Goose safety

[cdclark]

Thank you!

Carol

 

[fourfeathers]

Just curious as to where you are flying from and what the temps will be in cargo? Gets pretty cold down there. Woven wire isn't too bad to work with, but you will need help to stretch it. I just put some up around my pond, with help of course, and can send some pictures to you if you would like of how it is set. Coyotes can go over 6' fencing if they really want to. You would need to do a top wire that is hot to deter them, or depending on the size of pen, I would do poultry netting (cutlers is where I get mine) and cover the top. With the cats....do a search on 'cat fence'. I have two cats that are outside and they are in a chainlink backyard that is about 5' tall. I looked at different types of pre-fab cat fence and decided I could build something cheaper and more sturdy. It has worked for almost 4 years. My cats don't leave the yard and things don't come in. The netting/fencing goes in at an angle and is flexible so predators don't like to climb and can't climb in usually. Cats can't go out because of the angle.
You could do a chainlink with a cat fence on top for the geese and cats that would probably deter most animals other than what could fly in. I think that would work great. I used 4 x4" posts set about every 10' on the outside of the 5' tall chainlink fence, drilled large holes into each post about a foot from the top, put some metal poles in the holes, set at an angle so that it went into the interior fence area, then attached heavy duty poultry netting (have to check what width) and strung/attached to the chainlink the whole perimeter of the fence. It sounds horrible, but really was quite do-able. I dug all the post holes myself and set about 2' in the ground (just dug several each night for about a week). Happy to share pics if you think it might be something you want to do.

 

[cdclark]

We're flying on Monday from New Orleans to Sacramento, on Delta.

I thought about doing the double-decker thing (goose on the bottom, cats on top)... any photos of your fencing that you'd like to share would be great!!!

Thanks.

Carol

 

[gofasterstripe]

Oh I wouldnt worry about your cats in the freight boxes, I moved to SC from Scotland with my cats. Their flight left at 8am in Scotland and landed in Charlotte at around 5ish. I didnt pick them up untill 6pm then I had a 2 hour drive to SC before they got let out to go pee and eat/drink. They were fine after their long haul. As for your goose...I cant comment on that

 

[Baybrio]

Good luck with your move.

I have used the electric net with some success. Unfortunately most of our predators fly. Hawks and owls mostly. However as long as the net has a good charge my understanding is that it can stop animals perfectly capable of jumping it because they will sniff it first, get shocked and hopefully never come back. Honestly I have no experience with bears or big cats!!!!!

Don't forget to look under the Predators forum. It is up near the top of the forum category list.

 

[zippy3]

I agree with goosedragon...I use an electric net fence I got from Premier 1 and I think it was worth every penny. I use a solar energizer, which, admittedly is the most expensive option up front, but I don't need electricity to run it, ever, so I can put the fence anywhere on my property, not just near the house. We have every predator imaginable where I live and my ducks and geese spent their days all last summer and up to freezing inside the fence and were never bothered by anything. I bought the 48" high fence, but I actually wish I had gotten the slightly shorter one, as it would be lighter to move around. I priced wire fencing and anything other than poultry netting seemed like it was going to add up to plenty of money...poles, fencing, wire, gates and the time to put it all up. I can move the electric net fence to a completely new, fresh patch of grass in about an hour, or a bit more if I need to mow.

The mobility of the fence is a big thing, something you won't get with other kinds of fencing...your birds will eat the grass, and make mud holes and the poop does accumulate and you will lessen the chances of parasites and other nasty tiny visitors if you move their grazing area around. I cut way back on mowing this year because the ducks and geese ate the grass down.

I do lock everyone up at night inside a converted garden shed. It was easier and cheaper to put in a plywood floor, add a duck door/ramp and paint it than build something from scratch.

If you have to build something and want to cover it and also get a pretty big structure, have a look at the starplates and example structures that are on www.strombergschickens.com/starplate. These are geodesic domes. Here is a picture of the one I built. It is made from 2 x 4's and bolted together. You can see that when I took this picture, I had the electric fencing set up so the birds could go from the duck house, through the duck dome and out into the fenced area. I use that set up only part of the time, since the grass gets pretty beaten down. When I move the fence farther from the dome, I just herd eveyone over there. I have used poultry netting on the "walls" (there is plenty of support for that sort of fencing on this structure) and I am going to cover the roof next spring with something more permanent. The plywood on the back walls is for the winter only, to stop the wind. I will take the plywood off in the spring.

I am not a genius carpenter, and I managed to do this nearly all by myself. My husband helped me raise the roof section. I built mine this big because I wanted to be able to walk right into it and also be able to convert it to a greenhouse if I ever wanted to. A smaller one would make a great little pen for a few birds.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Not to be a negative voice in all of this, but cougars and bears are a whole 'nother story than your typical mid-sized predators. Mountain lions are USUALLY too shy to venture near homes if they have enough wild area, but they can jump any "normal" fence. It takes something as strong as chain link at least twelve feet high or so (think tiger cages at the zoo). Hopefully they won't come around.

Bears on the other hand are happy to wander up to country homes in search of food. They generally show up at night. We had them in Cali, and I didn't keep poultry there because I couldn't build a coop bears couldn't tear into if they'd wanted to. I did keep a rescue dog in a tool shed during the nights and the bears never tried to get her. But if poultry is too tempting for them ... I was advised to hot-wire the area and bait the wire with bacon or peanut butter so they'd get a good zap to the mouth. Their hides are pretty tough. I've had them squeeze through fencing gaps and leave huge chunks of fur but come right back again. And bears do love any food they can smell. Bacon is probably ideal.

Hope your move goes well and you can safely set up your goose and cats. FWIW, there weren't many outside animals near me there, but in the daytime it seemed safe enough. Had coons with babies prowl around a few times. It's nighttime when the coyotes and bears hit the streets that worried me. Had a neighbors' cat come up terrified at night once and beg to come in like something was after her and I let her sleep in the mudroom that night.

 

[cdclark]

I'm overwhelmed by the responses I've been getting... thank you all so much. We just loaded the truck today and I'm more tired than I can describe... We're all on the plane on Monday, at our new home Monday night. Mr Goose will spend the night in the bathtub. Although my brother is willing to build whatever fencing I want, I'm going to review all your responses with him first. I like the idea of the mobile electric net fencing a lot. There's a small shed behind the house that I figured would be his nighttime (and bad weather) spot, but sounds like that needs to be wired, too.

Anyway, thank you all again! I'll be back here in a few days.

Carol