I didn't want geese because my mom only wanted them to be "guardians." I eventually gave up and just went along with it knowing I was in for the drama of being their caretaker along with our chickens. From a newbies experience heres what I've had to put up with.
First off. Brooding goslings. Their adorable. But they stink soooo badly and their soooo messy. Do not have them in a brooder with other birds. Their nibblers. Bedding, stuffed animals, bowls, other birds. Theyll nibble like their life depends on it.
Expect many AWWW moments as goslings. Especially once your able to get them in a kiddy pool. They'll have a blast.
They are noisy. No matter what breed they will be somewhat noisy. Some more so than others. We chose a Toulouse and received a Buff American both from Metzer and while their both the more quieter breeds. We still sometimes hear from our neighbor about some loud honking.
Geese are like toddlers of the bird world. If you interact with them from young more than likely they'll want to be close to you and follow you.
Can you pet them or pick them up is a different matter however lol. Our two Gus and Gizzy are good examples of that. Gus you can sometimes get him to come close to give a small pet but Gizzy acted like its the end of the world.
Mating season changes everything. I'm sure theres a few lucky owners who have a more stable young gander but as soon as mid fall hit our gander attacked my little sister. He started hissing at my parents. I was the only one able to interact with them. And now it's getting worse. I've been dogsitting for a week away from home but before I left he was constantly hissing at me. If I tried to touch him he would sometimes try to give a warning bite. He didn't want to be bossed around. I was told to pick him up and it would make him see hes not the boss. I can't say its really helped or not. Maybe for the earlier change in behavior that may be why it lasted so long with him not coming after me but I'm not sure what will change come the end of breeding season. Will he go back to normal or will he still hiss at me? I just have no clue.
While dog sitting my mother has been taking care of the birds but she mentioned he was biting at her legs with his head lowered and attacking the water bowl. So I'm sure theres a good change once I return he may try attacking me.
All in all I would say it can be tricky to navigate the goose relationships.
I love when they would follow me softly making weird noises as I walked out to feed them. They even started coming to the door during free range time when they knew it was dinner time and escorted me to the kennel where they would get fed.
I heard geese are smart enough to remember 100 faces. Not sure if thats actually true but I can tell you until the first mating season its hard not to adore them.
Our geese have a few times played a round of "Chicken" They go running toward each other from opposite areas of the yard and usually it was Gus who would turn and eat dirt to give us a laugh. And Gizzy shes a flighty girl. Shes nearly flew over our vehicles from a running start. As well as almost hit the house.
Gus is the back and Gizzy being a weirdo lol
Also with mating season I've noticed our female has chilled out a bit. She'll walk past and I can gently brush my hand against her and she wont act like the worlds ending. But again mating season is changes them. I'm hoping they chill out again. Hope this helped.
. I was even able to train one to respond by name (it does not do this anymore). I raised plenty of ducklings just for them all to to want to get as far away from me as they can and I would really like to have one bird that likes me.
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