Weeder Geese?

Hi GoodEgg

Geese are great as weed eaters and  walking lawn mowers.   They just walk along clipping off the top of the grass,  not tearing it up like chickens do or snorkling in it as duck will.   By the way,  geese are vegetarians and dont eat bugs.   You need ducks  to eat the bugs such as fly and mosquito larva,  snails, slugs and even yellow jackets.   Ducks will also eat weeds along with dabbling for bugs.   A year ago when I had a nice size flock of ducks and geese out back,  I didnt have any bugs,  and the grass never needed mowing.  The weeds were kept down to the same height as the grass.

Chinese geese are loud,  but beautiful.  I have sebastopols.   Currently I have one that is sharing a  large (7x 25) covered chain link kennel with 4 chickens.  They get along fine and stroll around together when they are out free ranging.

Start training them when they are young to eat the weeds from the garden by cultivating a small patch and feeding it to them.  They will leave many garden veggies alone,  but dont ever feed them lettuce or other foods that you grow in the garden,  or they will help themselves.

Sorry,  rambling now.

chel

<------- loves geese and ducks

Geese are great at weeding and they usually get along with chickens. Sometimes ganders don't get along with roosters and since they are larger the rooster usually looses... it really depends on your birds' personalities. housing the two species together is fine as long as a few guidelines are met:

1. Fence of the area under the roosts since geese sleep on the ground and they probably could do without getting pooped on.

2. Keep the waterers outside so the coop stays dry. Geese are messy when it comes to water and a damp coop is no good for chickens. A good practice is to keep the water on a raised platform (short enough to allow the birds to easily drink) with a wire mesh top for drainage.

3. You'll have to modify the waters to allow the geese to submerge their hold heads to dislodge any dibris form their nostrils... adding an additional bucket is recommended.

4. Allow your mixed flock a lot of extra living space so bullying is minimized.

5. Geese can be raised without a pond but they should have access to an area where they can submerse themselves so their feathers are kept clean and in good shape. Kippy pools work well but have to be cleaned frequently.