I would strongly disagree with the advice to get new, baby geese. I have rescued older geese that were dumped and they do wonderful in their new homes and can tolerate other poultry. Some of them were living feral for months but they adjust happily. Geese are intelligent and they will be very thankful if you give them a home. It sounds like they like you already too. None of mine have become aggressive as they age- in fact I have never heard of this before.
I would take the geese on the lake, but you may need a separate sleeping area for them at night. I coop my geese at night because of predators. One of them I have in his own pen because he does not like being crowded, but the others do fine with other geese and birds. If you put them in the coop at the same time every night they will learn the routine. Give them dinner when you put them in at night and they will be happy to go inside.
This is absolutely not true, not true at all.
I don't disagree with you either. I was suggesting she might want to start with younger ones than adopting older ones. From what she says, it seems she might want more human friendly geese, and that's generally what you get when you raise them from young. But it's like all animals I suppose. I always prefer adopting over buying, all my animals (minus Cas! Lol) are rescues. BUT...they all came with their own issues as a result...(Biscuit, the cockatoo, was TERRIFIED of men, brooms, sticks, vacuums, etc. Bear, the border collie, has severe separation anxiety.) All (with much work and love) are doing much better now, but again, it took work.
When I had "farm geese", they "tolerated" me. They'd come over to see if I had treats and then be on their way. They did their own thing. Corralling them into their house at night was a chore that neither I, nor them, enjoyed. I had 8 geese (and 6 ducks) and they'd split up and run off in all directions. It was a mess. Cas on the other hand, raised by me since Day 1 follows me EVERYWHERE and will approach other humans too. He LOVES people and will go to others and just sit and talk to them and enjoys being touched, handled, petted, etc.
Didn't mean to say my way is the only way. Their are exceptions to every rule, and each animal is unique. I was simply stating MY personal experiences with both, and given the opportunity (and land) to farm again, I would personally only get baby geese and raise them around people and other critters, know what they've been fed, etc. BUT...this is all just my opinion of course. Honestly, I would think the OP will appreciate many facets of opinion to help make their own. We don't always have to agree on everything! That's what makes people great!
Hugs @ Heritage
