will my goose be ok as im on vacation?

[sydney13]

im planning on having my neighbors come over to fill up the waterers and let my hens and goose into the run in the morning and put them back in the coop at night as im on vacation. so do you think my goose will be ok with a stranger coming into the coop with out me? she is a month old now and doesn't mind new people but when we leave to go on vacation she will be a adult. the neighbors will have to pick her up and put her into the run in the morning and then pick her up and put her in the coop at night so do you think she will mind?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Ask your neighbors to come over, more frequently as your departure date approaches. That way they won't be strangers to your goose once you go. Pay them generously with fresh eggs for their time & effort.

 

[goosedragon]

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Yes I think your goose will mind and protest phisically to being picked up by a stranger.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
I am a goose person but I would want cold hard cash to lift and move someone elses goose twice a day. I paid a local kid $10/day to come and feed and water and I had that rigged so he didn't have direct contack with the geese.

 

[sydney13]

if my birds are laying by then i will give my neighbors as many eggs as can fit in their fridge and i will also pay them a bunch

their daughter loves my goose and she keeps asking when we are leaving for vacation
i dont think my goose will be able to fit through the chicken door when she is full grown (she is a production toulouse and it is 1 1/2 ft, 1 1/2 ft) but if she is able to squeeze through on her own then they will not have to move her

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

Either of my geese would eat your face off if you tried to pick them up... I don't think that I could pay my neighbors enough to actually TOUCH the geese...

 

[Goosehaven]

It can be traumatic for geese to be approached and picked up by strangers when they are young let alone when they are adults. There is no way in the world anybody could pick up my adult geese without a bit fat fight on their hands. That includes my husband who they see everyday. Your best bet is to figure out some way that they can get into their coop themselves and just leave the neighbor to changing their water and feeding them. Is there anyway you can enlarge the door for them if it turns out it is too small when they get full size?

 

[adrian]

I am leaving on a vacation shortly, but my geese are in the hands of a very close friend. The closest, actually. She has been around all the time they were growing up; she sees them almost daily, and they go to her nearly as much as they do to me. There is no fear or apprehension. She will be having to do hands-on work and supervision with all my birds, and I couldn't trust anyone else to do it. (Then again, I have a little bird rescue going on here, so the sort of work required really does call for a bird person with experience). She is getting paid $200 for a week. Yes, that is a lot, but is it worth it? Yep. Did I come up with the price myself? Yep. Would she do it for a lot less? Certainly, but I don't want to make her do that kind of work for cheap.

Letting out geese requires a lot less work, but I think some cash is in order, unless they are simply overjoyed to be doing the work for you. I wouldn't know. If the goose is going to put up a fight, all the more reason to give them some money for their efforts. Only you know your birds and how they will react to new people. I know some of mine would attack, others would flee, and yet others would hardly notice you were a stranger.

 

[Degalisto]

I took care of a friends chickens and prior to her leaving I came by regularly to make friends with the flock and especially the rooster..even as far has having him sit on my lap. First day I went to lock them up and he attacked me!! So good luck with the geese!! I got the hens in but never the rooster and he was a pain the whole time.
I am considering getting a pair of geese and my husbands biggest argument is what will happen when I go on my annual visit to friends down south. Well as he already has issues with the rooster..rooster probably considers him a rival!! I hate to think about the geese!! This makes me very sad...cuz I would love a pair of geese!!! He has problems with the dogs pining for their alpha leader when I leave too. He would probably tell the geese he loved them but they wouldn't believe it and be on him!! hahahaha
Sad but true...

 

[BBHF1775]

It can be traumatic for geese to be approached and picked up by strangers when they are young let alone when they are adults. There is no way in the world anybody could pick up my adult geese without a bit fat fight on their hands. That includes my husband who they see everyday. Your best bet is to figure out some way that they can get into their coop themselves and just leave the neighbor to changing their water and feeding them. Is there anyway you can enlarge the door for them if it turns out it is too small when they get full size?

This, 100%. You need to accustom your geese to walking into their coop for the night with as little silliness as possible ASAP and that quite possibly does mean you need to enlarge their door. I can't imagine wrassling in the dark with a full grown goose that wants to stay up past their bedtime (and trust me they do!). Calmness, kindness, practice and repetition and possibly lots of treat with will help that process.