Pet gander looking for loving home - FOUND HOME!

[Going Bhonkers]

Meet Nine, a White Chinese gander who is 3 weeks shy of his 1 year birthday.
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It is with a heavy heart that I'm posting on here. Nine lost his mate, and this best goose friend today. They had been raised together since they were a week old, and were the only members of our backyard flock, well not counting our dog, whom Nine does not like. In fact, I'd have to say he probably isnt comfortable with any type of dog.

I love this gander so much, and would love to him happy. I promise I wont outline any crazy rules for you to take him home, but I'd like to tell you about him so that you can decide if your home is the right fit.

Here he is with his best goose friend - walking the perimeter, he's very much a protector.

• He's intelligent. He responds when you call him, understands "come", "water", & "no".
• He wont eat from your hand - if you have the absolute urge to hand feed him, you'll have to put the green down and take a step back for him to eat it.
• He likes being talked to. Not saying you have to be the crazy bird man/lady who talks their flock, but if you talk out loud to yourself, that works too. Seriously he likes it. When we're gardening or pulling weeds, he'll come close by to help or inspect what you're doing & if you're in conversation with someone else, just through out a "Right?" to him & you'll see that he answers.
• He was raised by us since a week old and has free ranged our 2 acre fenced property. He & his friend would usually walk around the perimeter of the house on occasion and take naps close to the areas we would frequent.
• He doesn't chew on many things - geese sometimes are known for this, but he hasnt been interested in rope, toys, wire, nothing really mischievous. Does chew on wood, leaves, sticks and sometimes shoes....
• Nine will either love you or totally dislike you, but in either case he keeps a safe distance. He's not a cuddler & does not enjoy being picked up - will tolerate it, but to a certain point. If he likes you, he'll allow you to stroke his chest a couple of times, any more and he wont be pleased. Also if he likes you, he'll follow behind you like a little shadow - real close & just chatter with you. If he doesn't like you or your shoes, he'll bite them. Sometimes your pants.
  How do you get him to like you? Just treat him with respect.
• He & my goose for some reason didnt like our pond. They preferred their kiddy pools.

This is all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure I'll be adding to this list.

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AN IDEAL HOME FOR HIM IS...
(you dont have to fit all of these, just a suggestion really.)

I'd like something somewhat close to us. I just dont think he could handle the stress of being shipped through the mail. I have a feeling that it might be difficult finding a home for a male goose, but for now, I want to try to see if something local is possible.

The absolute perfect thing would be if he could go to a home that had only female geese. He's never encountered other geese other than our beloved goose - not sure how he'd fare with another male.
But in reality, if you have the room for another male I'll have to have faith that he can adjust.

Have plenty of grass

If you're a current or past goose owner that's a plus. Geese can be temperamental during breeding season & it would be best to have someone that understands how to handle a male goose.
If you dont own geese at the moment, I certainly hope you're planning on having more than just this gander. Geese are flock animals - I used to say the minimum to have was 2, but giving my current experience, 3 is probably better. He is alone here with us now, I want him to go some place where he has company.

 

[bubbastump22]

were at in fl r u..im in north florida talla region.. i am picking up a chinese female this week and a gander as well.. he sure would like her..i have 3 africans right now 2 females and a gander.. so when i pick up my 2 new geese im sure the african gander ill get will take my lonely female and the chinese fem will need a gander... i got 1.5 acres fenced in for there pen.. im using a kiddie pool till i build my 40x 40 pond next month.. and got plenty of grass that they can eat.. i feed my geese a mix of laying pellets and crumble since i got chickens as well.. so they get bout a lb of feed in the morning and then they get the grass the rest of the day. i handle my geese every day and show them love. keep it well cleaned..

WOW.. i just read ur story..how sad....i knw i shouldnt say this but ur story brought tears to my eyes.. my geese r my babies and if i had something like that i would have a break down cause there my kids my family and the love of my life..besides my partner...lol

 

[Going Bhonkers]

were at in fl r u..im in north florida talla region.. i am picking up a chinese female this week and a gander as well.. he sure would like her..i have 3 africans right now 2 females and a gander.. so when i pick up my 2 new geese im sure the african gander ill get will take my lonely female and the chinese fem will need a gander... i got 1.5 acres fenced in for there pen.. im using a kiddie pool till i build my 40x 40 pond next month.. and got plenty of grass that they can eat.. i feed my geese a mix of laying pellets and crumble since i got chickens as well.. so they get bout a lb of feed in the morning and then they get the grass the rest of the day. i handle my geese every day and show them love. keep it well cleaned..

