Thinking about getting some geese?

Last April we moved to a place that now gives us room to consider some poultry. A Bar Headed Goose visited our pond recently, and we really enjoyed seeing him/her. This got us thinking that maybe a few geese would be nice. Any idea what books would help me have some idea what we are looking at before jumping into it? They'd be pets, really. We would not want to eat any of them unless they turned mean.

I've heard geese are also good watchdogs, so to speak. Is that true? Our watchdogs are indoor dogs who would not be interested in patrolling the yard all day and night like geese do. It would interfere with their napping and pestering for attention routine. LOL I've heard geese are kind of like feathered motion detectors.

I am interested in finding a gentle breed as I already saw enough of one that turned nasty at a pond where we used to walk. He wasn't even afraid of our large dogs! My DH could get him to back off, but he chased other walkers, especially those with kids, mercilessly until he had to be removed to a farm. That is what I don't want. What breeds are the gentlest?

I've been considering chickens or ducks for the eggs as we prefer to have organic where we can, but all the stories about being attacked by chickens gives me pause. We're trying to move towards being as self-sufficient as we can -- eventually. We do a large garden, canning, etc. but no livestock yet. DH grew up on a dairy farm, and so has little interest in anything to do with the nether regions of a bovine. ;-) So...we are investigating other alternatives...

Any advice for a total and complete newbie??

Thanks!

not sure i have heard those stories?! if you mena roosters, you can have laying hens without one.

as far as geese go, they, like ducks, are very protective of their territory when they start mating and nesting. Chinese are the best watchdogs, but not pets. I don't know what kind of geese would make good pets, we got our for watchdogs.

Muscovy ducks don't lay enough eating eggs, but are great at hatching their own babies, and will hatch out chickens too! If you get them when small, they will be tame, but still don't want to be held. They fly, but don't fly away. They like water puddles but don't require a pond. They taste wonderful, and there is usually a decent market for them anywhere. You won't want to always keep all your babies. Our first duck hatched out 13 babies last year, plus one chicken! She is on anest with maybe 10 duck eggs and one chicken egg right now. Not far from her a Chinese goose is on her nest with coutnless eggs. Yesterday another goose got too close to the ducks nest. I had to pull the duck off the goose twice! This is just theri protective nature, they are no tmean, and none have ever bitten anyone here, except nudged a cat now and then [and they had it coming!]

In my opinion, to have an organic garden, it really helps to have mulitple bug patrolsL guineas, geese, ducks, and chickens all eat different pests. And all fertilize your garden.

You will get a lot of info and advice here from folks who have been doing thi smuch longer than we have. Keep in mind there are many breeds out there. Do your homework and you won't be disappointed!

tf

Laying hens was what we are most interested in for food/egg production. I do love ducks, but as friends, not food, though. I've known a few sweeties in wild mallards, and the thought of eating a duck just doesn't sit well with me! lol

The stories I referred to were all those who were getting spurred by roosters, etc. in the "Do I have to eat him?" thread. What breed of chicken would be likely to be the most docile and also a decent layer? We are incredibly new to the idea. Not even sure what they eat or how to go about it. I have a book (I think I still do) called Day Range Poultry. I'll have to make a hunt for it.

Thanks!

My Toulouse ladies were very gentle and would lay their heads in my lap. The gander was annother story. We got rid of him. Geese are good watchdogs, but don't get up to look every time they go off. They honk at dogs, cats and coyotes when they come in the yard, but we also discovered they honk at birds, butterflies, toads, cars, airplanes, wind, stars, moon, raindrops.....well, you get the idea. I would say that the biggest drawback is the prodigious ammounts of POOP generated by each goose. If they stay out back by the pond it's no problem, but mine much prefered the back deck. It's slippery too. I know. And it stains the butt of your pants.

