Should I get a "guard goose"?

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cchicks4 said:
I do feel bad getting just one but I was it for the purpose of alarm. I don’t expect it to chase anything off. Just make some noise if something is around while I let them free range when I’m home
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How large a property are they ranging over? If they're close enough to the flock to see the predator, it wouldn't matter whether they were "bonded" to the flock or not. They would still sound the alarm.
 
sylviethecochin said:
How large a property are they ranging over? If they're close enough to the flock to see the predator, it wouldn't matter whether they were "bonded" to the flock or not. They would still sound the alarm.
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That is true. We live on 8 acres but they range in only about 3/4 a acre surrounded by forest and our house on the one side
 
We had one male goose and he bonded with the ducks and wasn't lonely at all. However he was extremely aggressive and would attack everyone. We don't miss him at all....
 
BirdsBeesTrees said:
We had one male goose and he bonded with the ducks and wasn't lonely at all. However he was extremely aggressive and would attack everyone. We don't miss him at all....
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That’s the other thing ... will it attack me ? I pick up some of the ducks bc they’re friendly enough. I’m not planning on interacting with it much but I’d rather not get attacked. I’d probably get a female ..... if you guys were me, would you get one or just stick with my flock and hope I keep a close enough eye out
 
BirdsBeesTrees said:
We had one male goose and he bonded with the ducks and wasn't lonely at all. However he was extremely aggressive and would attack everyone. We don't miss him at all....
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He was probably frustrated... sexually :)

Geese are really couple-esque. They bond pretty much for life, like penguins... and "most" of us :)

No to be sappy but they look for a "soulmate" very early on too. If they lose them, it's devastating to them.

I had a couple few years ago, they were 2 years old. The male got snatched by a bobcat. My girl was a mess and never recovered. She would use the dog door in the kitchen as soon as she would hear us in the morning and wouldn't want to get out. She would hang out with my son all day. Eventually, she stopped eating... :(

Bottom line, guarding Gs are great, just get him a good gal too :)
 
TeenageRooster's Dad said:
He was probably frustrated... sexually :)

Geese are really couple-esque. They bond pretty much for life, like penguins... and "most" of us :)

No to be sappy but they look for a "soulmate" very early on too. If they lose them, it's devastating to them.

I had a couple few years ago, they were 2 years old. The male got snatched by a bobcat. My girl was a mess and never recovered. She would use the dog door in the kitchen as soon as she would hear us in the morning and wouldn't want to get out. She would hang out with my son all day. Eventually, she stopped eating... :(

Bottom line, guarding Gs are great, just get him a good gal too :)
Click to expand...
 
We didn't learn from our goose experiment and got a male and female pair of geese. They were a nasty pair, then we had 2 geese to avoid! We are done with geese, it may just have been the breed but we don't need the drama.
 
Do not get a single goose. Sure, it will 'bond' with the ducks or chickens or whatever - just like you would 'bond' with a bunch of chimpanzees if we tossed you into a group of them and you had no way to ever interact with another human being for the rest of your life. I'm sure you'd follow them around for the company and so you could feel safer with the group. But it wouldn't be the same as being with other humans.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/reasons-why-you-shouldnt-keep-just-one-goose.1220102/

As far as using them as guard animals, they'll still alert whether there's one of them or two or them or forty of them. They won't attack or drive off predators. Their size may deter some smaller predators, like hawks, from attacking.
 

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