The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: furfeathersandfun on March 31, 2009, 09:53:29 pm

Title: fighting geese
Post by: furfeathersandfun on March 31, 2009, 09:53:29 pm

hi i'm fairly new to geese and have a flock of 6 embden geese, 2 of them are males and are literally ripping lumps out of each other, some of the females have joined in aswell now and one of the males is now being quite badly bullied by the rest of the flock, i have started seperating him at night, but i'm not sure if this is the right thing to do or if this will stop when the breeding season ends? can anyone offer me any advice thanks   :farmer:

Title: Re: fighting geese
Post by: jameslindsay on March 31, 2009, 10:04:39 pm

I too had 3 geese, all boys but during the breeding season they were vicious, one of them got hell from the other 2. I used to seperate them but they would fly to where the others were. I seperated them at night and then weeks later we locked them up together and in the morning the bullied one had been badly beaten up again. After the breeding season calm was restored.

The one that was bullied was eventually caught by the fox as he must have been the weakest of the 3. As much as I care for them and have a lot of time for them they can be bad buggers though!

Title: Re: fighting geese
Post by: furfeathersandfun on March 31, 2009, 10:15:58 pm

thanks for that, he's one of last years goslings so i hope he will be reaccepted by the flock when the season is over. regards tracey,  :farmer:

Title: Re: fighting geese
Post by: jameslindsay on March 31, 2009, 10:21:09 pm

Tracey - I don't know about your geese but mine are such bullies. They hiss at us but never ever touch or or attempt to cause us any harm. They bully me 2 "big" goats at feeding time and are not even scared of the ponies. That said I do adore them and their cheekiness. They wander our beer garden where lots of customers sit but again they never try and cause any harm to any of them. I am sure your ones will settle down soon.

James

Title: Re: fighting geese
Post by: carl on April 01, 2009, 09:27:37 am

i have 3 embden ganders; total hooligans. I have to carry a broom with me to negotiate passed them at the moment, which I use to push their heads down. while I am keeping one at bay the others will grab it and pull a few feathers out. quite bonkers. next minute they do that thing where they look at you with their head on one side and look all goody two shoes, " who me".