WOW.. i just read ur story..how sad....i knw i shouldnt say this but ur story brought tears to my eyes.. my geese r my babies and if i had something like that i would have a break down cause there my kids my family and the love of my life..besides my partner...lol

Thanks so much for your sympathy. I didnt expect to feel so devastated. I've lost pets (dogs) in the past before, but this feels worse for some reason. Maybe because its so fresh. Another thing that's keeping the hurt from moving on is having to see my gander by himself. I'm located in Naples, which is on the southern gulf side of the state, south of Ft Myers. Tallahassee is kind of a far drive (used to go up there for school), but not totally unreasonable. I'm going to try to see if I can find some place a little closer though. Is it okay if I keep you in mind, just in case?

And just to have some peace of mind, do you keep your geese in a coop at night?

 

[bubbastump22]

oh yes u sure can.. i even travel dwn to gainsville as well.. and no i dont believe in a coop for my geese..they got a pen tho.. my one female sits on the nest at night and in the mornings till it warms up..but my other 2 sleep right outside the door of the pen.. they dont really care for my nice female..THELMA. shes the sweetest goose i got and yet she is alone and goes off by herself ... but my fenced in area is totally fox and dog proof. i made sure of that and i got a rooster that will kill any hawks that comes in or near there pen ..since my chicken coop is right next to the pen he stays by there pen at night and sleeps on the roof of the coop. i just got 11 chicks hatch the last 2 days so hes very protective of around the coop and soo is my gander..he bites me all the time till i let him up in my lap...lol

PLUS: I DO DAILY WALK AROUNDS THE FENCE. TO CHECK FOR ANY SIGN OF A HOLE OR BREAK IN THE FENCE.

Is that and issue bout the coop tho? if so i dont mind building one for my geese. i just want my Thelma baby to have a guy that will treat her like gold so shes not looking soo sad while walking by herself.

 

[Going Bhonkers]

oh yes u sure can.. i even travel dwn to gainsville as well.. and no i dont believe in a coop for my geese..they got a pen tho.. my one female sits on the nest at night and in the mornings till it warms up..but my other 2 sleep right outside the door of the pen.. they dont really care for my nice female..THELMA. shes the sweetest goose i got and yet she is alone and goes off by herself ... but my fenced in area is totally fox and dog proof. i made sure of that and i got a rooster that will kill any hawks that comes in or near there pen ..since my chicken coop is right next to the pen he stays by there pen at night and sleeps on the roof of the coop. i just got 11 chicks hatch the last 2 days so hes very protective of around the coop and soo is my gander..he bites me all the time till i let him up in my lap...lol

PLUS: I DO DAILY WALK AROUNDS THE FENCE. TO CHECK FOR ANY SIGN OF A HOLE OR BREAK IN THE FENCE.

Is that and issue bout the coop tho? if so i dont mind building one for my geese. i just want my Thelma baby to have a guy that will treat her like gold so shes not looking soo sad while walking by herself.

Just from what Ive read on the goose forum, its a good idea to have a coop/ house/ shelter for domestic geese to go into at night, for their safety & your peace of mind. I dont want to say "yes! build a coop" and then let you that I found a home for him down here. What I mean is, I wouldnt want you to build a coop just because my gander might be joining your flock. If you have the time & materials available, I highly suggest that you do construct a predator proof night-time shelter for your existing flock.

Its really great that the fenced in area is fox & dog proof, but a coop would be an extra layer of protection for them. I recently read a thread where someone lost 3 geese to a raccoon. A raccoon!! And whats more terrible is that these other predators dont even eat the whole animal - they'll fatally injure it just for a bite. It seems like such a waste to lose an animal that way.

In addition to providing protection from predators, the coop can provide them shelter from the elements. My geese would free range in our fenced property during the day & during those rough summertime storms we'd get, they would seem fine. Now, when hurricane season was upon us, we kept them inside their coop to protect them from the heavy rain and strong winds & anything that would be blown across by those winds. I know hurricanes haven't directly impacted the Tallahassee - Big Bend area in a while (and hoping that they still wont!) but I do remember getting severe weather warnings while I lived up there.

Its just something for you to consider.

Here's what our goose coop looked like during hurricane season (I'm adding them as a small size, but you can click on them to enlarge) :


We basically just added ply-wood to the sides.

Here's what it usually looks like:


This is the inside. It has concrete/ cement on 1 half, & grass on the other (we put a piece of chain-link fence on the floor of the grass side, then put some top soil & pieces of sod on top, to protect against any digging predators).

