Goose questions

[User690263]

So, I'm considering getting some geese this year (not sure if it will work out, but I figured that there's no harm in getting some information!) and I have a few questions.
1) what breeds do you recommend? I would be keeping them as a pet, so I don't really need good eggs or meat production
2) what feed would they need?
3) what kind of housing would they need? I'm guessing that they would need some sort of pond as well. Would they be able to live with my chickens?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[HonkABC]

I can't answer your other questions, but I don't think geese would do well with chickens.

 

[KathiQuacks]

1. Any Greylag-descended breeds, like the Buff, Toulouse, Sebastopol, etc., tend to be friendlier. I have an African who’s a big cuddle bug with me, but she doesn’t tolerate other animals like my Buff does.

2. My geese have done great on Mazuri’s waterfowl feed. Geese are also grazers, so they’ll do good to have a lot of grass.

3. Geese are territorial & like their own space. They may coexist in a run / when free ranging, but ideally should have their own coop overnight. No roosts, and I believe nesting boxes are optional.
My 2 geese are pretty content with their large dog pool.
I would only keep female geese with chickens, personally. Males are more aggressive in general & have the risk of attempting to breed your birds, which could injure / kill them.

 

[User690263]

1. Any Greylag-descended breeds, like the Buff, Toulouse, Sebastopol, etc., tend to be friendlier. I have an African who’s a big cuddle bug with me, but she doesn’t tolerate other animals like my Buff does.

2. My geese have done great on Mazuri’s waterfowl feed. Geese are also grazers, so they’ll do good to have a lot of grass.

3. Geese are territorial & like their own space. They may coexist in a run / when free ranging, but ideally should have their own coop overnight. No roosts, and I believe nesting boxes are optional.
My 2 geese are pretty content with their large dog pool.
I would only keep female geese with chickens, personally. Males are more aggressive in general & have the risk of attempting to breed your birds, which could injure / kill them.

Thanks! Yeah, I was thinking that they would be together during the day but separated overnight

 

[AGeese]

So, I'm considering getting some geese this year (not sure if it will work out, but I figured that there's no harm in getting some information!) and I have a few questions.
1) what breeds do you recommend? I would be keeping them as a pet, so I don't really need good eggs or meat production
2) what feed would they need?
3) what kind of housing would they need? I'm guessing that they would need some sort of pond as well. Would they be able to live with my chickens?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I would get a proper ratio of geese so many issues arise from having two few, or an imbalance of the sexes. Typical ratio is 2 geese per gander. For starters I'd go with 3 - 1 male 2 females.

Now just knowing what I know from having Embdens, if I started again I would either get Mini-Geese, Pilgrims, or Cotton Patch.

Geese can be bullies when it comes to other birds so the bigger they are, the harder they can be to deal with.

I don't recommend keeping them confined with other birds. If you free range then no problem.