geese in permaculture

Hi all--

I've been thinking about geese and their role in a permaculture system. I raise a variety of poultry, including Langshan chickens (dual purpose), Welsh Harlequin ducks (egg layers), chocolate turkeys (eggs and meat), and Pilgrim geese (eggs, meat, down, poultry guardians).

I have found the geese to be by far the lowest input (from the standpoint of purchased feed and building housing), as well as the hardiest and most predator resistant (raccoons and foxes). My gaggle grazes pastures with the sheep, eating not just grass but things like snails and slugs (intermediate hosts for some ovine parasites). They nest reliably and most years raise the majority of their goslings despite raccoon and fox populations that decimate the rest of my birds if they're not kept in secure runs. I have also found them to be fairly reliable guardians for chickens and ducks if raised with them, to the point of standing off raccoons that got into the poultry sheds on more than one occasion.

I do recognize that they have some downsides: they are grazers and that means they eat green stuff including tender young stuff in the garden; they do require a decent amount of water for drinking (swimming water seems to be optional though); and of course since they're basically feathered cows they produce copious amounts of wet manure....But on the whole I think their positives outweigh the negatives in my system (mix of pasture, creekside, and woodlot) here in north central Ohio. Anyone else have experience with geese that they'd like to share?

I recently purchased a trio of geese and love having them around. I have a Tolouse, an African, and a white Chinese. All are unique in their dispositions and personalities and found their place among a flock of chickens. The geese are very low maintenance, I do not understand why they aren’t more popular.

The noise from the white Chinese does far exceed that of the others, but I have grown to enjoy hearing them all chatter. They are more alert to things coming and going from the area than our dogs are. All of mine were raised from day one with children and dogs, for the most part there is never any serious infractions.

Sometimes the children are a bit much for them and I do think that geese are a bit like the “fun police” in the yard. They are very fond of order and routine and they almost demand a calm environment. Mine expect walks around the property and yell at me if I’m late letting them out. I was able to imprint well enough to call them to me, which I rather enjoy nothing quite like yelling for them and having them answer and come running excited to see you.

My gaggle knows that I bring feed for them, so they come running when they see or hear me out and about. Generally they're pretty reasonable to work with, but they are protective when they're nesting and rearing goslings or with people they don't know. Definitely alert to anything that doesn't belong around here, which I find useful. I don't understand why they're not more popular, either.

One of the ganders was reared with chickens, so he thinks they're his "tribe" and prefers to go in the coop with them at night. He's more than earned his place as he stood off raccoons on more than one occasion when they got in with the chickens, keeping the flock safe until I could deal with the issue.

How old are your geese? Mine were hatched this year and I imagine have some growing to do yet.

My gaggle ranges in age from 7 or 8 down to 2 goslings hatched this year. 9 in total, 6 Pilgrims, but also have a Pilgrim x Shetland gander and goose and a Pilgrim x Toulouse goose.

I'd like to add another pair or trio of Pilgrims if I can find good ones, and a trio of Shetlands though they're really hard to find in this neck of the woods.

If yours were hatched this spring they are probably about half grown I'd think. Standard weight on African and Toulouse geese is 18 (goose) to 22 (gander) pounds, though if your birds are from hatchery stock they may not get that big. My geese top out at about 14 pounds for ganders, and that's plenty big for me!

In my experience with them geese can be rotationally grazed like other grazers like cows or sheep but they seem to prefer much shorter grass like lawn grass species instead of typical taller pasture grasses. If you graze them on taller grass species then you'll probably have to mow it every now and then so it doesn't get too course and mature for them to eat.  Also another major difference with other grazers is they can't really be fed hay over winter and either require fresh green grass or grain. So I think they are perfect for fertilizing and maintaining shorter lawns especially if consistently rotated and that would save time and money on having to mow. And they can also be rotated after other larger grazers once they have eaten and trampled down the taller grasses.

I use my geese as a follow up to my sheep: once the sheep move off a pasture, I bring the geese in to graze the shorter grasses they've left. They eat snails and slugs which are intermediate hosts for some sheep parasites, which reduces my need for commercial wormers.

I do feed them a bit of grain daily (a couple of handfuls of scratch) as I find that managing them is easier when they associate me with treats. Over the winter they will eat hay if it's leafy, and get more grain to go with it along with the usual trimmings from the kitchen which they share with the chickens. Housing is pretty minimal: they have the option to go into run in sheds just like the sheep, but prefer to be outside the vast majority of the time. The only exception is if there's heavy snow.