I am looking to get 2, one female and one male, to put outside with my chickens. Which breed is the friendliest? I want a pretty breed, but I want geese that won't attack. They don't need to be people firendly, but just ones that will stick around and not bother anyone. Also, which is the best breed for "watchdogging"? I want some that will hopefully keep predators away from my hens, or at least notify me if there is someone around who shouldn't be. Thanks! I look forward to the responses!
Meet Ethel, Goostoff, Ping and Pong. The Embdens are my best watchdogs, loud when anything comes around. They kinda just wonder around the yard and pond area like they are on patrol. Ethel has been known to come after me while nesting but never any other time. Goostoff and I had several encounters which ended at the end of my boot. Now we have an understanding. Ping and Pong are Brown Chinese. They are more quiet and much more flighty than the Embdens.
I agree that the emden's are good at alerting if anything out of the ordinary is going on. They are a friendly breed as well. My roman tufted geese are a good breed too. I do find that my ganders of this breed can be aggressive at times though. My toulouse are gentle but not good at alerting but they do watch over my goslings really well.
My American ganders never miss anything. Nothing gets past them, but they never make any noise about it. Instead of a honk fest, they march over there to see what it is and if they don't like it, they hiss and snake their necks. My Pomeranian never makes any loud noise, either. It's impossible to sneak up on her because she is aware of everything going on, but she doesn't announce it with noise. So, there are two breeds that probably aren't the best choice for watchdog. My Swedish ducks, on the other hand, make a huge amount of noise if they are disturbed and any change disturbs them.
