[maurice]

Hello everyone-
I’m new to goose keeping and still have a lot to learn. I have a very friendly young Ebden gander (born May 2013)and have been advised to find him a girl for company. I’m not interested in breeding from him.
I have been lucky to find a person with a flock who is willing to let me have one. Questions are:
1.   How can I tell the females from the males in the flock?
2.   How do I catch one if they are in a large open field and not familiar with close human contact?
3.   Is age difference important? If yes, how can I tell a young goose from an older one?
4.   When choosing one of the geese, what should I look for / avoid? Or is it just a case of ‘whichever one is easiest caught’?
Thanks in advance for your answers.

Best regards
Maurice

[shygirl]

gander will come towards you and the goose will run away if you give them chance to move without too much stress.
we used to catch them by the neck and very quickly control the wings with your hands. you can carry them under your arm with one hand on the neck to stop them from pecking your face. beware wings really hurt if they strike you, so be quick. iv ripped nails off my fingers with goose wings - ouch.
herding them into a stable makes life easier. iv seen geese caught in the field with a big fishing net but it did take a long times, a bit of sweat and a few swear words...
try catching them in the evening when they are settling down for the night.

if they are pedigree birds of the same breed, then the younger ones are smaller. they should all be fully feathered by now. the younger ones also wouldnt be the leaders in the flock so watch their behaviour if possible.
im sure a lonely gander would be grateful for any female irrespective of age. they do live a long time.

go for one with bright eyes, clean bum and clean feathers. ill birds dont look after their feathers so well.
good luck. im sure the owner will help you, unless he has a wicked sense of humour 

[Hevxxx99]

If you're not interested in breeding, wouldn't it be better to get a gander as a companion?  I've heard they get on fine as long as there are no females to fight over.

Catch just as Shygirl says and do watch the wings: they don't so much flap as punch and it bloody hurts!!

[shygirl]

yes, a gander would be good.
of course you can eat the eggs from a goose but some do have a strong broody desire so its a shame to stop them from breeding when they really want to. (we had a lone muscovy duck who spent a very long month on a load of infertile eggs, was a shame to see as she really wanted babies)

[maurice]

Hi Hevxxx99 and shygirl-
Thanks for the suggestions, I hadn't reaslised two ganders would be OK together.
I'll let you know how I get on although it won't be for a couple of weeks until we return from holiday.
Maurice

[roddycm]

Two ganders will be fine, they will bond and even rear babies together if you gave them som in spring haha I've had ganders "pair up" and steal babies which they then reared very successfully! A modern family if you like!

If you did want a female the easiest thing to do is vent sex them. It is extremely easy and there are articles on the net on how to do this. I vent sex all my duck and geese to keep the right levels of males to females!
Good luck!