Want to get my Toulouse gander a girlfriend...need advice please. (Would like to find a Toulouse or

[DawnB]

We adopted an established mixed flock of fowl. It came with a lone Toulouse gander (my son named him Frank). He actually has a pretty good personality and we were told he was originally a pair, but the female died a while back. I believe he's between 1-2yrs old.

This is Frank (along with some of our Barred Rocks):



My husband and I would like to get him a girlfriend (without it costing a fortune). We're not worried about show quality or anything like that...just want to get him a friend of his own kind. Can I please get advice on:

- How old a female to get?

- When is the best time of year to introduce a new goose to a gander (and a flock of chickens and ducks)...We'll be getting a pile of snow here pretty quickly.

- What are some resources for finding a goose? I'm in Northern Michigan and would prefer to find something somewhat local (and by somewhat, I'm willing to drive a bit...we're in the boonies...everything's a drive

).

- What should I look for in potential girl geese? I would prefer a Toulouse or Toulouse-mix of some sort.

Thanks so much for any help. If there's anything else that I should know when going about this, please weigh in. I don't want to screw this up.

Dawn

 

[clmschke]

This is totally a coincidence, but perhaps a good one? I've got a Toulouse goose that needs a gander. At least we think Buddy is a goose. Our first vent check showed nothing, but we've been told that ganders like to be shy about being....ganders. Buddy was mistakenly sent with our order of Africans from Ideal. Buddy's just shy of 5 months old, and is showing more female tendencies than male: likes to keep her head low unless all excited, chatty, with a 'bip-bip-bip-bip" and only screeches when excited, likes to hang out with our big buck African Gosling, Percy.

Buddy:
I'm talking to a farmer near Chippewa Falls, WI that has a flock of Toulouse that has a few extra Ganders. He runs a website selling Scythes: Click HERE for link to his website. Once we are sure that Buddy needs a gander, we might head on up to pick out one for her. Unless she's really a he, then we have to regroup....

 

[DawnB]

Thanks Clmschke!

I actually saw your post about Buddy. He/she is very cute. I have a line on a lady up near Alpena that has some geese she needs to find new homes for, unfortunately, she doesn't know the sex on any of them (she was supposed to have 2 pair of Toulouse and then ended up with 2 ebdens and 2 toulouse/ebden mixes). That's the closest I've come to my neck of the woods.

What do you look for when you buy a goose...ours came along for the ride when we got our chickens.

 

[clmschke]

We (well, Dave did it really) researched out what goose he wanted to raise and we ordered one breeding pair and a straight run from Ideal. One gosling died a few days after we got them and as the goslings grew, we realized that one didn't look like the other. Buddy was more yellow than the others. After a month, we figured out that Buddy was a Toulouse.

Dave wanted geese that were moderate in size and easy-going. The Africans are pretty easy-going and definitely friendly. Each of the geese have different personalities. Ron is our "no touchy" goose. Look but no touch. Sissy has a fondness for Dave's beard and buttons, Sweet Pea likes to gnaw on your fingers, Percy loves to follow me around saying "boggle" Ginny is our quietest and allows you to touch her beak but that's it. Buddy loves babies; luvs luvs luvs! Babies. She watches the baby bantam chicks all the time. She's also very chatty.

Had we to do it all again, I think I'd prefer the Toulouse instead of the Africans. They are more easy going and less prone to becoming drama queens. I had forgotten how many people come in and out of our land on a regular basis. We are informed of every hunter that hits the back 40, the farmer getting another bale of hay down at the barn, and every fed ex guy has been forewarned to drop the stuff off in the front porch. I thought that one delivery guy was going to crap his pants when Percy come around the house squawking at him!

 

[DawnB]

Haha!

Love the comment about the delivery guy. We live out in the boonies...have a somewhat long driveway. I told my husband that I need to put up a sign that says "Chicken/Duck/Goose Crossing - Slow Down (No Really, I Mean You!)

Can't wait to see how these ladies and gents roam in the summer. They're staying fairly close to the pen now. I don't honestly know if they were allowed to free-range before we got them.