Sebastopol Geese - Are they good watchdogs?

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i just came within hairs length of losing one of my Showgirls to a cat yesterday. Looking to get a goose, duck, turkey, something cool looking, that will protect my flock. i only let my chickens out when i am in the yard. But this cat came right up and tried to nab my Maribou right under my feet.

So, would like to get a large fowl that is friendly to people, not aggressive to chickens, but will sound an alarm or be aggressive to intruders. i love the Sebastopols, and have heard they are friendly. But will they go after a cat? Can they fly and would they be able to make it over a four foot fence? Are there other ducks or geese or turkeys that would fit my requirements better?

And lastly, is there a good site i might peruse that provides details on caring for water fowl?

Thanks so much for any input provided.

 

[banter]

Yes, they are great watchdogs and friendly if treated kindly. You cannot keep just one. They will pine for a playmate or mate. Ducks and chickens don't seem to do it for them, but I believe you can mix breeds of geese if you don't care about pure offspring.

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

Sebastopols are very good watchdogs.
They are one of the less aggressive breeds.
They should get along fine with cats, I have about 10 cats that live in my barn and the geese see them daily and are fine with them.

A good website would be Holderreads

The owner of the site also has tons of fabulous birds, great stock, and he is also an author that writes tons of great books about waterfowl and they are very informative.

My sebastopol geese are actually from his stock.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Thank you! i read somewhere else about Holderreads being an excellent place to buy water fowl. Looks like i will need to wait until next spring to purchase some as they are out of stock now. That will give me time to research how to care for them.

Thanks again!

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

Adult sebastopols are available for fall and winter shipments. They come in colors too!

Look into that. They're just beautiful birds.

 

[MissPrissy]

You need to remember that geese are prey as well.

If something comes after your chickens your geese might sound the alarm but they won't protect your chickens or fight off a predator.

Sebbies are smallish when it comes to geese. I wouldn't put my sebbie out to roam. A big country tom cat looking for trouble could take him down if he wanted. My buff dewlap toulouse are nearly 3 times bigger than the sebbie. Substantial in size.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Just going by looks, the Toulouse would be my second choice. Those are gorgeous birds. i'm not sure i would let any of my birds out to free roam without me close by. i suppose any bird, no matter how big could conceivably be prey for a hawk or really gutsy cat.

 

[pips&peeps]

As far as sebbies go, they are good at alerting you when somthing is out of the "norm". I don't think they would protect the flock from anything as they are going to protect themselves first.

I also think they are quite capable of fending off a cat, but nothing bigger.

Unfortunately you cannot guarantee the safety of your chickens with sebbies as my flock killed a chicken this past week even though most of them were raised with chickens.

The chicken was sick though and I was going to cull her in a couple hours......

 

[wateboe]

I am interested in adding a pair of geese to my chicken flock becasue of their "watchdog" abilities. My chickens are pastured in afternoons and evenings within electric poultry netting with easy access to a large, secure barn at all times. They are secured inside a converted stall inside the barn every night.

Would the addition of geese give them an extra measure of protection from sky-borne predators? If so, can anyone suggest varieties of geese that are more prone to become "pets" (less aggressive) than attack-geese! The Sebastopol are appealing, but are there others that seem to have especially appealing personalities?

 

[feathersgalore]

My sebastopols usually just watch things in the sky. They really don't do much alerting. They do, however, have great personalities and follow along just like dogs.