Best Geese Breeds for Beginners

[DuckDuckSquirrel]

Hello all,
I am new to this forum, but I have been raising laying hen for around ten years. In recent years I have started raising Pekin ducks, meat roosters and black turkeys. Do you have any recommendations for easy starter geese breeds? Is there any chance that the rumor of geese guarding a poultry flock from predators is true?

 

[CloneFly]

Hello! And welcome to the BYC!
As for geese, I have 1 myself so I cam only reccomend the African Geese. He's pretty protective of his flock. Key thing is, make sure he's raised around the chickens and that there aren't any other geese around to grab his attention. You'll also have to be pretty firm with the goose to get good results. He handled ours a lot and he's a pretty good guardian... he even tries warding off our dogs that come too close to the coop.

 

[Goosebaby]

The guard goose thing is a myth, geese will not and are not capable of protecting your chickens and ducks let alone themselves from predators.
They will defend their goslings with their life, but that’s all.
Geese can scare away small aerial predators like hawks by just being present and can help alert the flock to danger, but nothing more.

As it is geese can sometimes become violent towards smaller birds when they get hormonal in breeding season so you’d have to end up separating them, and if you only have one that would inflict a lot of emotional trauma from being isolated, which can lead to health problems.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-goose-and-why-you-should-not-get-one.77508/

 

[CloneFly]

The guard goose thing is a myth, geese will not and are not capable of protecting your chickens and ducks let alone themselves from predators.
They will defend their goslings with their life, but that’s all.
Geese can scare away small aerial predators like hawks by just being present and can help alert the flock to danger, but nothing more.

As it is geese can sometimes become violent towards smaller birds when they get hormonal in breeding season so you’d have to end up separating them, and if you only have one that would inflict a lot of emotional trauma from being isolated, which can lead to health problems.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-goose-and-why-you-should-not-get-one.77508/

I would have to disagree. My goose does protect our flock quite well, at the very least we know if something is going on.
(We live in an urban area)
As for hormones, again you'd have to raise him around the chickens. When ours gets "nippy" we firmly hold his beak until he gets the message. Mind you, I do only have experience with a male goose. Overall, they are lovely creatures imo and are wonderful additions to a flock

 

[3xhhheather]

I would have to disagree. My goose does protect our flock quite well, at the very least we know if something is going on.
(We live in an urban area)
As for hormones, again you'd have to raise him around the chickens. When ours gets "nippy" we firmly hold his beak until he gets the message. Mind you, I do only have experience with a male goose. Overall, they are lovely creatures imo and are wonderful additions to a flock

I think the main point that gets mixed up when people hear 'guard goose' is that a goose could stand up to a real predator. Sure they can absolutely honk and bluff, maybe even give a bit of a chase, but if a dog or a fox really wanted to get at them they could. Heck, even eagles go after geese.

 

[3xhhheather]

Hello all,
I am new to this forum, but I have been raising laying hen for around ten years. In recent years I have started raising Pekin ducks, meat roosters and black turkeys. Do you have any recommendations for easy starter geese breeds? Is there any chance that the rumor of geese guarding a poultry flock from predators is true?

Most breeds will be easy to start with; French Toulouse & Embden are pretty easy to come across and not that expensive, both can be used as meat birds, but if they're pets French Toulouse would have the better personality (IME).

 

[DuckDuckSquirrel]

Hello! And welcome to the BYC!
As for geese, I have 1 myself so I cam only reccomend the African Geese. He's pretty protective of his flock. Key thing is, make sure he's raised around the chickens and that there aren't any other geese around to grab his attention. You'll also have to be pretty firm with the goose to get good results. He handled ours a lot and he's a pretty good guardian... he even tries warding off our dogs that come too close to the coop.

Thank you so much for the welcome CloneFly ! I am very glad to hear your experiences with geese have been positive. Thanks so much for the helpful tips! Is your goose the same age as your chickens (litter mates)? If so do you suppose that helps them get along?

 

[DuckDuckSquirrel]

The guard goose thing is a myth, geese will not and are not capable of protecting your chickens and ducks let alone themselves from predators.
They will defend their goslings with their life, but that’s all.
Geese can scare away small aerial predators like hawks by just being present and can help alert the flock to danger, but nothing more.

As it is geese can sometimes become violent towards smaller birds when they get hormonal in breeding season so you’d have to end up separating them, and if you only have one that would inflict a lot of emotional trauma from being isolated, which can lead to health problems.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-goose-and-why-you-should-not-get-one.77508/

Thank you GooseBaby for the advice and the article! I found this information very helpful. Good to know their presence can ward off small predators. That would be a good pro to owning them.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

My gander would kill a rooster given the chance, he ripped a tail off a 29lb turkey aswell and he was raised with them for 12 years. Had foxes take ducks and chickens.. geese will not stop predators from taking birds

 

[DuckDuckSquirrel]

Most breeds will be easy to start with; French Toulouse & Embden are pretty easy to come across and not that expensive, both can be used as meat birds, but if they're pets French Toulouse would have the better personality (IME).

Hello 3xhhheather and thank you for the breed recommendations! Good to know that the French Toulouse have a better temperament. Do you have any hatchery that you prefer to purchase your poultry from or do you breed them yourself?