Keeping Chickens & Geese Together - Requirements

[Scarlet Girl]

Hi folks,
We're in the process of customizing an old out building into a coop with a large run for five pullets I've ordered & collect August/September (I keep hearing of chicken math, so no doubt I'll be getting more!)

We're also keen to have a couple of geese next year (I'm very taken by Toulouse geese but am enjoying researching all geese & keeping my mind open)

I understand that they can share the same coop as the chickens (please correct me if I'm wrong) & we were wondering while at the stage where we are doing work on the coop, this would be the time to also think of the geese.......such as, what door would they need to & from the run - would they use a pop door with the chickens (aware it needs to be big enough for them) or would they have their own. What do they need for sleeping & nesting (if, we have females).

I would really appreciate any tips, ideas & suggestions from those experienced in keeping chickens & geese.

Thanks in advance SG

 

[Golden Brahma 64]

Bigger nest box, bigger door and you’ll be putting out a lot more food, in the morning.
Geese need water too. Do you have a lake/pond near by ? If you don’t then a kiddie pool should be fine.

You must have a giant ‘coop’ if you’re willing to have geese and chickens in it.
Water fowl like sleeping outside too. Ducks and geese can be annoying when closing them in for the first few weeks until they eventually get the hang of it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My chickens and geese do fine through most of summer fall and winter but late winter breeding season begins and personality changes[geese] and no way could my geese be closed up with the chickens They have their own house. Geese can get pretty irritable with other flock members during breeding season. Geese do love to graze on soft grasses during spring and summer so feed consumption would be down during that time of year if you have plenty of grazing area.

 

[Kindpharm]

I have had geese for 2 years and they are the easiest to raise in my experience. I have never offered a coop and was told from the previous owner they prefer to be outside. I do have covered nest boxes for them and they will (after locking them up for 3 weeks) use these to sleep in and of course nest in. We were given 14 geese and bartered off 10 of these. We kept two pair thru our first winter and they ended up hatching out 5 goslings together. We planned on butchering the 5 but I had the darndest time finding a pot big enough to boil them in until another breeding season passed and now we have the 9 adults and 19 goslings! I have never eaten goose before, I sure hope I like it!
I live in a very harsh environment in the high desert mountains of Idaho and they do very well without a coop. I have since been told to get a turkey fryer to use for boiling the geese and that is sitting and waiting for the goslings to mature. Last years hatch will be sold off or made into sausage as well as the original geese (they were never friendly when I got them but they were never mean and chase me or the grandbabies either-they respected us and we returned the respect) and I have 4 goslings in a brooder in the house from another flock that I plan to transition into our breeding stock.
I have just recently gotten chickens and created a coop near the geese, it has been two weeks and so far all is well... fingers crossed it stays that way!

 

[jenniferlamar70]

I would not house your geese with your chickens. Especially if not raised together from babies. Mine get along very well in the yard. However my geese will nip a chicken or duck that gets to close to their pool or feed dish. We keep pilgrim geese and they are very friendly. I like that you can sex them at hatch. Something to consider if you plan on breeding them.

 

[Kindpharm]

I would not house your geese with your chickens. Especially if not raised together from babies. Mine get along very well in the yard. However my geese will nip a chicken or duck that gets to close to their pool or feed dish. We keep pilgrim geese and they are very friendly. I like that you can sex them at hatch. Something to consider if you plan on breeding them.

Are the Pilgrim fast to mature? The ones I have will hatch in the spring and are on a nest in the winter laying eggs... I like that! They are not overly aggressive except while nesting and with little goslings but still are not chasing anybody, just want you to keep a safe distance from them and I don't have to 'help' them with their goslings... they are good parents and do a pretty good job of protecting their young (as the owners, we are learning and have really unintentionally challenged them and have had some losses due to our mistakes) but I also recognize that having a pure breeding line would be monetarily beneficial... If these are actual 'Cotton Patch' geese, they are on the endangered list??? or watch list or something like that... but they may just be a barnyard mix

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Are the Pilgrim fast to mature? The ones I have will hatch in the spring and are on a nest in the winter laying eggs... I like that! They are not overly aggressive except while nesting and with little goslings but still are not chasing anybody, just want you to keep a safe distance from them and I don't have to 'help' them with their goslings... they are good parents and do a pretty good job of protecting their young (as the owners, we are learning and have really unintentionally challenged them and have had some losses due to our mistakes) but I also recognize that having a pure breeding line would be monetarily beneficial... If these are actual 'Cotton Patch' geese, they are on the endangered list??? or watch list or something like that... but they may just be a barnyard mix

I cant remember how long it took them to be their full size. However this was my gooses first spring mature and she sat and hatched goslings without any intervention from myself. She is also an incredible mother. Her and my gander are also usually very friendly. Since the goslings are here they have become more protective and will nip if you get to close to the babies but that's to be expected. Ours are hatchery stock. However locally female goslings go for about 40 dollars and males are about 15 dollars here is our pair and her 3 goslings. She had a clutch of 9 but we had a big storm and a leak in our roof. Her nesting box filled up with water and the eggs got cold. I'm amazed these 3 hatched after all that.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

The 2 goslings in the back are females. The one in the front is a boy.

 

[Kindpharm]

I cant remember how long it took them to be their full size. However this was my gooses first spring mature and she sat and hatched goslings without any intervention from myself. She is also an incredible mother. Her and my gander are also usually very friendly. Since the goslings are here they have become more protective and will nip if you get to close to the babies but that's to be expected. Ours are hatchery stock. However locally female goslings go for about 40 dollars and males are about 15 dollars here is our pair and her 3 goslings. She had a clutch of 9 but we had a big storm and a leak in our roof. Her nesting box filled up with water and the eggs got cold. I'm amazed these 3 hatched after all that.

We had lost 5 of 9 goslings because we were disturbing the goats normal spot to build a coop and so the goats went to where the geese were nesting and it was very late at night during a heavy and cold rain storm... they got separated in the dark... I felt TERRIBLE!!!!
3 of the 5 were found and I have no idea where the other 2 ended up... and then 2 other females shared 7 goslings, I have 2 in the house and 2 have disappeared...

There doesn't seem to be a big demand for geese in my near location.. I got the 14 for free, just had to drive 3 hours to get them... (that was another rookie mistake, I took my minivan with a dog kennel to haul them in-goose poop ALL OVER THE BACK) I will be butchering and testing out different recipes to see if I like them... if we don't like them I will find them all new homes... if we like them I hope to keep one gander and two females for breeding and no more than that....

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Well good luck. That sucks about your goslings but doesn't sound like your fault. My mama wont let her babies out her sight thank goodness.

We had lost 5 of 9 goslings because we were disturbing the goats normal spot to build a coop and so the goats went to where the geese were nesting and it was very late at night during a heavy and cold rain storm... they got separated in the dark... I felt TERRIBLE!!!!
3 of the 5 were found and I have no idea where the other 2 ended up... and then 2 other females shared 7 goslings, I have 2 in the house and 2 have disappeared...

There doesn't seem to be a big demand for geese in my near location.. I got the 14 for free, just had to drive 3 hours to get them... (that was another rookie mistake, I took my minivan with a dog kennel to haul them in-goose poop ALL OVER THE BACK) I will be butchering and testing out different recipes to see if I like them... if we don't like them I will find them all new homes... if we like them I hope to keep one gander and two females for breeding and no more than that....