too old to make mine?

[Miss Red]

I found some nice looking geese on craigslist... I can't remember if it said six weeks or six months. Either way, are they attatched to those people now? Or can I still get them and make them my protectors?

Also, will they need to be separated from the chicks/ducklings? I've heard geese can get aggressive protecting their leader.. And I don't want to put my gals in harms way.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

We've adopted a couple of year old geese with no problems. They were a bit skittish at first but they're fine now.

Laurie

 

[Miss Red]

Hmm... Then I may see if I can't get a male/female pair. Or do they do better in trios?

 

[Kim65]

They do fine in pairs or trios, the only thing with a trio is you'll get two of one and one of the other sex. If they were raised together, even two ganders probably won't fight much except to establish a pecking order. It's more like a "biting" order as geese don't peck

Six week olds versus six month olds are a pretty big difference in how they'll respond with other poultry. In my experience, my goslings hated other livestock, or were terrified of them if they were ginormous, like the goats. The older they got, the more tolerant of "smaller than themselves" they got. My adult geese ignored my ducklings and chicks, or stuck their head out at them to say "Move it!!" when the duckling or chick was in front of the water or food bowl.

As far as taming them for yourself, become the Treat Goddess. Spend lots of quiet time doing nothing scary to them, just sitting there and dispensing goodies. Don't chase or try to pet them, you know, all the common sense stuff. The younger they are, the more quickly they'll acclimate to you, and even six months old is "young" for a goose

 

[Miss Red]

Okay next question then... Are geese like ducks in that the males have a curly feather? They're toulose geese if I remember correctly. Should I expect eggs next year or are they like peafowl and mature late?

I'm still just debating, she had 20 goslings left and some yearlings she wants to rehome and itd be nice to have geese, too...

Either way they'll eventually have their own pens just for now they'd be with the chicks.

 

[Goosehaven]

They could start laying around 8 months give or take but the eggs aren't fertile the first season for geese. In response to your first post. I acquired a Toulouse and an Emden from a lady when they were around 5-6 months old and did not have any problems with them. They were still very sweet at that age and settled in very quickly. If it turns out the ladies geese are 6 weeks then you won't have a bit of a problem getting them used to you.