What breed of geese shall I get?

[JeannieWish]

Hi,
I'm getting 2 goslings in April and I wondered if anyone could tell me a nice breed to get. They all look beautiful to me.

I wanted to get quite docile, quiet ones . We have chickens that are free rangers.

Also so many ppl near where I live say that the geese dropping are very messy and smell really bad. But surely that depends on what they're eating doesn't it.
Ours will be in a field that has a pond in it. We have made a secure house for them to sleep in.

I like the look of the Chinese white geese. We are not bothered about eggs either.

Any advise would be great, thank you x

 

[livininbrazil]

Hi,
I'm getting 2 goslings in April and I wondered if anyone could tell me a nice breed to get. They all look beautiful to me.

I wanted to get quite docile, quiet ones . We have chickens that are free rangers.

Also so many ppl near where I live say that the geese dropping are very messy and smell really bad. But surely that depends on what they're eating doesn't it.
Ours will be in a field that has a pond in it. We have made a secure house for them to sleep in.

I like the look of the Chinese white geese. We are not bothered about eggs either.

Any advise would be great, thank you x

Hi Jeannie. Sounds like you have a lovely spot there for geese. As far as poop goes, grazing geese poop has the faintest sweet aroma. Unlike the chickens´poop, which stinks in comparison. But geese do poop a lot. Where they sit at night will be covered in poop by the morning, but it´s nothing like as bad as chickens to clean up.
As for docile geese, I have Pilgrim-types, which I find extremely docile. Others will say what they think of their breeds, of course. From the chinese I see around here, I´d say they´re not so docile, but then i´ve read some posts on here of people that have them and say they´re really lovely. Why n ot read through the thread on chines and African geese? See what you think.

 

[JLfarm]

I would recommend the embden breed they r a large breed ,they lay fairly moderately ,they r alittle loud though ,they make excellent brooders and mothers and setters. I love them

 

[Tivona]

I have, or have had Embdens, Toulouse, and Pilgrims.

The Embdens were more aggressive. Very trainable to be quieter though. They caught on to my liking them not to honk and were pretty good about it. The gander was a handful in breeding season. They all were very good with my ducks.

The Toulouse I had was by far the loudest. Someone who had several breeds of geese heard him honking and her eyes bugged and she said maybe I should go check on him as she thought it sounded pretty bad. His honking was like something from the movie Jurassic Park. Really bad on the volume and a bit scary sounding. Okay... his honking could be more then alarming.

He was sweet though. He was fine with the ducks and got along with every one. I liked the Toulouse and I think I just got one with a wacky non-normal extra loud voice.

The Pilgrims are the easiest going of the three breeds that I have had. They are very sweet. I can pet the girl any time I want. Her mate will stand close but doesn't like me to pet him. The gander is much more mellow then the Embden gander and just as sweet if not sweeter then the Toulouse gander. They have been a bit more talkative then the Embdens but they are still fairly good about not making to much noise. Their honking voices aren't bad in volume. They just like to chat a bit more then the Embdens I had. The Pilgrim gander is fine with the ducks as long as his girl is fine with them. She is currently in a bit of a mood with the ducks as she just started sitting. The rest of the time she has been great with them.

Basically I would say it will depend on the individual geese as to how they interact with other birds. I would definitely recommend the Pilgrims though as for mellow easy going nature. Plus they are auto color sexing which is really great. Personally my favorite breed by far. They are very pretty and so sweet.

 

[jtn42248]

I have three Toulouse and they are all sweet and very friendly. Sometimes a little loud and they get on fine with my chickens and ducks. I have heard really good things about Pilgrims but when I searched for some to buy everyone was out of stock. Evidently they have a breeding period and once that is over you have to wait until next year.

 

[flockman]

I have American Buffs. They are quieter than Chinese, African, and Embdens that I have met. The females are extremely docile. My gander is more of a handful right now as we are at the height of breeding season.

 

[livininbrazil]

I have, or have had Embdens, Toulouse, and Pilgrims.

The Embdens were more aggressive. Very trainable to be quieter though. They caught on to my liking them not to honk and were pretty good about it. The gander was a handful in breeding season. They all were very good with my ducks.

The Toulouse I had was by far the loudest. Someone who had several breeds of geese heard him honking and her eyes bugged and she said maybe I should go check on him as she thought it sounded pretty bad. His honking was like something from the movie Jurassic Park. Really bad on the volume and a bit scary sounding. Okay... his honking could be more then alarming.

He was sweet though. He was fine with the ducks and got along with every one. I liked the Toulouse and I think I just got one with a wacky non-normal extra loud voice.

The Pilgrims are the easiest going of the three breeds that I have had. They are very sweet. I can pet the girl any time I want. Her mate will stand close but doesn't like me to pet him. The gander is much more mellow then the Embden gander and just as sweet if not sweeter then the Toulouse gander. They have been a bit more talkative then the Embdens but they are still fairly good about not making to much noise. Their honking voices aren't bad in volume. They just like to chat a bit more then the Embdens I had. The Pilgrim gander is fine with the ducks as long as his girl is fine with them. She is currently in a bit of a mood with the ducks as she just started sitting. The rest of the time she has been great with them.

Basically I would say it will depend on the individual geese as to how they interact with other birds. I would definitely recommend the Pilgrims though as for mellow easy going nature. Plus they are auto color sexing which is really great. Personally my favorite breed by far. They are very pretty and so sweet.

My pilgrim type geese are superb, so easy to deal with. When I first got them, they had been kept wild on a farm, so they were really nervous. The first breeding season they slowly learned that I wasn´t going to harm them (getting close, looking at eggs and gozzies, feeding them up, etc), and last year they had no problem even with my picking up their gozzies. They all come now to eat out of a pot in my hand. They´re just so mild. Their gozzies (6/7 months), of course, are easy to get to come, and the young males, being more forward, come right up and chat to me.

jtn, now´s the time to start looking for goslings of any breed. they´re not like chickens that breed almost year-round.

I have American Buffs. They are quieter than Chinese, African, and Embdens that I have met. The females are extremely docile. My gander is more of a handful right now as we are at the height of breeding season.

So, Flockman, who´ll win this time? Buffs or pilgrims?