Guard Geese?

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Mine are housed with several different types of birds. Peafowl, chicken, turkey, duck, guinea. All my birds are raised to comingle. Breeding season, I do separate species to lessen the stress so the females will lay and brood their own chicks. If you aren't breeding its not usually a big problem. They are fine with just grazing a little or none. You can offer garden scraps, lettuce (romaine is healthier) or sprout cheap rye grass for them. Hay is fine too, they like the seeds the most. They LOVE cracked corn, its like candy to them. You can also get a bag of the horse alfala cubes, soak a few in warm water to hydrate it so they get greens in the winter. Flock raiser feed should have all the necessary ingredients for their diet so its totally optional. Geese are very hardy after the first week of life, so just start them on a higher protein chick starter. I start mine on 24%. Important-never feed medicated starter! Its my understanding it can have deadly effects on them, ducks as well..

 

[kimdvm]

I think the question is being approached here as an absolute. In reality a goose can HELP reduce predator susceptibility. Nothing can be guaranteed to keep away all predators. Even a Great Pyrenees can be distracted by a large pack of coyotes. If you have 2 Great Pyrenees, and they are good flock dogs, you have almost perfect predator protection. Even then a rat may sneak in the coop or a hawk may grab a bird that ranges too far from the others.

It's true that a goose will ultimately lose a battle to a determined dog, fox, etc. But geese can be more successful at preventing or stopping raptor attacks. The best way to get a goose bonded with your chickens is to have 1 goose or gander, not 2, and to raise it with a group of chicks. It's not an old wives tale that geese can help with predator protection; you just have to adjust your expectation to their reality.

Most 4 legged predators (raccoons, coyotes, possums, weasels) are primarily nocturnal. The common exception is a fox or a stray dog.

So, if you can't get a livestock guardian dog AND you don't have a problem with stray dogs (or better yet have them fenced out), you can prevent many predator losses by having a guardian goose (for daytime raptors) and a secure coop with no small entry ways.

That leaves you with foxes: if a fox starts picking on your flock and the goose isn't scaring it off, you might have to confine them for a while until you bait and catch the fox. Otherwise they may keep coming back for a daily meal until they have wiped out the flock.

Daytime raccoons and coyotes are more common in certain suburban areas where they have adjusted to humans, and where they aren't getting a lot of food in the woods. I also see more daytime raccoons during late summer when the juveniles are out exploring new territory and starting to do their own hunting. We control these by leaving live traps baited on the perimeter of where the flock forages (yes we catch our own chickens sometimes but of course release them without injury). Most of the catches are nightime racoons or possums.

Guardian dogs are the best protection, but a small yard isn't a great home for most guardian dogs. They also do a lot of barking as part of their protective instinct.

 

[JRNash]

I'M fencing in an acre with 5ft welded wire. There will also be 3strands of very strong electric fence. I have 4Embden and a pair of brown Chinese ordered for the 18.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Was thinking about this myself not to fight the predators but as a warning to help know if there is trouble does anybody think that would work at all

Unless you're really fast, there's going to be damage before you can get there. My geese act as pretty good alert animals, but the time it takes for me (and I'm spry) to get from my office down the stairs, through the kitchen and out to the backyard is enough for a fox to kill/wound a couple birds - the fox may not escape with a bird, but that's small consolation. They're not mobile enough to defend against on either - fox just weaves around them. They're real good at alerting a sleeping dog though.

A pack of geese does seem to be useful in preventing a lot of raptor attacks though. I've had no problem with raptors, even before I started integrating dogs.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I think the question is being approached here as an absolute. In reality a goose can HELP reduce predator susceptibility. Nothing can be guaranteed to keep away all predators. Even a Great Pyrenees can be distracted by a large pack of coyotes. If you have 2 Great Pyrenees, and they are good flock dogs, you have almost perfect predator protection. Even then a rat may sneak in the coop or a hawk may grab a bird that ranges too far from the others.

It's true that a goose will ultimately lose a battle to a determined dog, fox, etc. But geese can be more successful at preventing or stopping raptor attacks. The best way to get a goose bonded with your chickens is to have 1 goose or gander, not 2, and to raise it with a group of chicks. It's not an old wives tale that geese can help with predator protection; you just have to adjust your expectation to their reality.

Most 4 legged predators (raccoons, coyotes, possums, weasels) are primarily nocturnal. The common exception is a fox or a stray dog.

