Can I keep a single goose with 4 ducks sharing a coop?

[lutherpug]

Title says it all. I have 4 ducklings coming in May and am curious about raising a female gosling with them to serve as a protector. I realize this wouldn't be a guarantee but would it be enough of a deterrent to be worth it? My primary goal (other than having a goose, which I think would be neat) would be to avoid covering the run. It may make no sense, whatsoever, to do this but I thought I would ask.

 

[Squeak61]

Geese make wonderful alarms, but are almost completely useless in terms of protecting your flock. It depends on what exactly you expect. They probably won’t deter anything, but they will certainly let you know if any animals pop up.

 

[lutherpug]

They would be protected by an electric fence against all the usual suspects-raccoons, coyotes, dogs, etc. My hope was that a hawk would think twice about going somewhere with a big goose around. Sounding an alarm is great if I'm home but we both work during the day.

 

[bluemerle]

It's hard to say whether a goose would be a visual deterrent for a hawk. I think I would cover all my bases and go for a covered run, anyhow. However, I know it's recommended that you always get at least two geese, as they are very social and get lonely without another goose around!

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[lutherpug]

Well shoot. Maybe I'll extend my chicken run when we redo it and try to use that instead. Thanks, I appreciate all the good info!

 

[lutherpug]

I think I'm arriving at the realization that we are going to likely have to put the duck coop in our existing chicken run and give them a combined run and hope they use their own coops. The run is plenty big enough (600 sq ft with no more than 30 chickens). It could probably accommodate 4-6 ducks, I imagine. The poopy duck water would help compost the run material (we do modified DLM)..... I'm worried about the amount of duck poop but maybe this could work? I really want the ducks but I can't figure out where to put them

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’d set the ducks up inside the run with their own area and coop. Especially if your going to have a drake. Drakes and chicken hens confined together can cause trouble once the drakes get to mating age chickens and drakes are not made to breed each other.

 

[lutherpug]

No drakes. We have 2 female Ancona and 2 female Blue Swedish on order. My flock of chickens will have 1 rooster-a Salmon Favorelles. He is a year old and currently in quarantine for another week-he will get introduced next week. He was calm in his previous flock and I hope he will be here as well.