Herding Geese
| Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group (herd), maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. Herding can refer either to the process of animals forming herds in the wild, or to human intervention forming herds for some purpose. While the layperson uses the term “herding” to describe this human intervention, most individuals involved in the process term it mustering, “working stock”, or droving. — Wikipedia |
The first point to remember when learning to herd your flock is that geese are gregarious animals, they prefer to hang out in groups. Unlike chickens or turkeys, geese may be made to move in any desired direction as an entire group instead of scattering in all directions—that is, if the herder knows how to make this happen. Like sheep and cattle, geese have a natural instinct to stick together; nevertheless they must be trained to respond appropriately to the herder’s various motions. Luckily the inherent intelligence in a flock of geese makes this an easy chore.
It’s a learning process.
Both parties, the virgin herder and virgin goose flock, need to learn what herding is all about, to learn what will work and what will not.
Human learners can be hampered by expectations of what herding can look like when applied to a trained herd by a trained herder, thinking that their new flock will automatically know how to respond to theirs wishes. The best approach is, if not to completely ignore anything you’ve seen or heard about herding, to at least put in far in the back of your mind so it will not bother you as you are learning to herd. Your best teacher will be your close observation of your flock as it responds to all your movements. Note that although there will be a single dominant bird, the whole flock will follow any goose that seems to have a good idea, and on occasion this will not be the normally dominant goose.
Geese need to learn that the motions of the herder are not an attack that needs to be feared but a series of suggestions that are to be followed. In a sense, you are becoming the “head goose” of the flock whose each and every member is keeping one eye on you and one eye on what every other goose is doing. Geese will remarkably remember where you want them to go once they are back on a path previously traveled. Thus, when you drive your flock to a new destination, this will generally be the most difficult drive. All future drives that contain at least one goose from that original group will go more smoothly since the memory of the previous drive will suggest to them where they are going.
Your first time.
As you begin, it is best to select a few geese to work with, perhaps a half dozen, instead of your entire flock. A smaller group is more likely to hang together as one unit rather than breaking up into two subgroups.
Having two or three people who can variously play primary and secondary roles, is also helpful.
Leave the dogs inside unless they are already better trained in herding techniques than you are. Otherwise they will not understand what is going on but will love to join in the fun of “chasing the geese”.
Find a stick five to seven feet long, light enough that you can wave it in an outstretched arm for minutes at a time. This stick will act as an amplifier for your outstretched arm which you will be using to steer the flock. Basswood is ideal for this purpose due to its lightness, but spruce, ash or maple will do.
What to do.
While still in the pen, try slowly approaching the flock with your stick in hand. You’ll notice that when you wave the herding stick to the left, the geese will go to the right. When you wave it to the right, they go left. As you approach them, they walk away.When you stop, so do they. But when you back up, they won’t come toward you, so remember this vehicle has no reverse gear. Of course this can be remedied by shaking a scoop of grain, but we’re focused here on driving the geese, not feeding them. So if you have driven them past the point you want them to be, this is where a second person can come in handy. A little forethought will have sent the second person way on ahead, far enough so as not to be an impediment to driving the geese in their direction. Then they station themselves with their herding stick just beyond the point where you want the geese to stop or change direction. Once the geese have reached the point where you want them to turn, the second person begins to move from side to side, using their herding stick to emphasize their presence. This is where slowness of your motions and close observation of how the geese are reacting to your moves becomes important. They will huddle with each goose looking in a different direction. A careful slow waving of their herding sticks by both herders will work to suggest movement to the flock. In such a way you can change the rapid forward movement of the flock into a right angle turn at an appropriate place.
Learn The Speed of a Goose.
The pace to aim for is a calm walking pace for a person; this is a comfortable pace for a goose walking on familiar ground. Geese walking in a new area or along a new route may be more hesitant their first time through, but once the route becomes familiar to them, their pace will quicken.
It’s important while herding geese not to panic them by forcing them to run. When they run, they are apt to veer off in an undesired direction. One goose may take off in its own direction separate from the group. They may even try to take flight, so if you see them spreading their wings, you know you’ve been pushing them too quickly.
