So I have heard and read from Joel Salatin and some websites that guard geese will help protect chickens from aerial predators like hawks and owls. Since we lost a few chickens on pasture to hawks a few years back, we thought we'd try the goose thing. It took a couple of attempts to get the geese to adulthood, but our geese never took to guarding chickens. We raised them adjacent to a chicken yard for their first 4 months, then when we mixed them in with the chickens they simply terrorized the chickens. After a few weeks of trying, we got tired of seeing our chickens stressed out by the aggressive geese. Kept the geese in winter quarters all last year while the chickens were on pasture. This past winter when I brought the chickens back to the winter coop we tried mingling the chickens and geese. The geese actually killed three chickens in the span of about two days.
So before we try this experiment again, I thought I'd ask if guard geese are a real thing...or do I need to have the geese separated from the chickens (and will that deter the hawks)?
Appreciate any thoughts.
Who Is John Galt?
So before we try this experiment again, I thought I'd ask if guard geese are a real thing...or do I need to have the geese separated from the chickens (and will that deter the hawks)?
Appreciate any thoughts.
Who Is John Galt?