Keep Geese

Keeping geese can be a soothing and entertaining experience. They can produce delicious free-range eggs and premium meat, and they also act as burglar alarms. They are low-maintenance, as they largely care for themselves. They are also natural lawn-mowers. They are also extremely vocal animals.

Steps

  1. Start by purchasing a goose and a gander. If you want the geese for meat, buy two geese and a gander.
  2. Choose your goose. Geese are grouped in three types: light, medium, and heavy.
    • The heavy breeds lay fewer eggs while the light and medium lay more and are more practical to keep.
    • The Toulouse and White Emden are examples of heavy geese, they can be up to 24 pounds and are good for butchering! There are about 4 different breeds that are best for first-timers.
    • The Saddleback is okay at egg-laying and is tasty meat-wise. They are docile and are good in smaller flocks.
    • The American Buff is a medium breed. They are better for meat than eggs, and are delicious roasted. They are calm and docile and are good in small flocks and with the Saddleback.
    • The Chinese goose is a light but very intelligent breed. They are fiercely loyal to their owners and lay about 60 eggs per year.
    • The Pilgrim is a light, practical bird that is good for someone who has a knack for bird-caring. They lay about 20 eggs per year.
  3. Care for your goose. Geese like to roam freely. As long as they have fresh water, corn, grit, and grass, they won't make a fuss. When the geese first arrive at their new home, make sure to keep them locked up in their shelter with a small mesh-enclosed space to run in for a while. This will teach them that they must stay in their space. If you don't have a vermin-proof enclosure, keep the geese locked up at night.
  4. Keep the geese shelter clean so that the geese will feel comfortable in their home and will lay eggs. Most geese will forage, so that will be their natural diet, but keep corn and grit there for extra. If your geese or a goose is not foraging, chop up greens for them to eat. If you want to fatten up your geese for butchering, feed them barley and wheat as an extra.
  5. Provide a water source. Geese need constant access to a water source. They also need a pond for them to swim in, and it must be clean. In the summer, geese also need shade, so the pond should be near a shady area.



Tips

  • Geese can lay up to 80 eggs a year. Remove them daily and store them in a cool draught-free place.

Warnings

  • When you buy a goose/gander, check for symptoms of disease such as: wet nostrils, dull and sore eyes, dirty and lank feathers, sickly in size and weight, smelly rear-end, curved toes and damaged webs, bored and lazy with signs of lameness.

Things You'll Need

  • Fresh water-geese need a water trough and a pond to bathe in. If you can't supply a full pond, use a large trough that is big enough for the geese to dip their heads in.
  • Pasture-Do not confine geese in a small area because it will damage the vegetation.
  • Feed trough-You need a trough because the geese will trample and waste their food if left on the ground.
  • Goose house/shelter - Each goose needs 4 sq ft of space in the goose house so design or buy accordingly. A shuttered entrance will protect the birds inside.
  • Nest box - Fill a crate or other open-topped box with straw in case a goose does not want to lay in the goose house.
  • Upright nest box - You can also place a nest box on it's side so it is sheltered from sun.

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