Geese are scared of the pond

[LoneOakChickens]

We recently acquired two 3 yr. old geese and I cannot get them to go into our pond. We have ducks that swim there all the time. The geese will stand on the bank watching them, but won't even try the pond. Any suggestions would be great on how to get them into the pond. Thank you!

 

[jtn42248]

If you got them from a location that did not have a large pool of water for them to swim in then they never learned to do so and their instinct to swim may be "asleep". You can lead a goose to water but you can not make them swim. Given time they may venture in on their own.

 

[JedJackson]

Agree with jtn42248. They'll probably learn on their own. I wouldn't force them to go in if they don't want to.

 

[Iain Utah]

Not all breeds of geese are the same towards water. My dewlaps won't go into our stream or big pond, but our africans and ducks love them.

 

[The Dim Side]

I'm trying to find answers for my geese, too. We had our two ponds made larger and deeper. The water is very murky/muddy still, and the geese won't go in them anymore. They did at first when the water was lower as it slowly filled from the rain.

But they're looking at the water like they're afraid of something in there. I can get them standing at the edge of the water, getting their feet wet, but then they get out. When I tried putting one gander into the water, he literally hopped out in a panic! Our dog plays in the water and drinks from them, and she seems fine. Just really not sure what's going on with them, lol.

 

[Jenbirdee]

maybe toss some romaine lettuce leaves in there