What kind of goose?

[TattooQ27]

A friend told me that geese make great guard dogs for ducks. Since I lost 3 ducks to something last week, I am considering ordering a couple goslings to help keep my ducks safe. I really like geese alot so I am excited about owning a few but I don't know what kind to get. I have three 7 week old pekins, two 2 week old buffs and two 2 week old blue swedes...what would get along well with them? I would prefer to get goslings because I have heard that geese can be mean if they aren't handled often right from the start. I would like a goose that will be good at guarding my ducks but also not chase/bite my kids, is that possible? Also, where is the best place to get goslings from? I really only want 2 since I already have 7 ducks. Thanks!

 

[adrian]

I think the best guard dogs are apparently Chinese geese, because they are so loud. But a breed like embdens are big and aggressive enough to attack strangers without hesitation. The only problem is, an aggressive breed like that might end up attacking your ducks as well. I've heard chinese geese are the best.

Oh, and chinese geese are really sweet and interactive if raised from babies. They're also good weeder geese, and a light breed of goose.

Good luck.

 

[catnip]

Dogs, raccoons, owls, coyotes, etc. will still kill a full grown goose. Geese are great but you can't depend on geese to actually defend against a preditor. They'll sound the alarm, but can often end up the prey. There are a few people here on the forum who have lost geese to preditors just recently.

 

[adrian]

Quote:
Very true. Only house cats are really afraid of geese.
So geese can only be "guard dogs" to a certain degree.

 

[TattooQ27]

Quote:
Thanks for the info. I am looking for a whistle blower but not something to actually fend off the preditors. I have moved my ducks to a more secure pen but I am looking for something loud enough to get our attention and I have heard geese are good at that. I will be locking up all of the ducks and geese from dusk until mid morning so hopefully between moving them, locking them in and also having a whistle blower I will be able to keep everyone safe and happy.

 

[TattooQ27]

Quote:
Would embdens be aggressive with the ducks if it was raised by me? If so, I think I will stick with the chinese. I like the embden because of its large size but I am looking to protect my ducks, not hurt them.

 

[catnip]

Sounds as if you have a good plan by locking everyone up. Geese will make great "watch dogs" for you and sound the alarm if something is out of the ordinary.

My geese turned aggressive towards my chickens and I hand raised them. They didn't want those lowly chickens any where near them.

I ended up keeping the chickens in the run again so that the geese would stop mauling them.

Hard to say if the same thing would happen with your ducks. Some people have had good luck integrating ducks and geese as long as they all have plenty of room to keep away from each other.

 

[goosedragon]

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I have never tried a goose with chickens but I always had geese with ducks. the ducks soon learn that the geese are at the top of the pecking order and either are submissive to the geese or stay out of their way. I wouldn't say that the geese were agressive but they were territorial, they selected one stall of a 2 stall barn and visitors (including me) were not welcome!
When my boss gander was displaced by a younger one he was cast out of the goose flock and became king of the ducks! it was funny to see him give a alarm call because of something flying overhead and have all the ducklings come to hide under him. He was always babysitting for the ducks. Drakes usually make poor fathers but this big old gander was tickled pink to 'father' ducklings.
One word of warning however, for some reason the geese always became upset when the ducks would try to mate and they would interfer and break it up. I finally set up a "no tell motel" where the duck pairs could go to be alone, screened by vegation,with a small pool and with an entrance too small for the geese to enter. This did the trick.