So, if you can't get a livestock guardian dog AND you don't have a problem with stray dogs (or better yet have them fenced out), you can prevent many predator losses by having a guardian goose (for daytime raptors) and a secure coop with no small entry ways.

That leaves you with foxes: if a fox starts picking on your flock and the goose isn't scaring it off, you might have to confine them for a while until you bait and catch the fox. Otherwise they may keep coming back for a daily meal until they have wiped out the flock.

Daytime raccoons and coyotes are more common in certain suburban areas where they have adjusted to humans, and where they aren't getting a lot of food in the woods. I also see more daytime raccoons during late summer when the juveniles are out exploring new territory and starting to do their own hunting. We control these by leaving live traps baited on the perimeter of where the flock forages (yes we catch our own chickens sometimes but of course release them without injury). Most of the catches are nightime racoons or possums.

Guardian dogs are the best protection, but a small yard isn't a great home for most guardian dogs. They also do a lot of barking as part of their protective instinct.

My situation an LGD wont work for now. We have the room, 5 acres. Love, just adore large breeds but so does my 81 year old dad... He plays with the dogs, they knock him down. He will not use obedience with them, ugh. Our english mastiff was so gentle, but Dad would still get him so fired up! So I can't keep large breeds for now. Absolutely agree they are the answer to a predator problem if you can keep them. Meantime I use guinea and geese, tom turkeys and its stopped most problems.

 

[Starry]

I loved my gaggle of Toulouse when I lived in Canada but they really did not care if the local fox treated my chicken coup as a KFC, They are great alarm animals though. I am planning to get some Chinese this year as I have recently moved back to a rural property. I hear they are the loudest. I am also looking into some solar powered lighting systems to protect the small flock of chickens and ducks I am planning to stock. The thing with the geese I had back in Canada is that they were the top of the guard totem -except me -- poor dog though was not so lucky nor was boyfriend. I think some loss due to predators is unfortunate but bound to happen so try to have a more than you need in your flock especially if you let them free roam during the day. Some chickens are just smarter than others -- I had some barred rockers that were really savvy while the more ornamental polish guy I had seemed not too smart and soon disappeared. I do not think beauty and brains always go together. Being really out of shape and having spent most of my money making my "as is" house habitable for the winter (i needed heating), I do not have much cash or brawn (single female here) to do a lot of fencing. I was afraid to try an electronic fence for my two old female dogs but it took them 2 days to not stray (could be due to their age and the fact that it rains a lot - they are city dogs) --- anyway, I think I am going to try alarm systems this year - along with some really loud geese as I don'y like the idea of humans straying onto my property either... Geese are great for freaking out unwanted strangers. I hope the UPS man does not discontinue my service. That would I do without amazon or Ebay? I would have to go to stores - yuck. I love the ideas of spitting llama, pecking ostrich and donkeys but they just require too much fencing. So, I think high tech might be cheapest in my current situation. I love solar products.

 

[Small Farm]

How is keeping geese and goats together?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

How is keeping geese and goats together?

My animals nearly all comingle at some point. I keep a Cow, Donkey, Goats, Hogs along with several poultry and waterfowl species. My geese, all the other birds can freely visit the pastures. The only thing to consider is feeding time, you want a separate feeding station for livestock, separately from poultry & waterfowl. They all have free choice hay & water at all times, but excessive grain is dangerous and unhealthy for a goat. The other issue is food proteins, an all flock feed may have animal protein, not good for goats either. Other than that, I have kept both together for 40+ years without an issue.
In other words, my livestock can't access the birds food.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

And Welcome to BYC

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[Fowl Explorer]

My situation an LGD wont work for now. We have the room, 5 acres. Love, just adore large breeds but so does my 81 year old dad... He plays with the dogs, they knock him down. He will not use obedience with them, ugh. Our english mastiff was so gentle, but Dad would still get him so fired up! So I can't keep large breeds for now. Absolutely agree they are the answer to a predator problem if you can keep them. Meantime I use guinea and geese, tom turkeys and its stopped most problems.

Here in Virginia we have lots of predator pressure. I have heard of two cases where a LGD (bonafide, trained, etc) was killed by a pack of coyotes. So Nothing is really safe.

My friend has 6 Chinese geese, and the coyotes give her place a "pass". One of the geese escorts all the young mothers and hatchlings around the yard.

I think it depends on how much else there is to eat, just like deer pressure on gardens. Geese are a deterrent, so is a LGD.