Goose killed my chickens!

[cochinbantam-lover]

Hello,
I am heartbroken tonight, I have a goose and have had him for years now. I also have some muscovey ducks, some hens and drakes too.
Well this goose has become very protective of the hen ducks and goes after the drakes if they go after one of them.
the other day I found the goose killing one of my cochins, ths little fella had gotten old i think and was not quick enough to escape the mean goose. But now tonight my sweetest little chicken was missing from the coop when I went out to shut the coop door.
I looked and looked for her and finally found her under a lilac bush, she had been killed. Her little legs looked as if she tried to run away. I am crying again!!
They are free range and are only locked in overnight. Has anyone ever heard of this kind of behavior? I don't know what sex the goose is.
Thanks!

 

[TexasVet]

My guess would be that your goose is male, because it's chasing off the drakes. Could be it tried to make with your hen and killed her in the process. If I were you, I'd either get rid of the goose or get him a mate of his own breed.

I had a lone turkey that nearly killed one of my chickens while trying to mate with her. Had to get a mate for him too.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

I don't think so, he just puts his head down and goes after anything that is nearby. He hasn't shown that kind of behavior towards the hen ducks, I mean trying to mate with them. If that is what he wanted to do why not with the ducks instaed of going after my poor little chickens? He hisses at me all the time too. just ornery.
Thanks!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Why are you still keeping him? For breeding? If not you could give him away or....eat him.

 

[BlackBart]

Sorry for your loss.
That will happen, survival of the fittest.
I would get a mate for him and separate him from the chickens. He wont mate the ducks because he knows he isn't a duck.

Our ducks, geese and chickens all roamed together but it was a large acerage and their coops were a fair distance from one another, so there was never a problem. I have seen Geese kill ducklings and chicks if they can get at them. I've seen hens kill other hens chicks.
Its upsetting but its nature.

 

[Ducklove334]

He wont mate the ducks because he knows he isn't a duck.

try telling that to MY gander LOL

my pair is older, so the goose isn't laying anymore, and they never mate, but the gander used to mate the ducks like crazy!

by his behavior, the goose sounds like a male, I'd get a couple more geese one of each sex, that arn't paired, and see wich one he attaches to, then sell the other.​

 

[Windchyme]

Quote:
Unless you are attached to him I'd sell him off. I have a turkey that does have another male turkey and female turkey for friends. The hen is broody and he went after one of my more promising young call ducks. I'm fairly sure it has a broken rib though we got it before he killed it- so far after a couple days it seems like it might heal and be ok. He better not do it again or he'll be for sale so fast it will make his head spin. Your goose sounds like a male and lone males don't make very good pets. He'll probably eventually kill off more chickens.

It is important to note that not all geese are like he is. I have many geese and the geese ignore the chickens unless they come too close then just snake their head out and open their mouth in a warning...the chickens steer clear. My geese all have other geese to be with might be the reason. Female geese are also calmer and less aggressive, the only reason they might give a chicken a hassle is if it tried to get in her nest or if they wouldn't back off the food respectfully enough and then they seldom would chase, just snake their neck out in warning. I think having a lone male anything poultry that is substantially bigger then everything else is asking for trouble...they do have hormones and they will attempt to vent them somewhere and usually the little birds get the bad end of the deal.

If you really want to keep him, he needs to be seperated from everyone until you can get him a mate and he bonds with his mate- keep them seperate at least until March. If that happens he'll spend all his time looking after her and will forget about the littler birds....at least in theory.

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Thankyou all who replied. Well, I would give him away but havn't been able to find him a new home, we have had this goose for a very long time so the eating part is out of the question. He has basically always been a pet, we used to have two until one was accidently killed.
Everyone we know has dogs and as upset as I am about my precious little chickens I don't want him to get killed by a dog! Maybe place an ad? Oh I don't know!!
I have never seen this goose try to mate with the ducks, just very protective of the hens. I don't know what to make of it. I am just very curious as to why he acts this way. An instinct I imagine but as to what I wish I knew for sure.
Would he survive in the wild if we just turned him loose? Probably not huh, he is so big I don't think he could fly to get away from any predators.
Thanks again!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i'm so sorry - it must have been awful to find your little friend like that! if it helps... if the hen was cornered she didnt have a chance.

our gander is 'somethin' else' - and a chicken killer. when his mate is broody (or there are babies) he gets super aggressive. he killed one of his former owner's hens... and has always had it out for one of my older, bumblefooted hens.

the epic battle between me and that old gander in my signature was when he was trying to kill the old hen. i finally had to set the dogs on him to get that dang gander off my hen!

our geese are now separate from the hens - which made us love the geese much much more and everyone is more relaxed. i agree with the others - he needs a mate or....gulp... it should be curtains for him. i'd get a mate.... that gander is a doozey but i just love that old galoot!

again, i'm so sorry about your little friend
:-(

 

[adrian]

Just to put in my two cents, domestics cannot be turned into the wild. It is not only illegal but results in inevitable death.

I would buy him a mate, see how it goes, and if he's still acting the same way... Sell him and the mate off. A breeding pair is more likely to sell, anyway.