Have questions on geese

[17 chickens]

So I have been told that by adding a goose or geese to your chicken flocks will help protect your chickens, is this true?
I have had ducks in with my chickens and they have pulled feathers out of my birds really bad, will this happen with a goose or geese?
Will any of this accrue with the ducks if they are together?
Do the geese need the same protein and niacin as ducks?
Any thoughts on keeping geese or a goose?
Open up and let me know what you think please!

 

[jtn42248]

My experience is that my geese have to be kept apart from my chickens and ducks, especially during mating season. So, chickens, ducks and geese all have separate areas and housing. Others here on BYC have experiences just the opposite of mine I know.

 

[Nimueh Alene]

My gosling is with my chicks.. She was pulling at the wing feathers of the chicks but the little rooster pecked her break and she stopped it. My grandpa said it was a grooming thing but chicken feathers can't endure the damage caused by A Goose's bill. so I'm going to house mine separately. So I am getting another female gosling.

 

[MamaWalker]

I raised my goslings with a Muscovy duckling. Now grown the Muscovy thinks he is a goose . All of our birds stay in the same coop. Ducks, geese, chickens & guineas and they all get along fine.

 

[wamtazlady]

It's kind of true that a goose will protect chickens. What geese do is make a lot of noise when they see something unusual. This alerts YOU to check out what's happening. Of course they can alert on a car driving down the road. Mine tell me when the neighbors are out feeding their horses.

 

[Cassgard007]

I have always kept my geese and ducks together BUT, I get them both freshly hatched and raise them together. I lost all but one duck this winter to a fox. He has assumed the position of uncle duck and helped my gander keep a watchful eye on my goose when she was laying and now that they have hatched.

I would not know how it would go introducing young and old.

 

[MamaWalker]

I know we have a male and female goose because we just started getting eggs. When I went to collect the egg today, the gander was rearranging the nest & guarding the egg. Is that normal?

 

[Mysticalys]

I have a goose (female) that lives with my ducks because she was raised as a baby with them

 

[Miss Lydia]

Parental instinct is very strong in geese even ganders.

 

[Gray Farms]

Geese are more like alarms than protectors. They can't fend off large predators.