Potential first-time goose owner! Does my plan sound good, and other questions.

[KathiQuacks]

Hello goose-side of BYC! I’ve been on the duck-side for around 2 years now, and recently I’ve considering expanding my flock to have geese as well.

At the moment, I have 3 adult ducks - 1 boy, 2 girls - as well as 10 unsexed ducklings. By the time the ducklings are grown, I’m hoping I’ll have 1 - 2 boys, 6 or more girls, and with the rest being re-homed. When all of my ducks are grown, and I know my sex-ratio, that is when I’d like to dabble in geese and purchase a few goslings.

Specifically, I’d like to get two, sexed, female African goslings - I figured it’d be unwise to own ganders with ducks I’ll be brooding them indoors and ideally introducing them to my duck flock as soon as possible, so they may get to know each other early-on. I’d like for everyone to free-range together, swim on my lake, and sleep in the coop either together or side-by-side.

I’ve read all about the “geese flock guardian” myth. Instead, I’d like to have these geese as a predator alarm sound, and as a potential intimidation factor. I don’t care for the eggs, and I’ve read this breed doesn’t produce very many, so that’s nice. I love their size - nearly 20 lbs! - and their appearance soo much. I can not get over their dewlaps

Does my plan sound okay? Also, some additional questions:

- Have any of you owned African geese with ducks? What is that like?

- Is there a good time for me to introduce the goslings to my ducks? I was thinking about introducing at 1 month old, and free-ranging / housing together around 2 months old.

- Just a curiosity question - could my, or would my, male duck attempt to mate with the geese? He’s very respectful, so I’d imagine he’d ask first. Would he even be able to get on top? and would the geese let him try?

- *More serious question* My female ducks occasionally will “mate” with each other. Do female geese ever “mate” with each other? Is it possible the female geese would try to “mate” with my ducks, or would they have no interest? What would I even do if they tried?

- How would I go about feeding them in the morning / evening, assuming I use two different feeds? Would I just watch them? Feed them in separate places? Or should I just switch to a feed that’s good for ducks AND geese?

- Is there a different goose breed you’d recommend to live with ducks? I’m pretty dead-set on the African geese, though, so I’d need a lot of convincing

- Is there anything else I should *really* know before getting geese?

Thanks so much for any information! Hopefully in the coming months, I’ll be posting here more often

 

[CloneFly]

Hello goose-side of BYC! I’ve been on the duck-side for around 2 years now, and recently I’ve considering expanding my flock to have geese as well.

At the moment, I have 3 adult ducks - 1 boy, 2 girls - as well as 10 unsexed ducklings. By the time the ducklings are grown, I’m hoping I’ll have 1 - 2 boys, 6 or more girls, and with the rest being re-homed. When all of my ducks are grown, and I know my sex-ratio, that is when I’d like to dabble in geese and purchase a few goslings.

Specifically, I’d like to get two, sexed, female African goslings - I figured it’d be unwise to own ganders with ducks I’ll be brooding them indoors and ideally introducing them to my duck flock as soon as possible, so they may get to know each other early-on. I’d like for everyone to free-range together, swim on my lake, and sleep in the coop either together or side-by-side.

I’ve read all about the “geese flock guardian” myth. Instead, I’d like to have these geese as a predator alarm sound, and as a potential intimidation factor. I don’t care for the eggs, and I’ve read this breed doesn’t produce very many, so that’s nice. I love their size - nearly 20 lbs! - and their appearance soo much. I can not get over their dewlaps

Does my plan sound okay? Also, some additional questions:

- Have any of you owned African geese with ducks? What is that like?

- Is there a good time for me to introduce the goslings to my ducks? I was thinking about introducing at 1 month old, and free-ranging / housing together around 2 months old.

- Just a curiosity question - could my, or would my, male duck attempt to mate with the geese? He’s very respectful, so I’d imagine he’d ask first. Would he even be able to get on top? and would the geese let him try?

- *More serious question* My female ducks occasionally will “mate” with each other. Do female geese ever “mate” with each other? Is it possible the female geese would try to “mate” with my ducks, or would they have no interest? What would I even do if they tried?

- How would I go about feeding them in the morning / evening, assuming I use two different feeds? Would I just watch them? Feed them in separate places? Or should I just switch to a feed that’s good for ducks AND geese?

- Is there a different goose breed you’d recommend to live with ducks? I’m pretty dead-set on the African geese, though, so I’d need a lot of convincing

- Is there anything else I should *really* know before getting geese?

Thanks so much for any information! Hopefully in the coming months, I’ll be posting here more often

Hello! We own an African gander named Gussie

He was raised as a flock protector and has busted the myth (in our opinion)- he's very protective of our hens! We did rescue a broiler sized female pekin duck last year, and prior to that I had no experience in ducks. So I can only answer *some* of your questions. My goose and duck did *not* get along at first Though, I think this was mainly due to the fact that Gussie was a full year older than her and she had a very shy personality. The chickens also weren't very nice to her With time, the goose and the duck got along fine. Unfortunately, we lost the duck a few months back due to suspected liver issues and arthritis.

We introduced our Gussie to the girls when he was 1wk old and they were about 5-6wks. He learned early on to respect them and that respect has continued to this day.
I fed my gander and duck the same feed. I would assume using the same feed would be easier for you, unless you plan to have 2 very seperate feeders for the geese and ducks (which may be difficult to maintain long run)

Sorry, I can't answer more. We love our African goose to death, so I would definitely recommend the breed. Though, someone on here might be more knowledgeable about what breed of goose would be best with ducks. Best of luck!

