. i have some Flockraiser in with them now, and water of course. Anyhow, wanted some input on their possible sex.

Chick #1 This first one came from white parents and is 11 days old. Girl?

Chick #2 This one is 7 days old and came from white parents. Girl?

Chick #3 . . . and this one came from lavender parents and is 3 days old. Boy?

Thanks for any advice or input.

 

[EmtheFishLady]

Dunno gender, but so CUTE.

 

[Diamond Wire Farms]

I think I have your birds' siblings. You got them from a lady near Placerville?

Both of your white goslings look like girls. The lavender looks like a male, but several breeders told me they have been surprised by these.
A beautiful trio!!!!!

Here are mine. From top clockwise Lavender = likely boy, White with silver cap & saddles = 50/50 guess split, White with grayish saddle= girl.)

 

[Gracie9205]

I would say you are correct on your guesses! Congrats

 

[Cottage Rose]

Congrats on your first geese!

You will love them!
Geese do not eat bugs, meat, eggs etc.
They are totally into grass/greens.
You can give them uncooked oatmeal too.
See my website for tips on raising goslings.

White Sebastopol females hatchlings tend to have a distinct dark cap and saddle
whereas males can vary from all yellow, yellow with an over all dusting of silver
to light grey saddle but yellow head.
Check out the vent sexing video on Metzer's website.
You'll find vent sexing rather easy at this stage.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Quote:
You are right! Our birds are, um, cousins? No, it would be that mine are younger brother and sisters to yours.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i have looked at your website, Cottage Rose. i love it, very helpful. i missed the part about them not eating bugs or eggs. However, in my absence at the feed store, i came back to find they had eaten a lot of the egg. But maybe it was just because it had greens mixed in with it.

i did look at the Metzer vent sexing video. i may give it a try tomorrow. i wanted them to settle down and feel safe today. The woman i got them from spent lots of time loving on them, so they are all very friendly to me.

i'll go back and read more of your site, now that i finally have these beautiful babies. i have them in the office with me now, and they are trilling the prettiest sounds as they slumber. i feel very lucky to have been able to adopt these beauties.

 

[Cottage Rose]

They are very special indeed!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Our goslings are now all about 10 weeks old, and i'm wondering if i was right in my original sexing. i never did do vent sexing, just guessed based on color at birth. Posting pictures i took yesterday. Any ideas?

In this picture they are in line oldest to youngest from the left - Chick 1, 2, then 3 (the lavender)

Close up of Jeanne, our oldest, Chick #1 in the baby pics. She has turned out to be the smallest of the three. i think she's a girl.

Here is Jeanne on the left (Chick #1) and Lee on the right (Chick #3, the lavender)

Here is Lee on the left (Chick #3, lavender) and then Jeanne on the right (Chick #2). Now, she is the one i'm concerned about. She's pretty big and i am suspecting might be a boy. But i have no idea how to tell boys from girls when they are older.

Jeanne is the oldest, just by days, the smallest now, but is still the leader. The other two follow her around. Jeanne is super friendly and always comes right up to me. The other two are a bit suspicious. But these two are always close to each other and i've seen them doing necks around each other in the pond. Is that a mating thing?

 

[pips&peeps]

It's almost impossible to guess the sex on sebastopols until they are full grown, especially when they are colored.

I will say that the males tend to be more outgoing and playful as they mature. Females have a deeper voice and generally are smaller in size when they are all grown up. The boys will generally put themselves between you and the females too.

You can get them DNA sexed at DNA Solutions for about $20.00 each.