Housing a pair of Geese

[minister man]

It has been probably 20 years since I have had any geese, but I am thinking/looking into purchasing a pair of African Geeese, that hatched this past spring. When I had geese before, they lived in the sheep pen with the sheep. That is not a possiblity now, so I am wondering if there is such a thing as a "goose Tractor"?? What would it be like size wise? If you had one pair of geese how would you house them In a country that has winter?

 

[Haunted55]

I'm sorry, I can't help much with this. I have geese that have a house and a penned and covered yard. A tractor for them would need to be fairly large I'm thinking and also moved many times in a day. When I let my geese and ducks out of their pen to range, they move around, foraging, quite a bit. They go to a new area most everyday.

Hopefully someone who has tried this will give you an answer.

 

[minister man]

thanks what does you pen and covered run look like?

 

[Going Bhonkers]

It has been probably 20 years since I have had any geese, but I am thinking/looking into purchasing a pair of African Geeese, that hatched this past spring. When I had geese before, they lived in the sheep pen with the sheep. That is not a possiblity now, so I am wondering if there is such a thing as a "goose Tractor"?? What would it be like size wise? If you had one pair of geese how would you house them In a country that has winter?

I found a couple of threads that mention 'goose tractor', hopefully they'll be helpful

. There are lots of folks that have geese up north & deal with snow, check out some of the threads here on the Goose forum. The main suggestion from "real winter" people is to provide geese shelter from the wind.

Here are the coop links:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/648431/anyone-keep-their-geese-in-a-goose-tractor
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/75755/geese-how-do-you-house-your-geese
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/586695/what-does-your-goose-coop-look-like

 

[Haunted55]

thanks what does you pen and covered run look like?

This our temporary set up until I can get all of my buildings completed. 6' welded wire fence, 100', 4 strand electric fencing to a 50 mile fence charger. Over the top of the area is heavy duty plastic garden fencing, zip tied every 5 inches. I just got a 50' x 50' knotted net to go over the pen that will be expanded after all constructs done. We've got pretty much the same kind of predators where we are. I've had a couple of young coyotes take on the electric fence and lose. Bear walks right by. They smell/sense the electricity.

My building is a recycled Halloween prop and I have ducks and geese, 28, housed there. You wouldn't need anything that big for a pair. Whatever you make I would have it face SSW so that the sun will shine into the building as much as possible. Mine is insulated but they have free access to their pen and so far some have opted to sleep in it rather than their house. I have also provided covered pallets for them to get up off the ground for sleeping. They use them too. The one thing, very important to me, that isn't done yet, is to provide them with a 3 sided, roofed, feeding station for the winter. The back will be facing NNW so they are protected from most of the winds. Inside their house, I have a section of floor, 2' x4', cut out and covered with coated hardware cloth. [wish I had made this larger, 4' x 4' would have been perfect to keep any water out of the shavings] They will have feed and water here as well. My building is up on posts and any water or food which falls down through this can be clean up in the spring.

This last cold shot we just had taught me something....geese may have a 'down coat' but their poor little feet don't. They want a place they can get up off the frozen ground and warm their feet.

 

[Haunted55]

Another thing i just thought of, African geese have the knob and it needs to be protected from freezing. At least this is what I read. I am still looking into this as I have a Chinese goose and want to make sure of what I need to do.

 

[Trefoil]

Ministerman- I don't think a tractor would work very well for geese. I'm not sure what your winter temperatures are but I'm in MI and a tractor doesn't work for me when we get a lot of snow. Depending on your predator situation, you need a house for them to shelter in that's tall enough for them to comfortably stand and walk around in. I have a large,tall dog house (6' x6' x5'h) I don't feed or water my geese in the house, but I have a fenced in yard,dog and haven't had a predator problem with the geese so I don't lock them in the house, I also have available a large chicken coop and run that I could lock them in if it became necessary.Our winters don't seem to bother the geese (I have 3 toulouse) as long as they have a place to shelter when it gets really bad. Its also my experience that unless you brood your geese in their house, they won't use it. Geese for the most part live on grass when its available and that means unless they have a large area to roam, your pen will very soon be dirt. Because Africans are know to be good "watch dogs", I'm assuming that's at least part of the reason for your choice. Although they are also very beautiful. The above is just what my experience has been and hopefully others will chip in with theirs too. Good luck with your geese.

 

[Goose and Fig]

The tractor idea doesn't sound very good to me either. If you have a fenced in yard, all you will need is a cozy house for them to nest/sleep in. They need to be and outside with access to a pool and something to graze on, and safe from predators, even if you only have pasture part of the year. Keeping them cooped up would lead to unhealthy birds and increase the chances of awful things like bumblefoot.

I don't have a fenced in yard, but my wood line acts as a natural border. The flock stays pretty much right around the house, and I herd them into their coop at night. Doesn't get much easier than that. And I don't ever have to mow the grass!

 

[minister man]

Brought the geese home today, although I think they are both females not a pair. I had geese before years ago and could always vent sex the males no problem, but checked these to and i am not seeing any male parts. One of them has a larger dewlop than the other and his head is bigger so maybe it is a he. The fellow said that they hatched the end of May, so time will tell I guess. They would probably be too young to breed this spring anyway so if I need a male, I will put my name in with a fellow that breeds africans around here to keep me one. Any how, I bought some fence to build them a yard, but until saturday they are going to live in a box stall, untill we all get use to each other. There will be lost of shavings and food and water, so I am sure they will be ok, until the weekend. It gets dark so early now that I can't get much fencing done at night.

They are so beutiful! I am so please to have found them!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Brought the geese home today, although I think they are both females not a pair. I had geese before years ago and could always vent sex the males no problem, but checked these to and i am not seeing any male parts. One of them has a larger dewlop than the other and his head is bigger so maybe it is a he. The fellow said that they hatched the end of May, so time will tell I guess. They would probably be too young to breed this spring anyway so if I need a male, I will put my name in with a fellow that breeds africans around here to keep me one. Any how, I bought some fence to build them a yard, but until saturday they are going to live in a box stall, untill we all get use to each other. There will be lost of shavings and food and water, so I am sure they will be ok, until the weekend. It gets dark so early now that I can't get much fencing done at night.

They are so beutiful! I am so please to have found them!

wheres the pics?