Do geese have to be in a Covered pen at night?

[kelseygirl707]

Hello,
So I am getting back into Geese, after having to rehome my gosling when I moved. I have 6 eggs on the way to be incubated. Now my question, I have a chainlink dog kennel built into a cement slab (Which will have bedding on it). I believe it's a 5 or 6 foot tall kennel, but it has no roof, I will have a shelter in it for them. But I am worried, does the kennel need to be covered, or do the predators not go for the big birds? It's raccoons I'm worried about, we have cyotes too, but as far as I know, they don't climb, lol. This is probably a stupid question, but I know I am afraid of wild geese, because they can be mean, so I thought maybe predators left them alone too.

 

[sourland]

I would be inclined to put a wire top on the run to assure safety. I would also put hardware cloth part way up the sides of the pen so that no predator could reach in and so that the geese can not stick their necks out. If they are hungry enough several predators will try to kill a goose. The suggested additions to your pen should make it more "Fort Knox" like. Good luck and enjoy your geese. (edited to add: congratulations on the imminent increase in family size!)

 

[BlackBart]

I had a covered pen for them when I wasn't home and they were locked up every night.

Raccoons killed all my neighbors full grown Geese. He thought it was OK to leave them outside at night in a open topped pen without a safe shelter. Geese can't see as well as a Raccoon at night.

 

[Omniskies]

Yes. Geese can be attacked at night like anything else. While they are less likely to be killed by, say, a raccoon or opossum, they can still be taken down by coyotes, foxes, and even large owls.

Months of having everything go fine won't mean you're safe. Usually that means the predators are just waiting until the birds have reached their preferred size for dining

 

[kelseygirl707]

I figured, better safe then sorry. Well I guess I have plenty of time before they are ready to be outside, considering I haven't even gotten the eggs yet, so I will figure out some sort of roof. And siding is a good Idea too, My husband had a coon take off his ducklings heads when they stuck them through the box.

 

[TeamChaos]

I appreciate you asking this question, I was curious about it myself!

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Since you have a wonderfull strong place to start with. I would finish the job with a roof made out of welded fence. Chicken wire will not stop a coon. also the side treatment is a good ideal too I don't know how many times I had to get goose necks and heads back inside because they stuck them out through the fence, paniced and wore themselves trying to get back to normal.

 

[glenntwo]

My Chinese pair have had free run of the yard for three years now, both at our old home and at our new one, and only once have we ever had an attack, and that was by the neighbors neurotic dog. Like you we have a roofed dog kennel for them, and we keep their food and nesting area inside it, but we let them roam freely, day and night. I tried putting them in at dusk, but they seemed to become really skittish and fearful, and would honk all through the night. They seem to feel a lot safer if they can move about freely at night, and anyway, they seem to like to patrol and snoop around the grounds after dark.

Only once or twice have they been loud enough that I had to get up and go out back to see if they were OK. It's pretty easy for us to tell when they are honking out of fear as opposed to just honking and grunting for the general hell of it. They know where our bedroom window is at, and most nights will hang out underneath it, just chirping and grunting away.

We live out in the country now, but I did fence in the yard, so I feel pretty good about letting them do whatever they want to do. The only time I lock them in the pen now is when I have yard work to do, or when our septic technician stops by to check on the system, and the only reason I do that is because when I'm working in the yard, they follow me around like a couple of 5 year olds, getting underfoot.

Even when the weather turns bad, I just let them do their thing. If it gets frigid outside, I will herd them into the garage for the night, but otherwise they have the run of the place.

 

[mominoz]

Years ago I kept my geese in a pen that was in a fenced yard. The second year raccoons picked them off. We finally caught Them. It was 2 working together. They just haven't been hungry enough to find yours. They usually turned up in the fall. Now I fence, hotwire and pen at night.

 

[Terri O]

I have a huge flock of geese...they also have the run of the place at night. I guess if I had a pair or just a few I would pen them at night...but I just have too many! I did have a problem with a raccoon that had babies in my tree. She killed the female on eggs and then came back the next night to get the eggs...they were due to hatch in 2 days! I was surprised that the coon came in there with the horses and stuff...but I guess when you have hungry mouths to feed a Mom will do anything! If you want them to be totally safe I would do the mods on your pen and lock them up...hopefully they wont be too noisy! Terri O