SHAKY LEGS and a bit of aggressive behavior. Anyone help with those issues in my muscovies?

[RebinNH]

Ahhh. The bird lady.
How does the goose compare to the ducks?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well, I actually had 2 geese until Feb of this year I lost my gander he was just shy of 15 yrs old. It was pretty rough on his mate Missy and me too for a while She was put in with the Runners and Buffs but I had to separate them so she could see them but it was goose breeding season so she was pretty ornery along with missing Sam. Since June she has been sleeping with them and has adopted them as her family. She gets a long okay with the Muscovy except for the drake he never has liked the geese but she stays out of his way. Geese are awesome but they are different than ducks other than liking water. Geese mate for life and when breeding season gets underway in winter they can get pretty ornery especially the gander when they become the secret service and thinks he needs to protect his mate from everyone. Then if there are goslings involved he is bodyguard of them too. So about 6 months out of the year your dealing with situations of aggression and fighting if you have a drake that doesn't like to be pushed around. Or a gander doesn't like to be pushed around. To keep fighting to a minimum my gander and Muscovy drake had to be separated. My Runner drake and gander never had any problems.
My gander even took on the role of papa goose for any ducklings that hatched here.
My advise if anyone is considering getting geese is to research all you can so you know for sure you want to do this. I honestly expected my gander to live into his 20's. I was sure hoping so anyway.

do you have just the 2 ducklings?

 

[RebinNH]

Yes this is my first experience with birds. They are SO wild and I only had experience with very domestic cats and dogs, though my breeds were a bit exotic and independent. Because I never used force with them I didn't expect to need to use it on these ducks but being that they are wild by nature, I get that it's an entirely different kingdom that I need to learn the rules. I will come up to speed. I always do. Just hope they don't take advantage of me for the learning curve.
I did what you suggested with the large (dominant) duck (Dafne) when he tried again to bite me. Actually he did get a little scratch on my arm with his beak nail. The thing is, after I let him up and he seemed very calm, he tried again right away. So I immediately put him down again (which was easier than I thought). After I let him up this time he walked away but the other smaller drake started to go after him, as if he saw that the top duck was out of favor! Little stinker. I yelled "UT" (which is my go to "no, no" word with animals) and lunged a bit and he got it. They are smart, thats for certain.
So when you talk about geese being aggressive. That goes with you too? They live to be in their 20's?