06/16/2026
I donât make pets of my geese, but I do love to observe them. Sometimes I think geese were the worldâs first commune. They all seem to take care of one another and each otherâs babies. Watching a flock, itâs easy to see one big family rather than a collection of individual birds.
And âMother Gooseâ is absolutely a real thing.
Years ago, I brought home several tiny baby goats. They cried and cried for their mothers. At the time, I had Toulouse geese. One big goose heard those babies and literally flew across my acre to get to them. She stood with them, talked to them in goose language, and comforted them until they settled down.
What fascinates me even more is that I have more ganders than geese, and those ganders are completely devoted to their girls. So far this year, one goose has hatched four goslings, while several other geese are still sitting on nests in two different locations. The ganders spend their days keeping watch and often hang out near the nesting hens, checking on everyone and making sure all is well.
I always make a separate safe pen for the new family until the goslings are too big to slip through the fence and mature enough to be safe with the larger flock. The gander stays right there with his goose and babies, standing guard and helping tend the little ones. Watching them work together is something special.
People often underestimate geese, but the more I watch them, the more I see a society built on family, cooperation, and shared responsibility. The ganders may not get the credit that Mother Goose does, but they are remarkable fathers and guardians in their own right. đȘżâ€ïž
