will geese adopt chicks?

[ironjerry]

I have three female Chinese weeder geese about 2yrs mother and 1 yr daughters the gander was killed by a dog last summer. The 3 females have been laying eggs since February and one mounts the other two but all are female. About two weeks ago they start sitting on eggs in two separate nests. I put 4 week old chicks in a wire cage on the grass today and the geese stayed by them. When I walked the 3 month old puppy by the cage she tried to get them. The geese went after the puppy and I had to pull them off her. Usually the puppy runs at the geese and they run away. The geese were definitely protecting the chicks. I am wondering if they would mother them. The geese go in the barn at night so maybe they would take the chicks. Has anyone seen this behavior before?

 

[Kim65]

Yes, definitely. THeir behavior of standing around the chicks is a good sign they will parent them. Put the chicks in a safe enclosure and introduce one goose and see how she does. Stand by in case there are issues.

The problems are a big, heavy goose and little bitty chicks. Inexperienced geese will even step on and squish their own goslings. Your chicks are a month old and should be big enough (and swift enough) to dodge those big paddly feet just fine though.

Geese like to take their babies into the water. Hope you do not have a pond. The chicks will need a separate waterer for themselves, and the geese will mess with it and get it dirty, so that's another thing to watch for.

All the work saved having the geese brood those chicks ought to be worth it though

 

[shelleyd2008]

I wouldn't recommend giving them chicks. Ducks maybe, or goslings of course. My geese always attack the baby chicks, I wouldn't trust them with raising any.