Has anyone used a Goose and Gander to protect a flock of chickens????

[Desiree Brown]

I have had Problems with fox, rats, hawks, and dogs with my chickens. I have herd that a goose and a gander with a flock of chickens will protect your flock from anything smaller than a coyote.. Has anyone had luck with this or is this an old wives tale??

 

[BirdyMe]

I've had my gander and three geese for several years now. They do a wonderful job of letting me know when something's about! The gander especially. And not many predators will go after the geese. I did have a crazy fox that took out 17 chickens in one day grab at one of them, but there was no way he could hold onto it.

So, yes. I highly recommend getting geese to protect your flock.

 

[animals1981]

a mean aggressive big goose can stop a fox but cant stop a dog not a serious dog that is intent on killing nothing can other than another dog or a big mean donkey

 

[Desiree Brown]

The dog I have a problem with is my bernese mountain dog. He has gotten a couple young chicks but he is playful and only wanted to play with them. My big problem is the Rat that lives under my coop that we have not been able to catch (but only with the baby chicks) and the fox. I live on the outskirts of a small village in the country and was thinking about getting a pair of geese. we have about an acre and want to get as much feedback before I go and buy them.

 

[animals1981]

rats come out at night u need a night predator to deal with rats a fox will kill the rats so will cats so will dogs during the day even chickens should be able to chase off rats if ur dog is pasive then yeah some big mean geese will probably put him in his place but if he is serious he will kill the geese easy

it doesnt hurt to try get a big breed a noisy aggreessive breed not a timid small breed whoever u go to tell them u want aggressive ones for guarding tell them to pick out some big mean adults giant canada are the best

 

[CMV]

Waterfowl are good for their own reasons, but none of those reasons are as a flock protector. Geese are frequently aggressive with smaller birds. Geese eventually become more of a liability than the predators they are supposed to be protecting the flock from. I keep a goose to watch over some ducks I have. She loves them dearly and they've been together for years, but each year in breeding season she does injury to her ducks (2 broken legs in one year) because of her hormones. The ganders I culled. They did damage to everyone regardless of the season.

I strongly recommend rethinking your plan.

Good luck.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Geese will protect their own goslings and be scary ferocious about it. They protect their own nest, although not nearly as aggressively as they protect goslings. They protect nothing else.

They could care less if a fox takes your chickens (good riddance) unless the fox foolishly tries for a gosling.

Geese are all noise and bluff. They aren't really warriors. Any predator, including the tiny weasel, can kill a goose.

Mid size and smaller hawks won't try them and probably won't try to take a chicken out from under their bills. But since mid size and smaller hawks don't take chickens except for baby chicks and young bantams, that is of limited value.

The value of geese is that they will set up a loud alarm if anything is out of the ordinary. They don't miss anything, not even at night. That gives you a chance to get outside with your shotgun to do the protecting yourself.

 

[ljb1961]

I tried geese with my flock many years ago, but it did not work out at all. They killed two of my chickens before I got rid of them. I raised them with chickens from when they were babies, but as they became adults you could not predict what they would do.

 

[Desiree Brown]

Thank you everyone. I think I may hold off on the geese. Altho I would like to have geese someday, I may not be ready right now. and I want to get them for the right reason.