 

[Jenbirdee]

african geese have dewlaps? google says- African Geese may or may not have a dewlap, and will average 12-16 pounds.
google could be wrong

My geese and ducks and chickens too all eat Nutrena all flock pellets they love it Also I give them some Mazuri waterfowl maintenance feed . always oyster shells on the side and frequently add nutritional yeast.

females will sometimes mate each other too like the ducks but idk if they will stand on a duck i hope not.

when I let my geese and ducks together , my female goose attacked my slowest to run away duck so I keep them separate
my geese are pilgrims I have a male and a female

i suggest reading all the articles about geese in the learning center there is about a dozen

 

[Jenbirdee]

PS Im so glad you are getting more than one goose . its sad when they have noone to talk to.

 

[KathiQuacks]

Hello! We own an African gander named Gussie

He was raised as a flock protector and has busted the myth (in our opinion)- he's very protective of our hens!

He learned early on to respect them and that respect has continued to this day.

I’m glad it’s worked out for you!

Unfortunately, we lost the duck a few months back due to suspected liver issues and arthritis.

Aww, so sorry about that

We love our African goose to death, so I would definitely recommend the breed.
View attachment 3754124

Good to know! He is absolutely stunning

african geese have dewlaps? google says- African Geese may or may not have a dewlap, and will average 12-16 pounds.
google could be wrong

I’ve seen many pictures of them with dewlaps, so hopefully my girls will have them too I’d love them either way. I’ve seen a few sources say the females can be around 18 lbs. I’ll have to weigh them and find out!

My geese and ducks and chickens too all eat Nutrena all flock pellets they love it Also I give them some Mazuri waterfowl maintenance feed . always oyster shells on the side and frequently add nutritional yeast.

Good to know!

PS Im so glad you are getting more than one goose . its sad when they have noone to talk to.

Of course! Ducks need friends of their own kind, I don’t see why geese would be any different

 

[telandra2]

(I can't get the inline quoting to work so I deleted them...)

My adult African ganders have been fine with the ducks. The ducks will even lay down and he'll cover the in water. I had a teenage White Chinese that was a problem trying to drown goslings that would also hang on and not let go of ducks.

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All the adults I've gotten off Craigslist have been either indifferent or pals. I've had a few duck chasers with goslings that grew up with the ducks.

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I've only done adults

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I can't imagine a goose allowing a drake to mate. They all make a fuss about duck mating and break it up if the drake is too slow

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I got a bonded pair of goose females that mated each other. Haven't seen it with other
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Mine all have free choice duck food. Its in low mineral block tub. I dud have a gander that resource guarded for the first year so I just added another.

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I've not noticed a difference between breeds based on examples of 1 Toulose, Embden, or Sebbie joining the Africans. My Chinese that grew up with the ducks had aggression issues.

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Plan for more geese. My geese are much more interactive than my ducks. Also the duck mating cheering squad/complaints might be a surprise. That agressive Chinese also went out of his way to kill ducklings.

 

[telandra2]

One thing I forgot is that the geese can get very territorial during nesting season, so be sure to have an escape route for the ducks. I just have a divider in the coop that is too narrow for the geese. Non-nesting season they press the barrier until I take it down so they can rejoin their duck friends.

 

[JRies]

african geese have dewlaps?

There are 2 different Africans, The commercial bread ones which are not a show quality or bred to standard goose. They are a production goose and can lay up to 60 eggs a year also a medium weight goose and a nice backyard goose and plentiful. The true bred to the standards perfection goose is a heavyweight goose with dewlap like mine. are heavyweight goose and the true heritage breed buy they are on the watch list since they are not a high production goose lay about 20-30 huge eggs in a year. Both nice breeds each have there own purpose. Kinda like dogs there are allot of dogs we call lab all different sizes and shapes then there are the AKA labs Hope that helps

 

[KathiQuacks]

My adult African ganders have been fine with the ducks. The ducks will even lay down and he'll cover the in water.

Interesting!

All the adults I've gotten off Craigslist have been either indifferent or pals. I've had a few duck chasers with goslings that grew up with the ducks.

Really! Any idea why this is? You’d think growing up together, they’d be more tolerant of the ducks. Would you suggest I search for adults then, or could I still try it with goslings? For the goslings that didn’t chase, was there a reason why, or just a personality difference? Any way to calm them down?

I can't imagine a goose allowing a drake to mate. They all make a fuss about duck mating and break it up if the drake is too slow

I got a bonded pair of goose females that mated each other. Haven't seen it with other

I've not noticed a difference between breeds based on examples of 1 Toulose, Embden, or Sebbie joining the Africans. My Chinese that grew up with the ducks had aggression issues.

Good to know.

Plan for more geese. My geese are much more interactive than my ducks. Also the duck mating cheering squad/complaints might be a surprise. That agressive Chinese also went out of his way to kill ducklings.

As in, I’ll need more geese, or want more geese?
Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be getting any Chinese geese

One thing I forgot is that the geese can get very territorial during nesting season, so be sure to have an escape route for the ducks. I just have a divider in the coop that is too narrow for the geese. Non-nesting season they press the barrier until I take it down so they can rejoin their duck friends.

I’ll keep that in mind!

 

[AGeese]

When the hormones kick in it may not matter if they're male or female, the neighbor has two young females who bully their ducks occasionally. They sleep separately and free range together. That said prior to that pair a stray goose showed up and adopted the same ducks until she passed on.