Do ducks and geese need to be locked up at night once grown?

[moenmitz]

I herd them into a hardware cloth prison right now at night as they are just 7 weeks old-but once they are grown, do I still need to keep them somewhere predator proof? We have a dog and several cats that kill pretty much every wild creature that comes in the yard, so I am not worried about coons or foxes-would owls take a grown goose or duck?

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Ducks will need to be in a predator proof cage at night

I have 2 male Toulouse geese that are 1 year old. They stay outside 24/7. They are never locked up at night. Owls wouldnt take a grown goose, a duck they will.

 

[moenmitz]

Ok, that is kinda what I was thinking...a grown goose would not be soemthing that would seem like easy prey to me!

 

[Omniskies]

Lock them up. Owls won't take a goose down, but coyotes, foxes, bobcats and dogs will. All it takes is that one night a few months down the road to regret not locking them up regularly.

The good thing is that geese figure out what you want pretty quickly. After a night of being in a pen you can get them to go back in every night with a little herding, if none at all. Some nights I go outside and the geese have already put themselves up. Other times I have to scoot them inside. It's a simple enough process to not do it.

 

[moenmitz]

I wouldn't leave them completely unprotected. They would still be in a large penned area at night, but right now I lock them in the barn at night, which is ajacent to the large pen. The big pen should keep out foxes, coyotes, etc-but nothing from above. We have a 120 pound malamute that deters most creatures from coming in the yard, and 9 cats that keep and little furry thing from prospering as well!

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Ive had my two male geese out since march, and nothing has happened.

 

[Paegglvr]

My ducks just follow the chickens in the coop every night.