Flighted?

[June2012]

I don't know where to post this, and I hope I'm doing this right...I don't mean to offend anyone.

Should I keep my geese flighted? They'll be more livestock than pets, and I was thinking that I could keep them flighted. They'll be free ranging and have their own pond (I'm working things out). I live in California and there really isn't any water near me other than the pond I'll be building so I doubt they'd fly away for a different water source.

Or should I clip them? I do wish for them to be able to fly though...

 

[The goose girl]

There are pros and cons to keeping them flighted.

On the one hand, it's easier - you don't have to do anything, and you don't have to remember when to clip their feathers after molting. Also they're much better suited to escape a predator when they can fly.

On the other hand, they could take off and get lost.

I met a guy whose goose lived to the ripe old age of 39 years. He told me she had survived four ganders in her lifetime because she could fly and thus escape the fox who took her non-flying mates.

 

[servpolice]

What breed are planning to get?
Some wild geese will fly away for migration due to their nature.
Will your area have enough grass for it to graze?
Feeding them greens will solve that problem but if they feel hungry and have nothing to graze on they will fly away even if raised as a gosling.
I clipped my greylag geese flight feathers but they were safe from predators.
A small pond will make geese a easy target if they can't fly.
Flying geese is amazing! But if you want them to stay you need to have a very strong bond which will start when geese are goslings which will mean that you must treat them as pets
You are talking about wild geese and not domesticated geese right?

 

[June2012]

What breed are planning to get?
Some wild geese will fly away for migration due to their nature.
Will your area have enough grass for it to graze?
Feeding them greens will solve that problem but if they feel hungry and have nothing to graze on they will fly away even if raised as a gosling.
I clipped my greylag geese flight feathers but they were safe from predators.
A small pond will make geese a easy target if they can't fly.
Flying geese is amazing! But if you want them to stay you need to have a very strong bond which will start when geese are goslings which will mean that you must treat them as pets
You are talking about wild geese and not domesticated geese right?

I apologize, I was talking about domesticated geese. I'll be raising the African goose and will have tons of grass haha! Maybe some greens now and then. Would that be enough?

 

[servpolice]

Africans! African geese can't fly even if they wanted to.
They can fly but it's very rare.
Only one thing is that you will need a place for them to be safe as I'm pretty sure the pond is not going to right next to your house.
Are they going to walk around the place? African geese are excellent and can be extremely tame but that's only for the pure breeds.
Tons of grass is brilliant!
My Avatar is a pair of African geese and it would be a miracle if they flew

 

[June2012]

Africans! African geese can't fly even if they wanted to.
They can fly but it's very rare.
Only one thing is that you will need a place for them to be safe as I'm pretty sure the pond is not going to right next to your house.
Are they going to walk around the place? African geese are excellent and can be extremely tame but that's only for the pure breeds.
Tons of grass is brilliant!
My Avatar is a pair of African geese and it would be a miracle if they flew

The pond will actually be on my property. I'm thinking of a smaller size, but it'll be big enough to qualify as a pool instead of a watering hole hahaha.

That's wonderful! Check that off my list of sorts now Are they very loud? (To give you an idea, I can handle roosters.)

And I know this isn't quite the right section, but what about Muscovy ducks? I would like to keep them flighted in terms of predators and the like...

 

[Miss Lydia]

The pond will actually be on my property.

I'm thinking of a smaller size, but it'll be big enough to qualify as a pool instead of a watering hole hahaha.

That's wonderful! Check that off my list of sorts now

Are they very loud? (To give you an idea, I can handle roosters.)

And I know this isn't quite the right section, but what about Muscovy ducks? I would like to keep them flighted in terms of predators and the like...

You'll be taking your chances on having a few of your Muscovy's fly off and not return, one reason I clip one wing.

 

[servpolice]

The pond will actually be on my property. I'm thinking of a smaller size, but it'll be big enough to qualify as a pool instead of a watering hole hahaha.

That's wonderful! Check that off my list of sorts now Are they very loud? (To give you an idea, I can handle roosters.)

And I know this isn't quite the right section, but what about Muscovy ducks? I would like to keep them flighted in terms of predators and the like...

Miss Lydia ^ has muscovy's for years so she is the one to talk to about that

A small pool would be perfect and it will be very likely that they will stay at the pool a lot of the time.
African geese can tolerate hot dry weather better then most breeds (along with the Chinese breed).
Since you live in California you don't have to worry much about it getting messy due to your climate.
African geese are loud but are quiet too and usually are loudest during breeding season the loud ones are the skinny Chinese.
If you have anymore questions we'll be glad to help!

 

[June2012]

Miss Lydia ^ has muscovy's for years so she is the one to talk to about that

A small pool would be perfect and it will be very likely that they will stay at the pool a lot of the time.
African geese can tolerate hot dry weather better then most breeds (along with the Chinese breed).
Since you live in California you don't have to worry much about it getting messy due to your climate.
African geese are loud but are quiet too and usually are loudest during breeding season the loud ones are the skinny Chinese.
If you have anymore questions we'll be glad to help!

Not pool, but a small pond! XD Either way, it should be large enough to have a good enough amount of room to stretch and swim around.

I don't mind a lot of noise. I'll be getting a rooster -- that should say enough HAHAHA. I also heard that Chinese are the best layers of all the geese... Is that true? I'll be getting them as goslings from a hatchery, but I don't know which hatchery is best... I only know of Metzer ' s which is 5 hours away...

 

[servpolice]

Chinese geese indeed are the best layers (white Chinese are supposed to be better layers then brown chinese).
If Metzers is closest to you then I advise you to buy off Metzers because they are trustable.
Most hatcherys that only sell either Chinese or African cross breed them so you get a mix of them both, not that there is anything wrong with the cross but you expect pure breeds.
Chinese are for the eggs and can be aggressive while Metzers super African is for the meat and are a very gentle breed and are more rare.
Metzers have African and super African and the super African is the actual Dewlap African while their African looks like African crossed Chinese.
Sorry if I confused you.
I just do my research