Our gaggle is missing!!

[Storyhill Farm]

We have owned geese for about 40 years. Until a few days ago we had 28 mostly pilgrim and afew toulouse. In all the years, we have had very little predation (lost only 2 to predators ever). They have always stayed close to the barn. There is a pond that they swim in that connects to our securely fenced barn yard. We have 3 livestock guardian dogs that are out during the day to protect the chickens and lambs - everyone gets penned in the barn at night except the geese.

We are in lambing season (complete chaos) but nothing new for the geese. It just means my family is struggling to get sleep between bottle feeding orphans, helping ewes deliver, warming up lambs . . . It is possible a coyote could have picked off a few, but on Friday night, I snapped a video that confirmed there were atleast 20 on that day By Sunday morning they were all missing! There are no tracks, no feathers, no bodies. The large pond that they swim in is frozen. We have springs that run into watering troughs to always provide fresh water. There is a creek nearby. We hired a thermal Drone operator with really amazing equipment to help search after we have spent the last 4 days on foot with the aid of our dogs. The Drone found lots of deer, cats, Canada Geese, wild ducks . . . No coyotes and no sight of my beloved geese.

We are thinking they headed to open water and got in the creek. Large sections of it are frozen too so passablity is limited even on the stream.
Has anyone had anything similar happen?

 

[AGeese]

Sorry to hear about your geese! The only thing that sounds logical to me is that they moved on.

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

We have owned geese for about 40 years. Until a few days ago we had 28 mostly pilgrim and afew toulouse. In all the years, we have had very little predation (lost only 2 to predators ever). They have always stayed close to the barn. There is a pond that they swim in that connects to our securely fenced barn yard. We have 3 livestock guardian dogs that are out during the day to protect the chickens and lambs - everyone gets penned in the barn at night except the geese.

We are in lambing season (complete chaos) but nothing new for the geese. It just means my family is struggling to get sleep between bottle feeding orphans, helping ewes deliver, warming up lambs . . . It is possible a coyote could have picked off a few, but on Friday night, I snapped a video that confirmed there were atleast 20 on that day By Sunday morning they were all missing! There are no tracks, no feathers, no bodies. The large pond that they swim in is frozen. We have springs that run into watering troughs to always provide fresh water. There is a creek nearby. We hired a thermal Drone operator with really amazing equipment to help search after we have spent the last 4 days on foot with the aid of our dogs. The Drone found lots of deer, cats, Canada Geese, wild ducks . . . No coyotes and no sight of my beloved geese.

We are thinking they headed to open water and got in the creek. Large sections of it are frozen too so passablity is limited even on the stream.
Has anyone had anything similar happen?

I've never seen this before unless the animals are stolen. We had a flock of chickens stolen early one morning last year. Our driveway is 500 feet long, the thieves came through the woods from my neighbors property. Do you think something similar could happen in your area?

 

[JRies]

a few things you can try if you have not already, Call your local sheriff department and ask if they have had any recent complaints with stolen poultry in your area. See if you have a facebook group for farm and poultry and post your lost birds. Local wildlife officer to ask if there is a active predictor in your area but that allot of birds to just disappear at the same time. I had a bunch of turkeys show up here one day. Sheriff department already had a report for the person missing them. Just a few thoughts.

 

[Goosebaby]

We have owned geese for about 40 years. Until a few days ago we had 28 mostly pilgrim and afew toulouse. In all the years, we have had very little predation (lost only 2 to predators ever). They have always stayed close to the barn. There is a pond that they swim in that connects to our securely fenced barn yard. We have 3 livestock guardian dogs that are out during the day to protect the chickens and lambs - everyone gets penned in the barn at night except the geese.

We are in lambing season (complete chaos) but nothing new for the geese. It just means my family is struggling to get sleep between bottle feeding orphans, helping ewes deliver, warming up lambs . . . It is possible a coyote could have picked off a few, but on Friday night, I snapped a video that confirmed there were atleast 20 on that day By Sunday morning they were all missing! There are no tracks, no feathers, no bodies. The large pond that they swim in is frozen. We have springs that run into watering troughs to always provide fresh water. There is a creek nearby. We hired a thermal Drone operator with really amazing equipment to help search after we have spent the last 4 days on foot with the aid of our dogs. The Drone found lots of deer, cats, Canada Geese, wild ducks . . . No coyotes and no sight of my beloved geese.

We are thinking they headed to open water and got in the creek. Large sections of it are frozen too so passablity is limited even on the stream.
Has anyone had anything similar happen?

You could try Facebook groups to ask if anyone in your area has seen any geese or seen any suspicious activity.

 

[Iain Utah]

So sorry to hear of your missing geese. It is possible a pack of coyotes passed through, but also possible a person stole them. Over the years, I have had predators come through and take multiple birds in one night, but nothing close to 20 geese overnight. However, I am aware of someone losing a dozen dewlaps to coyotes in one terrible night in Colorado. And my sister-in-law, who lives 10 minutes away from us, got her entire duck coop wiped out overnight to a mink.

Either way, it is a hard loss and I'm sorry for you and your geese.

 

[Mrs Fryzzle]

We have owned geese for about 40 years. Until a few days ago we had 28 mostly pilgrim and afew toulouse. In all the years, we have had very little predation (lost only 2 to predators ever). They have always stayed close to the barn. There is a pond that they swim in that connects to our securely fenced barn yard. We have 3 livestock guardian dogs that are out during the day to protect the chickens and lambs - everyone gets penned in the barn at night except the geese.

We are in lambing season (complete chaos) but nothing new for the geese. It just means my family is struggling to get sleep between bottle feeding orphans, helping ewes deliver, warming up lambs . . . It is possible a coyote could have picked off a few, but on Friday night, I snapped a video that confirmed there were atleast 20 on that day By Sunday morning they were all missing! There are no tracks, no feathers, no bodies. The large pond that they swim in is frozen. We have springs that run into watering troughs to always provide fresh water. There is a creek nearby. We hired a thermal Drone operator with really amazing equipment to help search after we have spent the last 4 days on foot with the aid of our dogs. The Drone found lots of deer, cats, Canada Geese, wild ducks . . . No coyotes and no sight of my beloved geese.

We are thinking they headed to open water and got in the creek. Large sections of it are frozen too so passablity is limited even on the stream.
Has anyone had anything similar happen?

Anything on your geese? Have you revcovered them, or did they return...?