African Pygmy Goose

In the wild pygmy geese spend most of their life on the water but do also frequently perch on overhanging branches of dead trees and are only rarely seen on land. They have very short legs and consequently do not walk well on land and for this reason they are much better maintained full winged in an aviary. Unlike many species of waterfowl their flight is very agile and if disturbed they will take flight but even in relatively small aviaries it is unusual for them to collide with the sides of the aviary so flight can be enjoyed in a very natural way. If housed in an aviary where they are the only waterfowl they will thrive but can be kept with other species if care is taken. When the Africans are in breeding condition they will try and dominate other species that may be significantly larger and while this is not a problem there is always the risk that the larger species may turn on the African pygmy and inflict significant damage so it is much safer to keep them on their own.

African pygmy geese are delicate and breed extremely rarely in captivity. They may be best maintained fully-flighted in an aviary. A raised nest box should be provided. The normal laying period is May to September. Ducklings apparently feed by straining small particles from the water. Feeding may be stimulated by rapidly moving fingers in a dish of water containing fine feed; this may be required for three weeks or more. Duckweed may also be useful to encourage feeding, but may itself be too large for young downies to eat. Supplemental tube feeding has been useful in downies during the initial rearing period.

African pygmy geese are delicate and cold-sensitive, requiring protection and heat at night in winter. A sunny enclosure in summer, containing a well-vegetated pond, combined with a spacious heated tropical house in winter has been suggested. Nutritious fine-size food, including small seeds such as millet, with additional duckweed and similar fine green food suggested.

Male African pygmy geese take a very active part in nest site selection, a variety of raised nest boxes should be provided but the requirements do not appear to be particularly exacting. As the pair come into breeding condition the male will start flying up to nest boxes and calling quite loudly and very soon afterwards the female will also start flying up to the chosen nest box. The males do not actually enter the nest box but really do appear to actively encourage the female to inspect the box. Once a nest box has been selected the female will very quickly start to make a nest. With most species of waterfowl the female will make little more than a depression, scrape, one or two days prior to laying the first egg. Female African Pygmy Geese make quite a deep scrape in the nest box and if straw is available in the box they will line the scrape and effectively make much more of a nest prior to laying the first egg than any other species of waterfowl.

The ideal relative humidity for incubating most waterfowl eggs is 55% (ground nesters) and 40% (cavity nesters). The temperature is usually 37.4°C. Set ventilation as recommended by the incubator manufacturer. Eggs must be turned, either automatically or by hand, a minimum of 4 times a day. As the duckling develops there is a loss of water from the egg and the air sac gets bigger. In normal development of an egg with a 24 days incubation, the air sac occupies about a third of it three days earlier. Cleanliness is vital and ideally eggs should be moved to a separate hatcher at this point, where the humidity should be increased to 65% and even higher once they have pipped internally.