Dandelion greens are a big hit with my geese. And recently they discovered the joys of watermelon. Be careful how "friendly" you let the ganders get. Many people believe this can lead to aggression during the breeding season, since you are breaking down natural inhibitions by "taming" them.

My geese have all been raised from small goslings which makes them easier to "tame" but I created one dangerous gander with my first geese. Now I encourage my gander to keep a little distance.... We are friendly, but not on patting or hand-feeding terms. He likes to be talked to, however, and they all come to me when I go out there.

If you have the room for more geese, you might want to look at getting some Pilgrim goslings next spring. Pilgrims are sweethearts. And since the ganders are white with blue eyes and the geee are grey with dark eyes, it is easy to adjust your treatment of them. They are just a little easier than some of the other breeds.

Here is a link that might be useful: You'll like this article - Goose Whisperer

Hi Bewitch - welcome to the wonderful world of geese.

I agree with Maggie, be careful of what you wish for. We have two "africans" - turned out to be Brown chinese (Terrific watch dogs!) . We raised them from day-olds and they'll melt your heart at this age. Come next spring, you'll wish you'd have set up some boudaries. We were careful NOT to hand feed them and even got them some pals (gray geese) to round out the flock as they were getting a little TOO chummy at about 4 to 5 months. Glad we did. During breeding season, our gander still ran me around the yard quite a bit. He only charged me, never sank any 'teeth' in. Don't know if he ever really intended to go full bore, but it was a powerful bluff! Emden are apparently even more aggressive. We steered clear of them.

Our advice? THink of it more as getting them accustom to your presence and establishing patterns. Get them used to being herded around, where to go and where not to go. Geese are very smart, they learn fast...and buckle up for breeding season. COuld be a bit of a ride. Well worth it, We were blessed with 8 goslings this spring, but our experience overall taught us that these birds required more 'management' than our other poultry to keep everyone safe, happy and supplied with ample space.

As for treats, ours like canned corn and LOVE fresh greenleaf spinich. GOod luck.

LF

Hi we just bought two (male and female) 5 months old geese...i think they are the chinese variety. Have no experience at all with geese, we have them here for about 3-4 days. But they are always scared and run away when anyone, including the family when approaching them. Is there a way to "tame" them so that they don't run away from us? but still keep a distance so that come breeding time, we will not experience the bad "chase" ? and can geese who are brother and sister still mate and produce healthy eggs?
I'm more a cat person, so with cats, siblings is not good for mating...will it be the same?

thanksss :D
Nadia