Pond Geese?

[FriendlyFlyer]

I think it would be cool to liven up my pond with a few geese. What would it take to successfuly raise geese on a pond that isn't right next to my house? My pond is in my cow's pasture a couple hills away from my house, although I can see the pond from my house. What would I need to do to give the geese an almost natural life on my pond? Can they feed and take care of themselves? Will I need to go out once in a while and check? What type of housing will they need? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Rosecomb-Ryan]

Well, In my Opinion I think production type Toulouse would be the best for your situation, If I were you I would atleast try to check on them once a day or so, If they could learn to sleep on the pond like some geese do you would be fine, but most geese like to sleep on the side close to the water. I have a friend with 12-15 Toulouse in her pond in the middle of a horse pasture and she has never fed them and they are fine.. Someone dropped them off..

Ryan

 

[Miss Lydia]

I like the idea of protection from predators, like Rosecomb-Ryan said if they will sleep on the pond they would probably be safe, but if they sleep on the bank next to the pond you probably won't have them long.. here's a link thats interesting.... http://www.metzerfarms.com/GooseWelcome.cfm?CustID=417257
http://www.farmanimalshelters.org/care_main.htm

 

[desertdarlene]

I think if you get non-flying geese, it might be best to have some kind of shelter set up for them if they don't like to sleep in the water. And, I would check up on them everyday, preferably twice a day, once in the morning and evening. I know with me, I would love to go down and feed them just for fun.

If it were me, (this is what I would do though others will have different ideas), I would get a native breed of geese (if possible) or a breed that can fly even a little bit. So, I would think along the lines of Canada or cackling geese, Ross or snow geese if you can obtain any legally (the last two breeds may not be easy to obtain or be allowed to be kept domestically, but I'm not sure). That's just me, I love to see the wild geese, plus they blend in well and can fly away from predators.

Is there any way you can modify your pond so that wild waterfowl will want to be there naturally?