Geese afraid of coop?

[starrymutt]

We have a tractor for my geese and they were fine, going in and out of it for a few weeks, but last night a chicken got killed near it and since then they refuse to go in on their own and freak out when I pick them up to put them in.

Has this happened to anyone else before? Any suggestions? I can't build an actual coop for them just yet but there's definitely enough room

 

[AGeese]

Do you have a trail camera?

 

[starrymutt]

Do you have a trail camera?

My brother put one up last night and I know a skunk just visited by the smell lol. Didn't hear the geese so I hope they're safe, although earlier I did hear the eldest make a sort of whispy honk but she might've been snoring

 

[Berd Man]

We have a tractor for my geese and they were fine, going in and out of it for a few weeks, but last night a chicken got killed near it and since then they refuse to go in on their own and freak out when I pick them up to put them in.

Has this happened to anyone else before? Any suggestions? I can't build an actual coop for them just yet but there's definitely enough room

I started keeping fowl in 2021 and built a large lean to that had roosts for chickens on one half and a 12x12 area on the other half for geese with deep straw bedding. No matter what I did I could not get geese to go inside on their own. I baited with feed, eventually they wouldn’t come. I eventually was catching them with a net… yea that was fun .

During torrential rain, some hail storms, and arctic blasts when windchill made it feel like -20 outside. The geese would just fight me over being herded in and as the flock grew it became more troublesome.

Now I let them sleep in pasture contained by a few sections of electric poultry net or sheep net. They do much better without the stress of me literally having to catch them and put them into a confined space where they cannot see annything and are more pleasant to be around. One year I left hay bales around and they would use them as wind breaks. They are not as fragile as other fowl when it comes to cold and rain. More like cows.