[Womble]

OK, please don't laugh! 

We're due to pick up our new day-old goslings at the weekend, and I'm trying to find out the best way to raise them so that they're most likely to stay friendly, not attack the postman, etc etc.

The obvious first thought is just to spend time with them at an early age, but then I got to wondering if having them imprint on me is really such a good idea. They're going to free range all being well, so I really don't want them following me around everywhere.

Any ideas on how to strike a happy medium folks?

Thanks!!

[goosepimple]

The ganders need an ASBO on them at this time of year, but my one is friendly enough from around June onwards once the ladies have stopped laying.  Don't know what the ladies are like if there is no gander with them, someone else may be able to tell you that.  My gander hates the kids at all times of the year so the kids stay well away from them at all times.  I can't see you having a friendly gander for about 4 months of the year, perhaps unless he has boy mates and no lassies. Geese are a big pest but great fun and I love them, wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea though

[doganjo]

Don't talk to me about geese     I hate them . 

My Granda was an Ice Cream Manufacturer and he used to take with me with him to deliver ice cream to hotels.  When I was about four we went to Grantown on Spey and he went in with the tins and left me playing in the yard.  The owner of the hotel and Granda came diving back out just as Sarah the goose ran down the yard to attack me.  He scooped me up and the goose bit his legs quite badly.  The hotel owner had asked where I was and when Granda said I was outside she immediately feared for my safety and that was why they'd come running  out just in the nick of time.  The strange thing is when my daughter was born the first name that came to me was Sarah - Freudian or what!

[Womble]

I guess we were probably spoilt with our last lot, since they came with the house, and were already gentle wee OAPs. Sadly the gander died just before Christmas, and without him blind old Mrs goose just spent her days wandering round bumping into things, so we decided enough was enough.

However, it's far too quiet around here without them, so we ordered some replacements. It's got to be worth a try, and if they get really annoying we can always roast them!    I just wanted to ask some advice to make sure we give them the best chance we can, that's all.

[benkt]

We only had geese briefly last year - April -> Christmas 

We never had any problem with them. They lived in a shed under heat lamps and then went out into a field with a shed. The often made a lot of noise but would always run away from you if you approached them, which in fact was the only way to herd them in to the shed at night.

Perhaps they only get vicious once they get sexually mature in which case the solution might be to invite them to Christmas dinner.

[Brijjy]

They will get friendly by just being around you and being fed by you. But as they grow sexually mature and they want to breed, the ganders can become aggressive. Then you have to show them who is boss. One way of making a bolshy gander back down is by making your arm and hand look like a neck and beak, open and shut your hand while hissing at the gander. It works with my boy, although he does like to go for my dad. My female geese are absolute sweeties. One is sitting at the moment and she will let me stroke her and check how many eggs she is sitiing on. I think she is glad of any attention.

[Penninehillbilly]

One is sitting at the moment and she will let me stroke her and check how many eggs she is sitiing on. I think she is glad of any attention.

WOW mine tries to take my hand off if I go near her when she is sitting.
I don't have a gander, last one would attack my call ducks, (tried to keep them seperate but ducks would get thru the fencing), holding them down and tearing feathers from their backs, when he killed one we ate him, never replaced.
The females are normally quite placid.

[goosepimple]

Goodness, never heard of that with geese!  Maybe she's a snake in the grass and knows she's brooding a fine set of ganders 
Good luck!

[tazbabe]

just be nice to them!

having lost my gander during the winter storms, last week i was offered a gander that was causing trouble to his people.

i was told that he would attack and was boisterous and vicious sometimes.

so, here he came.


well, his name is hissing sid.......i have yet to hear him hiss! he has been just great, despite on of my girls attacking him at every opportunity. because of this he has taken to living with the ducks. tonight we decided he has to go in with the geese, so have put him in their run with a divider to give him a bit of safety,

now, while we organised this, this terrible violent gander was enjoying a petting! poor misunderstood boy!

[ZacB]

I love our geese, very mis-understood 



Top tip, if feeling brave 

If a goose comes for you, hold your up-turned hand out, as soon as it latches on, hold it's beak (your hand is in it's beak at this stage  ), firmly because he won't like it much. After a few seconds tugging & maybe a few wing flaps, he will realise he's beat & won't know what to do. 

You are now the boss & he will think twice before coming at you again, it won't stop him charging & hissing (after all this is a goose) but it will make him think twice about really going for you 

[Bionic]

I took on 2 geese when I moved here.  I must admit they are a bit intimidating and I have changed the location of my new hen house because I didn't want to run the gauntlet each time I checked on the chooks.

Having said that i think its more bravado rather than anything else. When I want to go and check their run and give fresh water I distract them with food elsewhere and I always go into the pen with a big stick (not that I have needed to use it).

It probably doesn't help that its mateing time, with the gander is protecting his Mrs.

Sally

[doganjo]

The more I read the more I wonder why people keep these birds.  I'll stay well clear of any I ever come cross I'm afraid.  Once bitten etc ....................

[Mel]

As per a previous post,as some one here suggested my Gandalf must have become sexually mature this year and attached himself to the back of my cardy,when I swung around he was still hanging on,I managed to get a hold of him(ok by his neck) to pull him off and trying to hold him at arms length and that is difficult,I got him off of me and he jumped up and bit me hard under my chin

That bl...dy hurt I can tell you,I picked him up and managed to throw him away but he came back flapping his wings leaving me in a heap on the floor. I had this large blood like blister come scab under for a week!

Chris,the local game keeper and his wife stood there bellowing in laughter

I have had him now probably 18 months to 2 years and he had never done this before,he still comes running at me but I have learned to put my palm up and he stops and backs off-reluctantly though I might add.

He is a formidable character and is probably the reason why we have never had the local fox intrude,I would not be without him and still go and pick dandelions and stuff for him and lady one per day as a treat I could not harm him,it is his way and I can laugh at it now,but at the time,put the wind right up me

[hughesy]

We haven't had ours for long, about a month. A pair of 2 year old Embdens and a pair of their offspring about 10 months. They're no problem at all. There was a bit of hissing from the older gander at first but we just let him get on with it and didn't back down. They now take feed out of our hands. There's a growing clutch of eggs in their shed so hopefully she'll sit soon and goslings will be on their way. Happy days.