Goose as protector?

[Cryss]

Ok, I have my 4 pullets (hopefully no roosters) hatched around October 1st. I'm considering adding 1 or 2 more in spring which my breeder says will be easy to add because my originals will not yet be a year old. Someone recommeded that because I don't have a rooster for protection I should get a goose. Is this a thing? Should it be a certain age? I don't want one if it's going to be nasty to humans and I dont want my chooks to attack it if it is young. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

First off if your town doesn’t allow cockerels/roosters than they probably will give you trouble for owning a goose, duck, or guinea fowl. If you want the goose to alert your flock of danger, I don’t know if a goose will do that. I’ve heard of people using them as “guard dogs”. Guineas are supposed to be very loud (I’ve never heard really loud guineas), people like them because they alert you and your flock of predators and strangers.
ETA: If your town allows cockerels/roosters I say go for it. Here are some links on how to keep a cockerel/rooster in check: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rooster-getting-aggressive.1212673/

 

[JanetMarie]

A goose won't be able to protect your chickens from predators. Geese are taken by predators also.

A Chinese goose will alert you if there is anything unusual going on by honking loudly. You still have to be the one to run outside to see what the problem is.

Some ganders can be aggressive towards chickens also. My Cotton Patch gander likes to nip some of the chickens and ducks just a little, so I watch to make sure he isn't actually hurting anyone.

I wouldn't suggest getting a goose for protection unless to alert you. If you do get a goose, you should have two, because they like one another's company, and will be unhappy alone with just chickens.

 

[Gray Farms]

Geese are more like alarm bells than protectors. Geese can not fight off the majority of predators, a cat or possum maybe. But not anything larger.

 

[The Moonshiner]

We have Chinese geese and they do nothing for protection.
Never seen one stand up to any kind of threat and they aren't even as good at scrabbling or taking cover as the chickens are.
As for alerting or alarming imo they are almost worthless at that too. Just like our guineas they some times sound an alarm if they feel treated and sometimes they don't. Biggest problem is a threat to alarm about could be a predator or a leaf blowing by. Not a reliable alarm or defense.

 

[Zoomie]

I had geese. They were killed by dogs. One survived the dog attack, and was killed by a raccoon.

That does not strike me as being very useful. Not that I don't love geese, I do. Just that they are not able to stand up to a predator, although they can be very brave defending their nests. If I had geese, I'd have them in the same type of predator-proof pen I've got my chickens in because I really hate waking up to dead animals, and where I live, that is going to happen unless you take extreme measures.

Gosh, I have not thought about poor Quabbles being killed by the raccoon for years.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Get yourself a scatter gun to augment you goose or gander because in my experience the only thing that geese do is to alert the chicken wrangler that there is a predator in the hen house. That'll also mean that you'll need to sleep lightly and leave a door or window open in your bed room so as to better hear the geeses' predator alert. Good luck.