Advice on goose predation

[D.]

My wife and I created this profile to ask about our geese. We bought two geese, one Toulese and one White Chinese, which were inseparable and very protective of each other, both between 12-14 weeks old. We've been letting them out of our coop to do their own thing for a while now, and the first night I didn't lock the geese up, the next morning one was gone. The next day, we also lost one Great White Turkey (17weeks) and the day after one Araucauna chicken (20-22weeks), but the turkey was sick, and never left the coop cage(which was left open during the day), so something would of had to come INTO the cage to get the turkey at least. Both the chicken and the turkey were lost during the day.

We live on a ranch in Meade County of South Dakota, and my initial suspect was a fox, but the geese were as tall as our two year old daughter, can a fox get prey that large? Bobcat? Raccoon? Owl? Coyote?

 

[Speceider]

I have lost birds as large as black swans to bobcats, but they were not able to pack the carcass off. Because they are probably feeding young, my guess would be bobcats or coyotes for the number and size of birds you lost.

Clint

 

[mominoz]

Check the predator section in the Index. Holderreads says and I second it.If you don't have a nighttime predator-proof pen, you will eventually lose your birds to predation. Years ago, before there was internet I lost my adult geese to 2 raccoons working together... Hot wire helps "proof" any pen or fence.....

 

[sanctus7]

We have coyotes in our area plus neighbor dogs. I keep my geese locked up till I come home and then let them out. Even the chickens stay in the pen until I am outside working in the yard where I can keep a close eye on them. We have bald eagles and hawks that will take out a chicken in a heartbeat. I have recently lossed 7 pullets to a coyote that dug his way into the pen. We spent a weekend laying chicken wire around the perimeter with tent stake posts to secure it.
I still lock the flock up at night in a coop that is 6x8: 15 chickens and two ducks, three adult buff dewlaps and a goseling..too small but it is secure.
I will expand the area in the winter but they will always be locked up.
We have too many predators in the country and I would rather have them locked up then dead.
Good luck!