Geese pros and cons

[misfitmorgan]

We have geese as well.

We had a male/female pair of toulouse, until something took our male. While we had both they wanted nothing to do with us except some corn now and then. They hissed every time we got within 15ft, and the gander would wait for you to turn your back then try to run up behind you to bite you. After awhile we came to an understanding the gander and I, he leaves me alone and I will leave him and his g/f alone.....come at me when my back is turned and you will become a goose football. After those few "talks" he became fairly mellow towards me though still hissed.

After the gander was gone the female actually became slightly more friendly to me and didnt hiss until i got within 3ft of her. She thinks she is a goat at this point. She grazes with the goats, and herds with them, sleeps with them.

We got 5 goslings last Sunday. Boy was she excited...she was over there sticking her head in the pen and talking up a storm to them goslings. She has decided whenever i feed or water the goslings she needs to be there to keep me "in line" and make sure I dont hurt them. The goslings act terrified of me which is odd because they seemed fine with the lady I got them from.

We have not butchered any yet but i'm looking forward to trying goose.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

If she hatched them they probably imprinted on her. We had gosling that have done that. But once they meet the adult geese and spend time with them they change on that. And if the female hisses at you while your there she partly teaching them that your not ok. You can try to feed them and her from your hand while you sit quietly and they will learn to be calmer with you. Granted my gander had a few talking to himself. But when he put of breeding mode my 2yr old can pet him and feed him from his hand.
He a pretty cool guy most of the time. We had him for 3 yrs now maybe four can't quite remember but he learn over time the rules and what i will allow. If he gets out of line I just have to say not yell but say knock it off and he does. Geese are very smart and will learn they just need lots of time. I have one female i can go out to her nest and look under her and also whem she has babies she doesnt attack me even when i handle them my dh though they don't like him but he.deserves it he likes making them mad.

 

[misfitmorgan]

If she hatched them they probably imprinted on her. We had gosling that have done that. But once they meet the adult geese and spend time with them they change on that. And if the female hisses at you while your there she partly teaching them that your not ok. You can try to feed them and her from your hand while you sit quietly and they will learn to be calmer with you. Granted my gander had a few talking to himself. But when he put of breeding mode my 2yr old can pet him and feed him from his hand.
He a pretty cool guy most of the time. We had him for 3 yrs now maybe four can't quite remember but he learn over time the rules and what i will allow. If he gets out of line I just have to say not yell but say knock it off and he does. Geese are very smart and will learn they just need lots of time. I have one female i can go out to her nest and look under her and also whem she has babies she doesnt attack me even when i handle them my dh though they don't like him but he.deserves it he likes making them mad.

She actually didnt hatch them her goose flock hatched and raised them i think she just spends a lot of time with them out on pasture. I wouldn't say they were cuddly with her by any means but they didnt freak when she was close to them. I did try to corn trick, no takers as of yet lol. Our adult female wanders around wherever she wants to do same with our goats. The new goslings are in a pen until I am pretty sure they decide this is home and that our adult girl won't beat up on them. She talks to them a lot but they all stand on the other side of the pen and talk back, so they might be scared of her im not sure. They are about half her size atm and a cross of white and grey toulouse.

 

[chickens really]

I'm scared of Geese although I have tossed around the idea of having about 3 ? I'm only in the thinking phase at this point. I sold off all my Chickens and Ducks this spring so not sure about Geese because of the poop and winter care. Do Geese eat hay in the winter? What do they eat?
I know they eat lots of grass in the summer. What breed is the most docile?

 

[Jesusfreak101]

They do eat hay well mine do all year around. And geese can be very docile when handled often its just well atleast in my experience during the mating season which start in Jan (for us) and ends in june(once again for us) that they get aggressive for mine that is mostly hissing at you and calling you dirty names. Mine know better they got taught and have reminders that i will eat them if they miss behave. My kids are told to chase them until they give in and also if gander feels like challenging them to kick or hit him with a stick my kids are 7-2 who do this. Granted gander only like messing with the ones old enough to be scared of him which is why they do that. My 2 yr old he is terrified of with out the insintive lol. During this i am right there but you cant back down from them if you do they get more what the word assertive with you. It took my 7yr dd1 to chase him for over a week to fix the probelm of when she would run from him and he would chase her. Now it's the opposite. That being said when he isn't a b××× he will eat out of our hands and wants to be petted. We have Toulouse geese but those are the only ones i have experience with outside of the wild Chinese and African geese and Canadian geese i have met which of course were bossy lol.

 

[Ridgetop]

I think Pilgrims are one of the calmest breeds. The males are white and the females are gray which also helps in deciding which ones to butcher. LOL Our Pilgrms were very sweet.

Chinese Crested are not very tame, and the ganders can be aggressive.

 

[Finnie]

I think Pilgrims are one of the calmest breeds. The males are white and the females are gray which also helps in deciding which ones to butcher. LOL Our Pilgrms were very sweet.

Chinese Crested are not very tame, and the ganders can be aggressive.

Is a Chinese Crested goose the same as regular Chinese goose? I tried to look it up but did not find any other Chinese goose besides the regular Brown and White ones.

 

[Ridgetop]

The ones we had were called Chinese Crested because they had a large orange/red crest on their heads. The crest on the female was small but the males all have large ones. The crest is not made of feathers, but is rather an extension of the beak material that goes up above their faces in a form of crest. Our Chinese Crested were white with red/orange feet, bills and crests. The gray, or black and white Chinese Crested have black feet, bills, and black crests.

 

[Finnie]

Ohhh, I see. I thought that was called their “knob”. My male’s knob (or crest) is much bigger than my females’. I was under the impression that the knob functions much like a comb in chickens.

I found someone who has been looking for Brown Chinese geese but could only find white ones. I am going to trade my browns for her whites.

 

[Ridgetop]

I guess that is what it is called. The term for the breed is Chinese Cresteds though. I don't know why. The gander we had was extremely aggressive. Are your brown ones aggressive?