Your coop doesn't have to be all crazy with a grass part to it since you'll just be keeping them in there at night. We did it like that in case we had to go away for a weekend, they'd have food to eat in there. Here are some more examples https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/586695/what-does-your-goose-coop-look-like

Also, after you pick up your 2 new geese, if I'm not mistaken, you'll have 3 females & 2 males. If you build your coop, you definitely want to have 2 different pens or divisions in there so that the pairs are separated to prevent any fighting (i've heard that males can fight to the death over females if kept confined for too long). If it turns out that my gander will join your flock, you'll need to add a 3rd pen area/ division.

Your Thelma sounds just like April, the goose we just lost. I think my gander would have no trouble accepting her. I will definitely keep you posted if we aren't able to find solution closer to home.

Also, please let me know how your current gander accepts his new flock mates. You may want to keep the newcomers separated until they get used to one another. Good luck

 

[bubbastump22]

well ur right bout that ill have 2 males and 3 females.. so that would leave my lovely Thelma without a mate..which is what im looking for..like i said shes more of a mother then my other female... she rotates the eggs sits on the nest at night till morning. unlike my other female..she only wants to lay eggs and thats it.. well hes fine with accepting them its my female that gets touchy with others.. my gander took like 3 days to accept thelma into the flock but i had to pen up her and my other female so she could get use to her.. which took bout a week and she tolerates Ms. Thelma but thats bout it.. and ya i plan on using the back 2.5 acres as well when i can get the supplies and section it off for my birds.. the only time they will have access to everyone is during the day for the pond.

And yeah i usually lock the new comers in the pen so the others can look on the outside but cant get inside.. i also have a brooder for my chickens but since i only got 2 left i moved there nests in the bottom of the coop..so i have a 6x6 if not alittle larger brooder on ground so i can put them in there as well.

But: Ms. Thelma shes my friendlist girl i got..she comes right up to me when i got food and eats it out of my hand.. And bout Thelma she is missing pretty much her breast feathers..the place i got her from she sold her mate and i was lucky to find her and take her in and ever since shes just a sad goose.. i see it like this if ur going to get rid of birds that are pairs they need to go together or not at all..geese r just like parots..when they loose there mate or sold there never right again till maybe they find another mate..but at that point its still not the same as the one they had b4. but if ur lovely Gander does join the flock.. i will let u knw i will not sell him, Eat him, just love him and make him as happy as he is with u . i dont kill or eat any of my animals..there all my kids. i even went as far as buying ducklings for Ms. Thelma but my other female wont allow her to be happy..

 

[Going Bhonkers]

well ur right bout that ill have 2 males and 3 females.. so that would leave my lovely Thelma without a mate..which is what im looking for..like i said shes more of a mother then my other female... she rotates the eggs sits on the nest at night till morning. unlike my other female..she only wants to lay eggs and thats it.. well hes fine with accepting them its my female that gets touchy with others.. my gander took like 3 days to accept thelma into the flock but i had to pen up her and my other female so she could get use to her.. which took bout a week and she tolerates Ms. Thelma but thats bout it.. and ya i plan on using the back 2.5 acres as well when i can get the supplies and section it off for my birds.. the only time they will have access to everyone is during the day for the pond.

And yeah i usually lock the new comers in the pen so the others can look on the outside but cant get inside.. i also have a brooder for my chickens but since i only got 2 left i moved there nests in the bottom of the coop..so i have a 6x6 if not alittle larger brooder on ground so i can put them in there as well.

But: Ms. Thelma shes my friendlist girl i got..she comes right up to me when i got food and eats it out of my hand.. And bout Thelma she is missing pretty much her breast feathers..the place i got her from she sold her mate and i was lucky to find her and take her in and ever since shes just a sad goose.. i see it like this if ur going to get rid of birds that are pairs they need to go together or not at all..geese r just like parots..when they loose there mate or sold there never right again till maybe they find another mate..but at that point its still not the same as the one they had b4. but if ur lovely Gander does join the flock.. i will let u knw i will not sell him, Eat him, just love him and make him as happy as he is with u . i dont kill or eat any of my animals..there all my kids. i even went as far as buying ducklings for Ms. Thelma but my other female wont allow her to be happy..

Thelma Goose sounds wonderful. I hope the addition of the new members to your flock goes smoothly. I took some flyers about my gander to some local feed stores this morning. We'll see how it goes. Its a little difficult trying to find things to do outside in order to keep my gander company.

But at least he seems to be eating a little more (he didnt graze as much after we lost our goose) so that's a good sign.

 

[bubbastump22]

well all i can say is

that someone takes him down there..but if not keep me in mind.. i dont mind making play dates so u can see ur boi...lol

 

[Going Bhonkers]

Thank you to everyone who read this thread, especially to bubbastump22. We were able to find a home for our gander.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Thread closed at request of the OP