My geese don't bite and they only hiss when they are startled or during the breeding season, when they're really, really hoping that I won't call their bluff and take them off a nest. I don't like the hissing, but during the breeding season I forgive it.
I initially got geese because I wanted to do egg crafts and they have the largest eggs out of any reasonably sized bird out there. After doing obsessive amounts of research, I sold off my original pair of Toulouse and got into American Buffs and Pilgrims. Since then I have expanded into enjoying geese because they weed my gardens, because we can live harvest down from them,because they are tasty, because seeing a flock of geese grazing out in a bright green or fog-covered pasture is really beautiful, and because I enjoy their personalities.
A majority of the people who have had experience with geese have not had a "real" experience. They were either young and were attacked by a territorial old goose out on their uncle's farm (a goose that was never treated like a pet), or they have been around geese at the local park, where the birds are overly familiar with people because of food handouts, and overly aggressive because of all of the kids that throw sticks and stones.
Then you get the people who decide to let their geese go broody. Geese are still very maternal, and have very close family ties. Their children - eggbound or hatched - take priority over the people who tend to them: the family takes priority over everything. That's when sweet tempered birds may become demons. And the posessiveness geese have for their goslings is even worse than for the eggs. If you let them set on a clutch of eggs, give them their space and ignore them. They are parents - parents get nervous and over-protective. Forgive them for it. If you let them raise the goslings, expect the babies to be standoffish since the parents will be constantly reminding them that everyone is out to get them. You won't get many chances, if any at all, to get close to a gosling and handle it without the parents having a conniption.
Most of us have dealt with a hateful broody hen who will nail you with her beak if you get too close. If that hen was the size of a goose we'd be less likely to stick a hand under her. Chickens and, to a degree, ducks have had a lot of that maternal instinct bred out of them. Geese are still largely left untouched. Since they haven't been as commercialized they still retain that strong desire to keep their family safe against all odds.
As for your other questions - there are some breeds that are more aggressive than others, but a lot of it still has to do with how the goslings are raised. You don't need a water source. During the breeding season they do better with water to mate in, but that could be a cement mixing tray or a swimming pool. They can and will bunk with the chickens.
I initially got geese because I wanted to do egg crafts and they have the largest eggs out of any reasonably sized bird out there. After doing obsessive amounts of research, I sold off my original pair of Toulouse and got into American Buffs and Pilgrims. Since then I have expanded into enjoying geese because they weed my gardens, because we can live harvest down from them,because they are tasty, because seeing a flock of geese grazing out in a bright green or fog-covered pasture is really beautiful, and because I enjoy their personalities.
A majority of the people who have had experience with geese have not had a "real" experience. They were either young and were attacked by a territorial old goose out on their uncle's farm (a goose that was never treated like a pet), or they have been around geese at the local park, where the birds are overly familiar with people because of food handouts, and overly aggressive because of all of the kids that throw sticks and stones.
Then you get the people who decide to let their geese go broody. Geese are still very maternal, and have very close family ties. Their children - eggbound or hatched - take priority over the people who tend to them: the family takes priority over everything. That's when sweet tempered birds may become demons. And the posessiveness geese have for their goslings is even worse than for the eggs. If you let them set on a clutch of eggs, give them their space and ignore them. They are parents - parents get nervous and over-protective. Forgive them for it. If you let them raise the goslings, expect the babies to be standoffish since the parents will be constantly reminding them that everyone is out to get them. You won't get many chances, if any at all, to get close to a gosling and handle it without the parents having a conniption.
Most of us have dealt with a hateful broody hen who will nail you with her beak if you get too close. If that hen was the size of a goose we'd be less likely to stick a hand under her. Chickens and, to a degree, ducks have had a lot of that maternal instinct bred out of them. Geese are still largely left untouched. Since they haven't been as commercialized they still retain that strong desire to keep their family safe against all odds.
As for your other questions - there are some breeds that are more aggressive than others, but a lot of it still has to do with how the goslings are raised. You don't need a water source. During the breeding season they do better with water to mate in, but that could be a cement mixing tray or a swimming pool. They can and will bunk with the chickens.
