worried about my goose

[Cockatrace]

so we recently picked up a goose from our local swap meet (wolf lake swap meet in indiana) we originally picked her up to protect our chicken flock from our new herding pup...she has already killed two of my babies while we were out,...that was a sad day..but anyway. this swap meet is not known for its love of animals (we rescued a footless chicken from slaughter once, she still lays well and is as happy as can be!) so we picked up an Emden with a split web on one foot and batter flight feathers. she was spry and healthy if not a little bit scared. she has been with us for a little over three weeks now, her temperament is better (she is actually one of the most well tempered geese i have ever met.) but she wont get in water. she eats well, her feathers are preened and she is white again, but she refuses to get near the large plastic kiddie pool we have. the chickens get in it to drink and clean, as do the ducks, but she only uses chicken waterer we have in the coop. i know the pool is big enough and i clean and refill it every day. does anyone else have this problem? is it normal? im worried about my little girl....

 

[livininbrazil]

so we recently picked up a goose from our local swap meet (wolf lake swap meet in indiana) we originally picked her up to protect our chicken flock from our new herding pup...she has already killed two of my babies while we were out,...that was a sad day..but anyway. this swap meet is not known for its love of animals (we rescued a footless chicken from slaughter once, she still lays well and is as happy as can be!) so we picked up an Emden with a split web on one foot and batter flight feathers. she was spry and healthy if not a little bit scared. she has been with us for a little over three weeks now, her temperament is better (she is actually one of the most well tempered geese i have ever met.) but she wont get in water. she eats well, her feathers are preened and she is white again, but she refuses to get near the large plastic kiddie pool we have. the chickens get in it to drink and clean, as do the ducks, but she only uses chicken waterer we have in the coop. i know the pool is big enough and i clean and refill it every day. does anyone else have this problem? is it normal? im worried about my little girl....

Hi cockatrace. Nice you gave a home to a goose in need, glad you´re enjoying her.
She won´t protect your chickens, though. In fact, she won´t be able to protect herself either from a dog. She´s no match. Pups are terrors.
As for the water, she probably hasn´t been used to it at all. Have you put some big stones or bricks up the side so she can climb up to the rim easily? And then you could float some grass or lettuce in it to coax her in, but it could take time. I recently bought two geese athat weren´t used to water and it took way over a month for them to go into the pond. When they eventually went in, they had a real party!
Oh, and geese really need other geese as companions, they´re far happier that way in general.

 

[The goose girl]

What livinginbrazil said.

A lone goose is usually way more fearful of new stuff than when it's with a buddy. My previous pet goose took six weeks to try out her new pond, but eventually she tried it and loved it. No amount of treats or coaxing helped; she probably had to convince herself that there were no pond monsters in it.

 

[Cockatrace]

thank you so much! i didnt know that geese need same species companions, i was told that any fowl would do. ill get her a little friend about her age next swap meet. and thanks for the advice on the pool ill start that tomorrow. im so glad i found this place! ^-^

 

[livininbrazil]

thank you so much! i didnt know that geese need same species companions, i was told that any fowl would do. ill get her a little friend about her age next swap meet. and thanks for the advice on the pool ill start that tomorrow. im so glad i found this place! ^-^

Oh, and just some thoughts.... If you don´t want to breed her, then you can easily get another goose (female) friend for her. Then you´ll just get eggs. They´ll poke at each other for a bit at first, but nothing much. Or, of course, a male if you choose to breed, but then that depends on how old your goose is, if she´s still within breeding age. They don´t have to be the same age, whichever you go with.
Looking forward to seeing pics of them.

 

[Starfire669]

so we recently picked up a goose from our local swap meet (wolf lake swap meet in indiana) we originally picked her up to protect our chicken flock from our new herding pup...she has already killed two of my babies while we were out,...that was a sad day..but anyway. this swap meet is not known for its love of animals (we rescued a footless chicken from slaughter once, she still lays well and is as happy as can be!) so we picked up an Emden with a split web on one foot and batter flight feathers. she was spry and healthy if not a little bit scared. she has been with us for a little over three weeks now, her temperament is better (she is actually one of the most well tempered geese i have ever met.) but she wont get in water. she eats well, her feathers are preened and she is white again, but she refuses to get near the large plastic kiddie pool we have. the chickens get in it to drink and clean, as do the ducks, but she only uses chicken waterer we have in the coop. i know the pool is big enough and i clean and refill it every day. does anyone else have this problem? is it normal? im worried about my little girl.... 

I am so glad you gave a home to a goose in need. Have you spent time just sitting with her? I discovered that when I sit down my geese get brave enough to come up to me for pets and hand fed treats, one even climbs in my lap for snuggles! She will get in the pool once she knows that it won't hurt her, you can try floating romaine lettuce, peas, grapes, whatever her favorite treats are in there. She won't be able to protect herself, much less the chickens from a puppy. The pup chasing her will only terrorize her and set you back on taming her down. But geese can make excellent alarm callers, they have loud voices that carry and will sound the alarm when something new or threatening gets close. So if you hear her sounding off, go check it out immediately and you may be able to catch the puppy before it hurts another of your birds.

If you want the dog to protect and herd the flock, you are going to need to train it, start by leashing the pup and tie it to you anytime you are doing chores with your flock. Correct the dog as soon as it tries something you don't approve of. And when you can't be there to monitor the dog, keep it away from your flock. The more the pup chases and kills, the higher it's drive becomes, because those flapping squawking things are the greatest toys, until they no longer run and make noise, then it's time to find another fun loud toy to chase and chew on. It's up to you to show the dog what is acceptable behavior and what is not.