geese - gender and egg laying

[CarolynEarley]

We have 4 geese and are unsure as to whether they are male or female. we think there are 3 males and 1 female. At what age do they start to lay eggs? Ours are 4 months old, is this too early to expect eggs?

 

[Davidd]

Hi, geese are only seasonal layers- they will only lay from Feb to june in the uk- they dont lay all year around and yours are far too young at 4 months- they will lay next spring. If you have 3 ganders then it would be better to either get some more geese or get rid of two of the ganders- with only one goose she will have a very hard time and the ganders will fight over her.
regards, David

 

[CarolynEarley]

Hi David

Will it make a difference that we live in Crete so it is warm all year???? If we go to get more geese is there a way of knowing if they are females? Would we be able to put them with the others without them getting bullied - is that a stupid question, only I know you have to be careful with chickens? We have 40 chickens, 6 ducks, 4 geese and 4 turkeys all loose together, is that a problem? :?

 

[CarolynEarley]

is there a way of telling if they are male or female? We asked for 3 females and a male. We know about the drakess curly tail and can tell the male turky as he is so much bigger and has very long tail feathers but are not sure with the geese .... they are 4 months old now. If we get goslings they sell them at about 2 weks old how will we tell if males or females ?

 

[Davidd]

Hi, you can only tell for sure by vent sexing at day old or once adult- they don't have any curly tails or differences so, it's impossible to know for sure until adult if not vent sexed at day old.
regards, David

 

[CarolynEarley]

So we could end up with more males if we go to our Greek farmer. He goes by the width of their foreheads and says if they are wider then they are males. He got it right with the turkeys and ducks using this method, or maybe he was just lucky

 

[Davidd]

Well he may be having an educated guess-probably from years of experience- i can normally get it right by just watching the birds but can never be 100% unless you vent sex or they lay :lol: - mating doesn't work either- two males or two females will pair and "mate" if no others around.
regards, David

 

[CarolynEarley]

thanks :lol:

 

[CarolynEarley]

how old do geese have to be before they lay eggs?

 

[Davidd]

Hi, they need to be approx one year old before laying
regards, David

 

[CarolynEarley]

they are only babies then at 5 months :lol: