What are some not-so-aggressive breeds?

[clbarley]

I have seen a lot of you posting about the geese being mean are they just snappy with you or are they bullies to the other animals? I am looking to get 2 geese but I don't want them to bully my ducks....

 

[jynxster]

Sadly I had the same problem with a pekin, Ive heard the theory is , if you are overly friendly with the bird, then they learn not to fear humans at all, so when their behavior (for whatever reason known or unknown) changes, they have no fear of humans. I miss my Pekin, was adorable beautiful and very loving at first. So now he lives on a bigger farm with geese above him in the pecking order/ Im told he is no longer agressive towards people but is not as friendly as he was when I had him originally .I have a rule; NO AGRESSIVE ANIMALS ALLOWED IN My FLOCK . I understand there will always be a pecking order in birds, but I am at the top of that pecking order. I have 3 ducks one gander 3 hens and 4 goslings on the way. my cotton patch gander is the gentlest goose i ever met. he may get mad and his but not the slightest effort to peck or bite me ever.

 

[Wildfeather]

SEBASTOPOLS ARE GREAT GEESE.

 

[theredroosta]

Africans are big softies. They are large but non agressive and if you spend time with it it will enjoy you.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Our pair of Africans are the most aggressive of all the birds we have. The gander will charge the goats, and great Pyrenees dogs too. He mock charges people, but is in a pasture where he can't follow through on the charge. I can still walk up to him and pick him up as needed, but they are and will be always the loudest and most aggressive. They are a great first alert though, always announcing things they feel are out of place.

 

[roboboy]

Every goose breed has the potential to be aggressive or calm. I don't have any birds at the moment that will come after me, but I have in the past. Every bird is different. I've never had an aggressive african, but i have owned both american buffs and pomeranians that kept me on my toes while in their pen. My uncle once had a extremely aggressive embden, I've never had one like that. Chinese often get a bad reputation as mean geese, not mine. A friend of mine absolutey hates his sebastopols and describes them as the meanest geese he's ever owned. You never know how they'll behave.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Goose behavior has a lot more to do with training than breed. The exact same gander will behave differently for 2 different people.

Temperament also depends upon the breeder. Some breeders breed for good temperament, some don't care. I've had a batch of hatchery ducks that had really horrible temperaments, yet the exact same breed from a different source are lovely birds.

I've got 3 breeds from Holderread and all those birds have nice temperaments. You are in Oregon so could actually drive to Holderreads if you only want 2 (4 goslings is his minimum shipment)

Good temperament also varies a bit by breed, even though it is all good. Of the 3 breeds I have from Holderread, my Blue Americans are clowns who will show off and love attention. My Pomeranian geese are very dignified. My Appleyard ducks are easy-going fat lumps who will walk on top of my feet and back sass me whenever I ask them to do anything and will follow me around scolding me if I am not doing what they want, which always involves food and water in some form or another.

 

[ChristineR]

I don't know if it translates to geese, but my QH gelding who was imprinted at birth can be a holy terror. He is not the slightest bit afraid of people and has to test every new person he comes across. He isn't afraid of much of anything else either (which is nice in some ways), but he was dangerous for awhile. I still wouldn't feel comfortable letting someone who wasn't familiar with horses in the pasture with him, because he has to check to see what this new person will let him get away with. He's not really mean in the sense that he wants to hurt people (he likes people!), he just looks at people as prospective entertainment for himself.

You don't want your animals to be afraid of you, but a healthy respect is nice.

I'm not so sure about this imprinting stuff. It seems to me like all the people with behavior problems are raising their geese to be spoiled pets.

 

[mominoz]

I have found that if any person or dog , etc. sometimes when raptors are around geese will call out, so yes, they are good 'alarm systems" you will learn their "alarm call" which also sounds alot like "hey it's mom, with the dinner bucket" call.

Mine even synchronize with our dogs, so everyone lets me know if there is a stranger near their pen or dog trotting past the property. (Chinese though are overkill if you want a pause in their calling behavior)

 

[RHRanch]

You can't go wrong with Cotton Patch geese. Right now I have 3 geese on nests, and neither they nor their ganders bite anyone even near the nests, they just honk a lot. I can go into the enclosed breeding pen with no worries. They even let my Dad go into the pen for roof repairs, they don't know him really, and they did not attempt to bite him, either. The breeder i got mine from states that she has never been bitten by any of hers either. Temperament is one of the major factors for breeding the Cotton Patch - an aggressive bird should not be bred.