Weed eating geese

[beak]

I have many chickens but need something to help out with weeding a large garden. Weed eating geese have been suggested. Do the weed eating variety really discriminate between weeds and vegetables? If so what will they eat and what will they leave alone? We had some China white geese a few years ago. They were very aggressive and difficult to feed and maintain because of it. At the time my son was doing most of the feeding and he may have made them aggressive with his behavior. Do they tend to be more docile with gentle treatment as goslings? We had the same problem with our first batch of chickens. Since my wife and I have been taking care of them they are very well behaved and are like dogs when it comes to seeking affection.

Any comments would be appreciated. The chickens keep the insects under control but do eat tomatoes which is our main crop.

Thanks beak

 

[silkiechicken]

They'll go down and eat EVERYTHING!

I think they are called weeder geese, in crops such as corn, where if you let them go "weed" after the corn is like 18-24 inches tall, they won't eat the corn, but go after the tender weeds that pop up the secondtime after you weeded the first time round.

 

[redoak]

One of my wife's friends tried weeder geese with limited success. He tried them in garlic and they trampled the garlic. But like silkiechicken said they would probably work well with 18-24 inch tall corn to weed.

 

[pconwayfarms]

I used Chinese "weeder geese" in my soft fruits garden with incredible success. I had raspberries, strawberries, and thornless blackberries. They did not bother the plants, but kept he grass and clover mown down like a lawnmower. As someone mentioned they have a preference for tender growth and young grass and clover seem to be their favorites.
I had to take them out when the strawberries started to ripen, then back in after harvest. They ate the few raspberries and blackberries that they could reach, but lucky for me I grew them on trellises so the damage was minimal because the bulk of the fruit was out of their reach.

 

[beak]

Thank you all

Sounds like the safest bet is bending over to pull weeds. I've used straw but it's kind of slick and my wife tends to twist her knee on it.

 

[theOEGBman]

Quote:
Just do what I do and pretend they arent there.

 

[worms7]

Why not let your chickens out of the run in winter to weed
that's what I do
cheers Phil