Ever since I have worked at the Cincinnati Zoo I have dreamed about owning Peafowl. I was so enchanted with the Victorian vision of Peacocks displaying their iridescent feathers around our farm. However, I just couldn't sell Rick on the idea of a large Vilociraptor-like bird that screams when frightened (day or night) and has a habit of roosting in exactly the places you wish they wouldn't (like the roof of your house).Over the last several years I have tried to warm Rick up to the idea of Peafowl and thought perhaps a few Guineafowl would be a good introduction to Peafowl ownership. After all, they were somewhat of a smaller version of Peafowl. And so, our farm became home to half a dozen beautifully speckled little Guineas. In the end, I found that they screamed at everything (including Rick and I) and roosted exactly where you didn't want them to (in the tree tops in the middle of a snow storm or in the neighbors apple tree).
These birds had fifty acres to call home and a warm comfy food-filled coop to keep them safe at night. Instead, each morning I would open their coop and they would fall into rank, marching one by one, following the driveway down to the road and take a right. Their determination to leave my farm would have been humorous if I hadn't been so worried for their safety. Rick would retrieve them like a Shepard gathering his flock; rounding them up with a large stick and driving them back down our hill each evening. For this reason, I began keeping them locked up which left both them and I miserable. I gave up the illusion of being a Guineafowl owner and found them a new home where they could runaway on someone else's watch.
After this experience, the mere mention of Peacock ownership would bring back memories of the Guineafowl debacle. Rick was all too happy to bring up my failure in this animal husbandry department. Still yearning for additional fowl to fill my barnyard niche, I began pondering geese. The more I read about geese, the more I found them to be personable creatures and perhaps a good alternative to Peafowl.
My only experience with geese was CQ, the quirky goose owned by my mother-in-law.
When I met CQ, he was an ancient goose in terms of goose age, pushing probably 13 years of age. I would visit Rick's mother's house and would watch the goose run around the stalls with the sheep and goats as though it was one of them. In fact, the goose was known to "adopt" one of the sheep and proudly ride around on the sheep's back. Over time, the sheep would pass on and the CQ would pick another lucky sheep victim to use as transportation around the barn yard. What were the chances that I would end up with such a quirky goose?
And so, I settled on a pair of geese. After I researched the different varieties, I settled upon the beautiful African goose, known for their docile temperaments. I placed my order for one male and one female African goose and eagerly awaited their delivery. Late that spring, the chirping brown box filled with fluff arrived at the local post office. Upon opening the box at the post office, I found myself puzzled by the contents of one light brown gosling and one all yellow gosling staring back at me. They were different varieties ....... I would later find out that the hatchery mailed me a white Chinese male and a female African by accident (as a side note, the Chinese goose is known for its aggressive guard-dog-like behavior). And so, I named them Romeo and Juliet, two lovers from different rival families.
I gathered the box up and brought them to work to begin bonding with the 2 day old goslings. They spent the day in a cardboard box next to my desk and quickly became accustomed to my voice, squawking every time they heard me. The only way to quite them was to allow them to sleep in my lap, and so, that is where they spend their first day.
I had read about the difficulties of geese ownership. The biggest problems seem to be routed in aggressive behavior and the aggressive behavior was generally attributed to lack of bonding at a young age. And so, they lived in our house the first month and took daily walks with me, and enjoyed baths in Raven's baby pool.
A year later, Romeo and Juliet proudly call our barnyard their home. Romeo lives up to all the characteristic of his variety.....he is loud......he is mean......and he doesn't like people in his barnyard (including Rick). I believe that even Juliet gets tired of his boisterous behavior. She squeezes under the gate and spends the day in the yard, free of Romeo's overbearing behavior. But each night she returns to him to lay her egg.
And with having geese, comes some of their quirky behavior. Rick and I have both tried relentlessly to introduce them to the farm pond, but the moment they realize that their feet don't touch the bottom they exist the pond with feathers flying. Perhaps this is residual behavior from the days spent in our bathtub and in Raven's baby pool. To them, the next best thing to Raven's baby pool has been our spring-fed watering trough. Now we must come up with a screen to keep the pesky geese out. That is one thing about farm animals, they are always trying to make new projects to keep you busy.
And do they remember their "mother"?........ Of course. I am not sure if they love me or hate me, but they greet me with a different behavior than anyone else. Especially Romeo who insist on climbing onto my back to groom my hair when I collect eggs. Yes, I video tapped this embarrassing interaction for your entertainment below. Who needs peacocks anyways.....
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