Why do geese pinch each other and eat feathers: causes and what to do, prevention

The desire to pinch something is a natural goose need. However, bird breeders are concerned about the question - why do geese hiss, pinch each other and eat feathers. Various factors cause similar problems: an improperly selected diet, vitamin deficiency or overcrowding of the bird. It is recommended to observe the pets to determine the cause of their irritability and identify ways to eliminate it.

Reasons for this behavior and remedies

Breeders identify four main reasons why birds pinch each other. To remedy the situation, various methods are used.

Gosling instinct

A young bird constantly feels the need to pinch something. Moreover, goslings do not always pluck grass - they can grab a person by the hand or eat each other's fluff. To prevent the likelihood of injury, it is recommended that birds be constantly let out for grazing. The goslings will nibble green grass to their heart's content and satisfy not only their hunger, but also their "pinching" instinct.

Although there are individual individuals or breeds of birds that show aggression towards humans and towards each other. A radical method to suppress the bellicose mood in goslings is to insert a feather in the nose. Moreover, feathers are passed through both nostrils through and through. If goslings peck each other for feathers on their backs for no good reason, breeders suggest spreading birch tar on the back of the bird. The peculiar smell and bitter taste will discourage the desire to pinch.

Avitaminosis and calcium deficiency in goslings

Aggressive behavior of goslings, the desire to peck a neighbor can be triggered by beriberi or a lack of calcium in the bird's body. It is during the period of formation and development that the caterpillar's body needs calcium, vitamins and protein.

Therefore, with a deficiency of trace elements, goslings nibble on each other.

Due to the revision of the diet, the regular introduction of vitamin supplements into the feed can eliminate the problem. The daily diet is replenished with vitamin and mineral complexes. The food is mixed with cottage cheese, boiled eggs. An excellent solution to the problem in the summer is grazing birds. Pecking greens, goslings naturally make up for the lack of trace elements and vitamins. Other sources of protein are bone meal, fish oil.

Small containment area

Often crowding, lack of space provoke outbreaks of aggression. In this state, the bird begins to hiss, it can peck not only a person, but also a neighbor. When arranging a poultry house, you need to follow the recommendations.

The area norm based on the number of heads - no more than 10 monthly goslings can be kept on a plot of one square meter. As soon as the individuals grow up to 2 months, they are transferred to a more spacious room (the norm is 4 individuals per square meter).

It is believed that the red color helps to reduce bird aggression. Therefore, you can make red lighting in the house.

If the cause is unknown

Sometimes it happens that birds nibble on each other for no good reason. As a rule, responsible poultry houses carefully draw up a diet, equip spacious rooms for keeping geese. But even creating ideal conditions for growing poultry does not eliminate the problem. Veterinarians advise hanging cabbage leaves, bunches of greens, or even just bright rags in the house to distract the attention of goslings.

It is also impossible to exclude the genetic characteristics of individual breeds of geese. It is believed that individuals of the Legard breed rarely hiss and pinch, they are most adapted to living next to a person.

Sometimes a bird hisses due to untimely feeding and the manifestation of a heightened sense of hunger. Therefore, it is recommended to feed the geese at certain times. Sometimes aggression is provoked by the appearance on the territory of an extraneous small bird, dog. Geese are strong birds that actively defend their territory.

Do geese pinch hurt?

The bird's beak is not sharp, so it may seem harmless. However, this is a misleading impression. Of course, a goose cannot pierce human skin with its beak, but it can pinch strongly.

If strong and large individuals attack a person, then painful sensations are provided, and bruises with bruises may remain on the body.

Sometimes one or more individuals in a flock of birds exhibit aggressive behavior. In this case, it is recommended to isolate them in a separate enclosure. A goose hatching eggs can also react violently to the appearance of strangers.

Problem Prevention

It is not always possible to allocate a spacious meadow or plot for grazing birds. In this case, in order to avoid the attack of geese, it is advisable to adhere to certain rules of conduct:

don't tease the birds. It is necessary to ensure that the children do not annoy the geese and do not provoke outbreaks of aggressive bird behavior;
it is not recommended to crawl into goose nests unnecessarily;
to fight off impudent individuals, poultry houses often use rods or vines. And after a while, even the sight of a vine will subdue the belligerent geese;
so that strong chicks do not offend the weak, it is recommended to separate the goslings and keep them in separate enclosures;
sometimes aggressive behavior provokes diseases. When infected with viral enteritis, individual individuals begin to pluck out fluff from themselves or their relatives. To prevent the disease, goslings are given special vaccinations. You need to seek help from a veterinarian who will select the drug.

If there are small children in the family, a great way to prevent geese attacks is to install aviaries or a high fence around the bird's grazing area.

Don't underestimate aggressive geese. Since the birds pluck quite painfully. The appearance of a goose running with spread wings can greatly frighten young children. Therefore, the choice of the breed of geese and the arrangement of places where they are kept must be treated responsibly.