Serial killer goose

loopy12

Songster
10 Years
Apr 11, 2009
494
8
136
I used to have four geese. Three came with the house when we bought it, the fourth I hatched from their eggs. A fox attack in broad daylight last summer took out the three adults. The remaining male goose bonded with my ducks that I hatched last year, and all was well. For a while. Now they are all sexually mature he keeps trying to mate with the female ducks, which hurts their hips, leaving them limping. So I separated them. And they pined for each other. But the bigger problem is that the goose is the sheriff of the yard. If there's any chicken squabbles he steps in, biting the instigator. This protective urge is cute, until it goes wrong. A few months ago we think he chased my rooster into a fence where he then died, probably of a heart attack. He's attacked hens in distress a few times, leaving them bloodied and bald on their back. Last week my favorite chicken got her foot caught in the fence. In her panic he was attracted to her noise and attacked her and pecked her to death (we think - I wasn't home). And this afternoon he killed a male duck. I think the male was probably mating with the female and the goose got involved (I've seen him do that most mornings) and them trampled him to death, or similar.

So, now I'm nervous he's going to do it again. I've tried to find him a goosey-partner locally, but found none for sale. I've tried for 2 years to find eggs locally, but no-one sells them. (I am in italy). I found someone who will post goose eggs, but at a steep $8+ per egg, which would probably be a 25-40% hatch rate after going in the mail.
Should I hatch him a mate? Would it help or would he still try to mate with the ducks? Should I rehome him? I would miss him terribly, he's lovely with me, and a great guard-goose but I can't keep losing more hens and ducks to him.

Anyone have similar problems?
 
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Aggressive roosters taste better than docile ones. I imagine the same is true with geese...

If you're not up to culling him, I'd rehome him or isolate him. Maybe he'll accept other geese, maybe not - I'd put an end to his aggressopm towards your other birds though, whether by relocating him, caging him, or cooking him..
 
This is similar to a problem I had with a male goose who had a mate several years ago. I sold the pair of them because they were inseparable. He killed several of my laying hens. He would actually grab them and pull eggs from them, (that or they let loose with them in fright). We found him in the yard with a hen pinned down and egg all over his face and a broken egg and dead hen. He then trampled another one appearing to do the same thing. We always came upon the scene of the crime just a little too late.

We separated them but it was just too much trouble when they would screech and pace the fence wanting to be with the rest of the flock, so I sold them to somebody who had no other birds. She was well aware of the issues I was having with them and the chickens but didn't seem concerned.
 

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