bad mommy goose

[michelle cook]

i have a chinese snow goose that had 5 babys hatch and are now 5 weeks old mommy keeps attacking the smallest one [born 1 week later, 1 of 2 late, i had to seperate her! any idias why she does this?

[Daisylover]

We too just got a chinese snow goose out at thebunny sanctuary where I volunteer. No babies though but Gus seems to be a mean old boy.

I have no idea why mom would be so mean to her baby.....except that maybe she thinks it isn't strong enough to survive. I'd continue to keep the baby away from her until the baby is quite a bit bigger....then I would still watch her closely. You may never be able to have them be together if she is a stubborn bird. :(

[michelle cook]

thanks, daisy,i have been having trouble getting back in for some reason or i would have answered earlier,i now have mommy goose[big bird] in the other side and daddy[oscer the grouch] should have been the other way! ha ha! is on her side now to,babys now have2, others found a home,i had to keep the younger runt,and one older baby to keep company,they are doing fine so long as they can see daddy[oscar]i ran chicken wire down center and gave them the small kiddie pool as dad tought them to swim , big bird and oscar have the bigger kiddie pool,
boy do those little guys love diving onder the water! and big bird i thought drowned ? i came running out tinking she was cought on something ,her feet were up in the air , floating, and when i got ther to open the gate she flipped back up! i guess the joke was on me at 2am, ha ha! learn as they get older michelle.

[Daisylover]

It sounds like you've worked out the problem just fine....What are they living in, I couldn't quite tell from your reply.

[michelle cook]

hi! they are living in a very large house my husband[im soo lucky he is very skilled at stuff] built, it is about the size of those log cabin play houses you see!we have a small ramp going into it and hay ,of course there large kiddie pool, surrounded by a in closed chain link kennel about 14ft -12ft ,with a heat light with a metal box or wire around it[so they dont bite the bulb or burn there heads on it if it gets bumped,what are yours in? my cats were so bummed when we moved the gooses in they have a spot under the house with hay and a heat light ,small night light[
all of them have these ,they also have a place in garrage on top rafters and below work table,i get some rommers in winter and i have a 3legged racoon,ano tailed possom, older cats prefer to be seperate!

[Daisylover]

We have a Duck House at the sanctuary...it sounds a lot like yours, except for the heat lamp. It's in the middle of the sanctuary in a very large field and the ducks and Gus are free to move around and go exploring or for a swim in the pond. We aren't too worried about him being attacked by predators as he can be quite agressive, even with shelter personnel....I fed the bunnies last week..it takes about 2 1/2 hours to get to them all...and I swear, no exgaggerating (spell?), he honked and carried on the whole 2 and 1/2 hrs I was on "his" property!!!! :D :D :D Previous weeks he had left me alone...I don't think there is any way to figure out what's going on in that beady little mind, but he is gorgeous and a lot of fun anyways !:p :p

[michelle cook]

hi! daisy lover, gus sounds like our big bird , some days she is ok![[when she sees i havegrass or treat seeds] and sopme days she is very crabby about any one coming in her pen,or the back yard , she honks at the kids when they go by to the play ground! and she just has a major hissy when she sees the racoon or possum come up to eat with the cats, even though it is all the way down on the porch!oscar the male[loggerhead] likes to put on quiet a show too! as we know he is just so vicius[not!]: :eek:
he hisses something fearse when i move big bird out of my way or go into the little ones side, poor oscar his little head quivers and you know he just wants you to be scarred of him [protective dad] but his little pecks tickle! ha ha! better let big bird [mommy take care of that part! we were gone for the week end and all the animals were soo happy when we got back! thought about taking them to the lake with us like i did when they were little but scarred they may swim off , or get hit by a boat, as the lake house is across from a bar and resteraunt? i now the wuold love it [may be i could get some of that orange plastic fence stuff and close them off a area on the lake] what do you think?

[Presley]

next door to where my mom keeps her horse there are three baby geese.. soooooooo cute!!!!!
don't know how to help you with your problem though....

[michelle cook]

:D hi! we are across from the time out ,resteraunt and bar, at the lake of the ozarks in golden beach , there is a mommy and daddy goose and 4 babys that come by here every morning and in the evening if it is quiet they will come and sit off to the side when i am fishing:p they awiat for a peice of bread, then they mossy on there way mine are chinese snow[big bird] dad chinese loggerhead[oscer] they can not fly they do bunnie hops about 1ft off the ground though i fell so sad for them when the canadian gooses fly over:( they honk and carry on and try soo hard to get up in the air !their two babys are loosing there downy now and they look like who else ?[silly me] not one but mommy and daddy:eek: they are brown grey heads backs like dad too chests are a white giant t shape and feet are multi colord too! gray[dad ,white[mom]my daughter says they look like pinguins:D where at the lake is your mothers horses presley?:;)

Next door , there is a restored farmhouse with a water-rampart all around it ; every year at least 100 wild geese come there ; they move southwards in October and return in Spring !!
Right now , lots of them have little ones !! Sooooooooo cute to watch !!! My daughter can watch their "swimming lessons" out of her bedroom window ! Yesterday one black mommy passed through our garden followed by two yellow and two black kiddies ...... By the time I had my camera ready , they had disappeared ..... Ooooohhhhhhhh .......

ps . today i saw them again ii But so sad :black mommy with two black and only ONE yellow kitten ..... ONe must have run under a car ................... so sad !!