The African and Chinese goose thread!!

[zooweemama]

Funny story kind of. We only have a pair of geese and we have 20+ ducks. We recently added 7 Appleyards to our flock. They go AWOL sometimes as they are still babies mentally and learning the ropes. Our gander is patriarch of my waterfowl flock. He tells everyone what they can do or not do. At dusk he herds them all to shore to forage for supper before their feed is served for 'real' supper. Then he herds them all to bed. Last night the Appleyards decided to go AWOL back to the pond. It was getting really dark so he marched back down to the pond all by himself and called for them to come back up. They all swam to shore and followed him back up. I know it's not typical for geese to do this- but they are really wonderful with the ducks for us. So much so I don't want a lot of geese. I'm afraid they will lose what makes them so special right now lol.

But isn't that funny? Then he shooed them all into the coop to bed.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Funny story kind of. We only have a pair of geese and we have 20+ ducks. We recently added 7 Appleyards to our flock. They go AWOL sometimes as they are still babies mentally and learning the ropes. Our gander is patriarch of my waterfowl flock. He tells everyone what they can do or not do. At dusk he herds them all to shore to forage for supper before their feed is served for 'real' supper. Then he herds them all to bed. Last night the Appleyards decided to go AWOL back to the pond. It was getting really dark so he marched back down to the pond all by himself and called for them to come back up. They all swam to shore and followed him back up. I know it's not typical for geese to do this- but they are really wonderful with the ducks for us. So much so I don't want a lot of geese. I'm afraid they will lose what makes them so special right now lol.

But isn't that funny? Then he shooed them all into the coop to bed.

What a wonderful leader..

 

[zooweemama]

What a wonderful leader..

Thanks- we are quite enamored. It was a joint decision to finally decide on letting them hatch a couple eggs and keeping another female (we haven't worked out the full logistics on this one) but the extra female is to round out to a trio. Just in case something happens to one of them- then no one is alone. <3 I don't know any other way to add another female to the pair without causing some serious issues.

(if anyone has suggestions i'm all ears!)

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks- we are quite enamored. It was a joint decision to finally decide on letting them hatch a couple eggs and keeping another female (we haven't worked out the full logistics on this one) but the extra female is to round out to a trio. Just in case something happens to one of them- then no one is alone. <3 I don't know any other way to add another female to the pair without causing some serious issues.

(if anyone has suggestions i'm all ears!)

Hatching is probably one of the easiest ways, is your goose broody?

 

[zooweemama]

Hatching is probably one of the easiest ways, is your goose broody?

No not yet. She is laying but she doesn't cover her eggs, nor tries to sit on them. She takes a while to lay the egg but once it's laid she books for the pond. So I am watching for her broodiness. I would like to get a couple eggs from Jen. I don't want to hatch any of theirs. I don't feel my goose is in tip top shape (she has never been as hardy as her gander mate) and I don't want to breed potential problems.

 

[Miss Lydia]

No not yet. She is laying but she doesn't cover her eggs, nor tries to sit on them. She takes a while to lay the egg but once it's laid she books for the pond. So I am watching for her broodiness. I would like to get a couple eggs from Jen. I don't want to hatch any of theirs. I don't feel my goose is in tip top shape (she has never been as hardy as her gander mate) and I don't want to breed potential problems.

Oh that would be so nice to get some eggs from her, or goslings, my gander adopted every duckling that hatched here last year, so you might be able to get them to accept a couple gosling too. They make such awesome parents. my Toulouse is laying too and she takes a while covers her egg but isn't interested in sitting which is okay with me although having a few babies would sure be fun.

 

[zooweemama]

Oh that would be so nice to get some eggs from her, or goslings, my gander adopted every duckling that hatched here last year, so you might be able to get them to accept a couple gosling too. They make such awesome parents. my Toulouse is laying too and she takes a while covers her egg but isn't interested in sitting which is okay with me although having a few babies would sure be fun.

Thanks! It would be adorable if they 'adopted' haha!

 

[cat1994]

Here are some pics of my African/Chinese geese

 

[Miss Lydia]

Here are some pics of my African/Chinese geese

Very pretty.

 

[Jmanvanatta]

Will you only be getting one duckling? Im going to assume that you don't own other ducks at the moment - if this is the case, you may want to get a female goose, as males, being larger than ducks may pose a danger to them.
If you do already have other ducks, I would suggest getting 2 geese (either Male/Female, Female/Female). Two geese is best case scenario, not only for companionship, but for flock/species identity. Miss Lydia on here had a single Goose (gander) raised with her ducks. The gander grew up thinking it was a duck, this is kind of a problem because geese are natural grazers, ducks are not. Miss Lydia added a goose to her backyard flock and her solo gander learned to behave like a Goose.

And as far as which goose to get, check out some of these descriptions to find your best fit: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/618185/raising-geese-101#post_8210407
also see this one
http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html#geese

Housing: most people house geese & ducks separately, but of those that house them together, they mention having a lot of space so that ducks dont find themselves in the goose's way



Where is the goose's nest? Is it in a shelter of some kind? Your goose may not be serious about hatching them just yet (she may be waiting for warmer weather!) You may want to check the nest for any bad eggs

HAHAHA I ment ducklings but thanks