Help! Geese vs. Ducks

[luckyduckys]

I have decided to get a pair of ducks or geese in the spring. I rescued a wild female mallard in December, and completely fell in love. She's gone now and I miss her terribly! (Even though she hated me and was scared of me).

I've been doing a lot of research (almost obsessively) as to the different kinds and breeds of ducks and geese and I am completely torn. I live across from a small pond which are home to a family of mallards who migrate each winter. They seem super friendly, even as wild ducks. Always walking all over the neighbourhood. I have read that geese interact better with humans, is this true? I want to be able to touch and handle my duck/goose but do not want them to be overly noisy. I know geese can have a pretty loud honk! Also, I have two small children and want to make sure the breed I choose isn't known to be aggressive. I only plan on having a pair (of ducks/geese). The breeds I am interested in are the embden and buff geese and the pekin and cayuga ducks. I love the mallards but my main priority is good personality/friendliness towards humans. I'd love to hear your input as I am a beginner at this.

Thank you.

 

[The goose girl]

Although I love geese and can't imagine life without, I'd say stick with ducks when you have small children. Geese are huge compared to children, and they do have a more aggressive approach to what intimidates them.

I don't know about cayugas. We had pekin ducks when I was a kid, they were really tame and friendly. So friendly they'd go to our neighbor's garden and help her eat her kale! We could pick them up no problem.

A friend of mine has a pair of runner ducks, and even though they were scared of people when she got them (they ran away as soon as they saw her and kept hiding until she was gone), they're now really friendly. Whenever I visit they come running to the hedge as soon as they hear me, and they'll follow me along the hedge to the gate. Then we chat for a few minutes at the gate, and they follow me around the yard. They'll even sometimes try and chew my shoes; they're so curious.

 

[ducksinarow]

Muscovy's are suppose to be very friendly. I read that they wag their tail feathers.

 

[The goose girl]

Muscovy's are suppose to be very friendly. I read that they wag their tail feathers.

Well, it's not like a dog wagging its tail. They do it when they're agitated. My friend once had muscovies, and the one day she was out of town and I took care of them, I had the drake on my leg the whole time, biting on to my knee and trying to claw my shins. I managed to shake him off when I was done feeding them, but I did not interpret his tail wag as friendly.

He never attacked me when my friend was in the yard, but obviously felt the need to protect his territory when she was away.

 

[flockman]

I have pekin ducks. They are calm but not friendly. They don't mind my presence but don't want to be touched. My geese don't really want touched either but they follow me around and really seem to enjoy my presence. Ducks are less likely to hurt anyone. Geese can be unpredictable. I have heard good things about Muscovy ducks. I have heard you have to watch the drakes.
If you have geese you may need to keep them confined when children are around.

 

[clmschke]

We have both geese and ducks. They don't really interact with each other unless they are raised from chicks together. As for friendliness? The geese have shown more of a friendly response to me. There are a few that even will come up to me and nibble on my hair and buttons. We've got one gander, Sweet Pea, who will give you 'kisses' -nibble on your bottom lip.

Our ducks are more standoffish to me. They're more of a nod 'hey' in the morning.

Now, to get these geese and ducks to this kind of interaction with me and the hubby, I raised them from chicks. I spent time outside with them showing them the good green grass, the pools to swim in, the mud puddle.... They knew me as kind of a Mother Goose. I notice with the goslings raised by their gooses and ganders last year that they don't have much to do with me. That's fine with me, as I wanted it that way.

I would think that if you have the time to invest in working with your geese or ducks as chicks, they will be more attentive to you. You can also pick up a lot of their behavioral clues as well. This works when you have small children around. A goose with its head down, neck fully extended is one to stay away from.

Of course, when you tell the kids to stay away from a goose making that stance, you also have to trust the kids to do so. I've had issues with my Niece's kids refusing to listen to me when I say stay away from this goose or that duck. I finally told them they could not go outside without my presence. -Brenda

 

[livininbrazil]

I have decided to get a pair of ducks or geese in the spring. I rescued a wild female mallard in December, and completely fell in love. She's gone now and I miss her terribly! (Even though she hated me and was scared of me).

I've been doing a lot of research (almost obsessively) as to the different kinds and breeds of ducks and geese and I am completely torn. I live across from a small pond which are home to a family of mallards who migrate each winter. They seem super friendly, even as wild ducks. Always walking all over the neighbourhood. I have read that geese interact better with humans, is this true? I want to be able to touch and handle my duck/goose but do not want them to be overly noisy. I know geese can have a pretty loud honk! Also, I have two small children and want to make sure the breed I choose isn't known to be aggressive. I only plan on having a pair (of ducks/geese). The breeds I am interested in are the embden and buff geese and the pekin and cayuga ducks. I love the mallards but my main priority is good personality/friendliness towards humans. I'd love to hear your input as I am a beginner at this.

Thank you.

I reckon if you liked the duck, get ducks. Ive had pekins that were super-tame and not really noisey, just that funny little quack-quack of the females.....I did like them, too. I´m thinking of getting some more.
I have geese, too, which I really like and prefer, but I think if you already really liked the duck, that´s what would you should go for....just my view

Why not get 2 cayuga females? I would.

 

[livininbrazil]

I have decided to get a pair of ducks or geese in the spring. I rescued a wild female mallard in December, and completely fell in love. She's gone now and I miss her terribly! (Even though she hated me and was scared of me).

I've been doing a lot of research (almost obsessively) as to the different kinds and breeds of ducks and geese and I am completely torn. I live across from a small pond which are home to a family of mallards who migrate each winter. They seem super friendly, even as wild ducks. Always walking all over the neighbourhood. I have read that geese interact better with humans, is this true? I want to be able to touch and handle my duck/goose but do not want them to be overly noisy. I know geese can have a pretty loud honk! Also, I have two small children and want to make sure the breed I choose isn't known to be aggressive. I only plan on having a pair (of ducks/geese). The breeds I am interested in are the embden and buff geese and the pekin and cayuga ducks. I love the mallards but my main priority is good personality/friendliness towards humans. I'd love to hear your input as I am a beginner at this.

Thank you.

I reckon if you liked the duck, get ducks. Ive had pekins that were super-tame and not really noisey, just that funny little quack-quack of the females.....I did like them, too. I´m thinking of getting some more.
I have geese, too, which I really like and prefer, but I think if you already really liked the duck, that´s what would you should go for....just my view

Why not get 2 cayuga females? I would.

 

[livininbrazil]

Well, it's not like a dog wagging its tail. They do it when they're agitated. My friend once had muscovies, and the one day she was out of town and I took care of them, I had the drake on my leg the whole time, biting on to my knee and trying to claw my shins. I managed to shake him off when I was done feeding them, but I did not interpret his tail wag as friendly.

He never attacked me when my friend was in the yard, but obviously felt the need to protect his territory when she was away.

What a loyal drake!

 

[luckyduckys]

Thank you for all of your input! I will take all of it into consideration. I plan on spending a lot of time with the babies so hopefully they will grow to love me My next question would be, should I make sure they are sexed when I get them? Does it matter if I get two males or two females or a male and a female? Also, must you contain your ducks at all times? I do not have a fenced in yard (yet) and I live on a golf course where there is a lot of open space but I don't want them out wandering too far. Do they tend to wander? Do they come back home at night? I will have a run for them for sure, I just don't want to keep them cooped up everyday.

Thanks!