African geese questions

[petjem]

I've got a few questions about the breed as recently we adopted a pair of 2 african goslings.

1. At which age will they go through their first molt? They're now about one month old.
2. At which age do they become sexually mature? Is it the same for the male and female? Is there a chance of overbreeding because of one female only?
3. At which age will the female start laying and how many eggs per year/season do they lay usually?
4. Do african geese go broody easily? I'm used to muscovy ducks which are real hatching machines.


And a video of our new babies

[VIDEO]

 

[flockman]

I've got a few questions about the breed as recently we adopted a pair of 2 african goslings.

1. At which age will they go through their first molt? They're now about one month old.
2. At which age do they become sexually mature? Is it the same for the male and female? Is there a chance of overbreeding because of one female only?
3. At which age will the female start laying and how many eggs per year/season do they lay usually?
4. Do african geese go broody easily? I'm used to muscovy ducks which are real hatching machines.


And a video of our new babies

They molt a few times their first year to get in full plumage. After that it is once a year at the beginning of summer.
They become sexually mature at about 8 months or so. By that time you will start to see gander behavior.
Geese prefer to be in pairs. Some ganders will also breed other geese. I have a trio. My gander prefers one of the geese, but he also protects and breeds the other goose. Ganders are not like roosters or drakes.
A goose will usually lay eggs in spring the following year. So your goose will lay spring of 2015. African geese can vary how many eggs they lay. 25-45 is pretty common from what I hear. Some lay more some lay less. The age of the goose as well as whether or not you collect eggs can also change the number of eggs laid.
I have read of a lot of african geese hatching their young. It varies from goose to goose.
Hope this helps.

 

[petjem]

Thank you flockman for the very helpful info! So, do ganders help in parenthood, raising and protecting the goslings? Also do goslings develop angel's wing?

 

[petjem]

Is size the only difference between fully grown African and Chinese geese? I guess goslings can't be told apart if they're african or chinese, can they?

 

[flockman]

Thank you flockman for the very helpful info! So, do ganders help in parenthood, raising and protecting the goslings? Also do goslings develop angel's wing?

Yes ganders are very involved in the raising of goslings. When the goose of my original pair died I bought 2 female goslings to replace her. My gander accepted full responsibility for them when they were 2-3 weeks old. Then a weeks later he adopted 3 more goslings that were a few days old. He is a very proud papa! Goslings can develop angel wing.

 

[petjem]

Thank you! That's good to know, so I'll watch their protein intake for the feathering stage!