Will a goose try to mate a gander?

[TxGooseMom]

I have an unusual situation with my 5 month old geese. We got them in August as day old "gray baby geese". The other choice was "white baby geese". Because of their size in assuming we have Africans but I'm not that educated on how to tell the difference between Africans and Chinese so please correct me if I'm wrong.

The first month of raising them one was much bigger than the other so we assumed the larger gosling was a male. We named him Cosmo and the female Gimlet.

At about 5 weeks old Cosmo was bit by a coral snake. We didn't see the snake but he was fine one minute and down on the ground almost lifeless. I'm not a venom expert but do have enough experience to identify what kind of snakebite it is. I've attended conferences about venomous snakes and breed a mildly venomous species.

Our vet agreed and we treated him with antibiotics in case of infection and I tube fed him to keep him alive while recovering. He never really lost his appetite but couldn't walk for about 4 weeks and he was very weak when he did try to walk again. We had a hurricane in the middle of his rehab so he spent almost a month in rehab. We swam him in the pool and moved him around the yard to graze grass. The following month he was able to walk but would limp and would lay down often to rest.

During this time Gimlet was very stressed and seemed to try to get him to stand. She would peck at his weaker leg in the pool and it encouraged him to use his legs. Once he was better she still picked on him occasionally.

Today I went out and found her on top of him holding him under the water in their pool. I've seen her mount him one other time.

I'm wondering if this is normal goose/gander behavior? His growth pretty much stopped when he was sick and although he caught up to her in size his nob hasn't grown much and he's not as stocky as I would expect him to be. Could he be a female? I don't think so as his underside doesn't have a flap hanging like she does. But maybe he's deformed from laying down so long?

What can I do to stop her from trying to drown him? I did drain the pool and only filled it up halfway. We're planning a nice pond for them in the spring. Should we make it extra deep so if this behavior continues he can get away easier?

Here are some videos. Looking back I did get one of her picking on him in the pool from November. Can y'all tell if I'm mistaken on sex?
I uploaded some videos to YouTube. Hope the links work.

 

[Goosebaby]

The only way to be sure of sex is to sex them, it’s easier when they’re goslings and will be fairly difficult now, so that leaves genetic sexing.

Males will mount other males and females will mount other females, it can happen year round but is more common during breeding season “winter/spring.”

The feather and foot biting have more to do with dominating the pool, mine will do that to others if they want them out of the pool.

 

[Jenbirdee]

yes, normal. they are crazy like that, and so are ducks.

 

[JRies]

Yep had to take 2 girls out of the mix this year for a while in order to get the gander they wanted they kept breeding the other girls. Then breeding the gander to teach him how it was done. My boys are not a year yet so haven't found the target. Just remember geese are not adult till year 2 or three. Goosebaby has good advice getting them sexed is the best way to know there sex. I had 3 I was in question about feather tested yep boys.

 

[For The Love Of Geese]

The only way to be sure of sex is to sex them, it’s easier when they’re goslings and will be fairly difficult now, so that leaves genetic sexing.

Males will mount other males and females will mount other females, it can happen year round but is more common during breeding season “winter/spring.”

The feather and foot biting have more to do with dominating the pool, mine will do that to others if they want them out of the pool.

You can sex a male chinese by gently squeezing the posterior area by the poop hole and a gander has a corkscrew penis that will extend out and is rather long, also males will hold their heads all the way up or forward and be a higher pitch shrill sounding vs female has a defined deep honk.

 

[OrganikMarket]

I have an unusual situation with my 5 month old geese. We got them in August as day old "gray baby geese". The other choice was "white baby geese". Because of their size in assuming we have Africans but I'm not that educated on how to tell the difference between Africans and Chinese so please correct me if I'm wrong.

The first month of raising them one was much bigger than the other so we assumed the larger gosling was a male. We named him Cosmo and the female Gimlet.

At about 5 weeks old Cosmo was bit by a coral snake. We didn't see the snake but he was fine one minute and down on the ground almost lifeless. I'm not a venom expert but do have enough experience to identify what kind of snakebite it is. I've attended conferences about venomous snakes and breed a mildly venomous species.

Our vet agreed and we treated him with antibiotics in case of infection and I tube fed him to keep him alive while recovering. He never really lost his appetite but couldn't walk for about 4 weeks and he was very weak when he did try to walk again. We had a hurricane in the middle of his rehab so he spent almost a month in rehab. We swam him in the pool and moved him around the yard to graze grass. The following month he was able to walk but would limp and would lay down often to rest.

During this time Gimlet was very stressed and seemed to try to get him to stand. She would peck at his weaker leg in the pool and it encouraged him to use his legs. Once he was better she still picked on him occasionally.

Today I went out and found her on top of him holding him under the water in their pool. I've seen her mount him one other time.

I'm wondering if this is normal goose/gander behavior? His growth pretty much stopped when he was sick and although he caught up to her in size his nob hasn't grown much and he's not as stocky as I would expect him to be. Could he be a female? I don't think so as his underside doesn't have a flap hanging like she does. But maybe he's deformed from laying down so long?

What can I do to stop her from trying to drown him? I did drain the pool and only filled it up halfway. We're planning a nice pond for them in the spring. Should we make it extra deep so if this behavior continues he can get away easier?

Here are some videos. Looking back I did get one of her picking on him in the pool from November. Can y'all tell if I'm mistaken on sex?
I uploaded some videos to YouTube. Hope the links work.

You are a great Bird mommy. It’s wonderful to see such tame Geese

 

[Jaxsmitty11]

The only way to be sure of sex is to sex them, it’s easier when they’re goslings and will be fairly difficult now, so that leaves genetic sexing.

Males will mount other males and females will mount other females, it can happen year round but is more common during breeding season “winter/spring.”

The feather and foot biting have more to do with dominating the pool, mine will do that to others if they want them out of the pool.

How do you sex goslings? I have 2 little ones. Is it something I can do myself?

 

[Goosebaby]

How do you sex goslings? I have 2 little ones. Is it something I can do myself?

You can do it yourself but you need to be delicate.

Metzer has a good tutorial