I think it's worth it to watch them in the water though. When they play, they actually "fly" under water. It's beautiful.

lol "stains the butt of your pants"!!!

i have two toulouse (male & female) and three white chinese (2m, 1f)
the toulouse male, shrek, is on guard right now due to nesting...not so bad with me or my husband, but my children don't want to heed his warning and one has been bit
one of the white chinese males i named frank burns due to personality & he will attack....the attacks are lessening
the other male, buddy, will crawl on my lap...he follows me around and gets upset if he can't get to where i am
the female, snow white, is fairly docile & i call her a little crack head as she is addicted to styrofoam (she found a supply i had to use in planters)....really odd, but she is sweet
i had another female named nana who was handicapped....she'd chat as long as you'd like and would cuddle

i'm getting two sebastopols (straight run), two brown chinese (1m, 1f), two tufted romans (1m, 1f) and another white chinese to hopefully chill out frank burns (he was the wacko major in mash)

none of the ducks we have are aggressive...they will come up and beg and even just follow me around on errands, but none will just plop on my lap

we are getting some more ducks and i think if we are able to handle them a bit more things might be different

it's also possible we'll get some babies from fiona (female toulouse), snow white & chanel (a rouen duck)
my understanding is that we'll need to get the babies away from the parents asap to keep them from being leary of people

we get a lot of entertainment with our feathered ones.....we only have four chickens left right now and will get 26 more in the middle of may & then we are also hoping to hatch out some guinea eggs too

The stories in "do I have to eat him" were referring to a couple of Buff Orpington roosters. Mcamden had one who turned mean and I had one who turned mean. You do not need a rooster at all unless you want fertile eggs to set and hatch your own. Hens will lay eggs anyway. They just won't be fertile. Most hens are very docile if you handle them from the time you first get them.

I would think that their attitude would come from how they are raised at least somewhat. We have 3 Toulouse and Gustav is very protective right now as Gertie and Hildy are setting on a bundle of eggs each! My DH always has a treat for Gus and the ladies so they back off and wait for the treat...then Gus hisses just in case DH thinks he is going to check the eggs or Heaven forbid Steal one! They are usually very calm and friendly...and they are the meadow watchdogs. On the otherside of the house is our driveway and they give the alert if a car comes into the yard. It is a comedy to watch the roos chase all the hens into the coop! Only one door and 56 chickens! (We usually have 100+ and have at least 2 doors open)
The roos are all friendly with us...DH treats them too...especially the roos. He calls them to himself by name and they follow him around talking at him. The only time they get touchy is when a hen has collected eggs to brood! She will move but with complaints and he will wear leather gloves then so he can mark the brooding eggs. They will follow me but I do not treat as often! We have many rooster stories and laugh often over the recalling of some of the happenings...none of which was due to a mean rooster of any age. We have 5 right now...Barnyard Blend mostly but Randy Dandy is a huge Buff Orp & ? He is the top boss under DH, Chester is a large RIR cross and 2nd in command, Horace is Jersey Giant X and beautiful, his son, Elmer has a Bantam Cochin mom, and a Special Black by the name of Sam. They each have about 10 hens to cover and they stay very busy! I think you will do well with any breed if you spend time with them as chicks and talk to them a lot. We will be doubling our flock now to another 100 pullets and another 4 roosters as our egg sales have increased beyond what we can provide...and another butchering flock to maintain the sales there without culling too many from the coop this year. We also have Rouen ducks and BBB turkeys (Fairly mean little buggers especially in the fall when they weigh 35-40 lbs) and this year we are adding White Midget Turkeys. This year we will have to see if increasing this much will change how we are able to relate to the little feathered ones. I will be interested to hear what kinds you decide to have and some of your experiences. Good luck!

Wow, Thanks for all the info. When I tried to get back in awhile back, the system locked me out, so I haven't been on in awhile. Belated thank yous!

What I need now is a fowl that will chase chipmunks for me. LOL One of my dogs has made the yard look like an archaelogical dig, but, while quite methodical in her approach, she has yet to produce one chipmunk caught. Oh, well, everybody needs a hobby. Hers is digging, which makes my hobby staying on the tractor while mowing.

We're still deciding, but all this helps!!

MGinTraining