What is your favorite breed of Geese?

What are your favorite breeds of Geese? What do you like about them?  

I'd like to get a pair of geese but am having a hard time choosing a breed. I want a breed that is gentle because I have small children, and that would make good guard geese for a chicken flock.

I'd love to hear your favorites!

Buff and pilgrim have good reputations. My embdens and African female were good. I hand raised them so they imprinted on me as their mother. They hated everyone else though. But much depends on strain and luck of the draw. As I said pilgrim and buff are probably best overall, but can be expensive and hard to find

I chose czech goose ("husa česká"), our saved national breed. Some 150 years ago very common in every czech village, nowadays only several hundreds birds.. This breed is very resilient, it endures winter freeze outdoors, females are excelent mothers, they lay some 10-12 eggs in February, sit on them patiently, whilst male keep guard. They take care of goslings very well. You don´t have to feed them with "industrial mix" , just green pasture for adults, some crushed grain with buttermilk and boiled eggs with green for young. Excelent grazers. I use them in my vineyard. Great guard birds. These mine are quite aggresive against people, especially now, when they have goslings.

When is a goose not a duck and vice versa! Regardless of the name, I like the Muscovy breed simply because they seem to have the best qualities of both ‘duckdom’ and a ‘gooseish’.

Although I don’t currently have any, my Grandparents did and so too does one of my friends.

They don’t quack or honk like either a ‘true’ duck or goose, but make a strange subtle noise, unless they’re fighting over something.

Best of all, they don’t need water other than to drink or wash their bills. They perch, and lay eggs in a nest like chooks, and eat lots of grass – mowing machines.

And, they’re very meaty.

The only trade-off is that they are not good guard animals simply because of their quiet nature.


(Frankly, I'd keep little kids away from any breed of farm bird simply because children can be rough and birds break very easily.)

Jan can we buy the geese in the USA?
Love the vineyard tractors?

Pilgrims for sure. I have had Embdens and Toulouse and a Buff in the past but my Pilgrims are the ones I have kept. They are very nice birds. The male ganders of any geese breeds can be brats in spring but the Pilgrim ganders I had didn't cause too many problems even in spring. I did sell my ganders off eventually (reasons not the bird's fault) but I still have 2 girls and they are the best. Very large eggs compared to the other breeds I have had in spring too. Really sweet and intelligent and good with my ducks.