R they as messy as ducks?

[sianara]

I've always wanted a few geese but was worried they would be even messier than ducks. So, is it true or just an old wives tale? (poor old ladies

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[houndit]

They are pretty messy. I think ducks are worse, but geese do more damage because of their size. I have never had as many ducks as geese either.

 

[sianara]

I keep going back and forth about getting 2 or 3 geese. I wouldn't be able to until my 3 older ducks are gone because of lack of space and since they're 7 years old and still pretty healthy it probably won't be for awhile. My understanding is that they are worse mainly because of their size. Their waste is mostly liquid (like ducks) so it just didn't make sense to me that ducks would be messier.

 

[Msbear]

I bought a pair of sebestapol geese on impulse at a swap... where is the emoticon with the gun pointed at your head??? cause I need it now

Within two days, my yard was transformed into green slop... as well as my front porch.. their favorite hang out spot. You need to keep them confined or have lots of space....well, you need to keep them confined if you're worried about the mess. I had to take them to my dad's farm after a couple days as my yard couldn't take it. He has 25 acres and they still hung out on the back porch. They were super sweet though.. everyone loved them. You could hold and snuggle them and they constantly talked to me. ...and followed me around the garden as I planted things... singing to me and sunbathing... then they would eat what I planted..

It was sad to see them go... but had to make the tough decision

 

[sianara]

"When" I get some they will have the big ducks existing run/house and over 700+ sq feet of fenced yard in a partially cleared area in the woods. There's no grass in the yards and another of the things that was holding me back was that I understood geese like (need) to eat lots of grass. I'm sure they love grass but is it a necessity?

 

[fowltemptress]

What I've been told is that ducks are messier because they root around and turn your yard to mud looking for food . . . worms and snails and such. The reason geese aren't as messy is because they don't eat bugs, they graze like cattle, so they don't have a reason to turn everything to muck the way ducks do. It's the difference in diet that causes ducks to be messier than geese; it has nothing to do with size.

 

[sianara]

Quote:
Ok, that makes a lot of sense. So geese really need pasture to graze on then? If this is true I'm guessing my huge yard in the woods won't be good enough for them (rats!

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[ultasol]

700+ sq feet will still be denuded by them. I am using an electric easily moved fence to move them around. Even with that, they poop and step in it, making 'pancakes' which then dry and prevents the grass underneath from getting light and growing. I am going out today to rake the area we moved them off of yesterday to break up the layer of squashed poop on the top.

In the summer I try to have them out at pasture as much as possible, and they have access to three acres at that point. This year will be a little different as I am redoing one of the pastures.

Oi. Goose management.

If mine could, they would also sit on the porch. I have two in quarantine right now (new additions) and I let them in my backyard to graze. They did graze some, then came on the porch, sat in front of the sliding glass door, and occasionally rapped on the glass. Drove the dogs up the wall.

Geese are fantastic on pasture,.. and terribly messy in close quarters.

 

[Suzie]

I have 12 geese and 12 ducks - overnight the housing speaks volumes, the duck mess is usually solid, however, the goose mess is fairly liquid and as they are bigger the result is unpleasant to say the least! The geese also poo up the walls and in their water suppy but my ducks have better manners in that respect. Luckily a good hose down will sort it all out!

I haven't noticed destruction to the areas they all roam - they have an acre plus a mill pond and the river also flows through their terrain so they do spend a lot of their time in the water (when it isn't frozen over as it is now)

Suzie

 

[fowltemptress]

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Okay, how many geese do you have, and . . .


Quote:
. . . how much yard space do you have?


I'm have a hard time figuring out how many geese it takes to destroy however much acreage because it seems like part of the equation is always missing.