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Getting started with geese is a lot like adding any other poultry to the homestead, and in many ways geese are easier than chickens. They’re self-sufficient grazers, they’re hardy, and they’re generally excellent mothers. They’re also quite different from chickens, so here are eight things to know before your first goslings come home.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Homestead
- Geese Are Grazers
- Geese Are Very Hardy
- Geese Defend Themselves Better Than Chickens
- Geese Don’t Roost
- Geese Are Water Birds
- Goose Eggs Need Moisture to Hatch
- Goose Meat Is More Like Beef Than Chicken
- But Aren’t Geese Aggressive?
- Getting Started With Geese FAQs
- Goose Breed Guides
- Raising Geese
We’ve raised geese here in Vermont for years, and they’re easy animals to keep. They graze much of their own food in summer, and they’d rather be outside during the day, even in our winters.
They’re not chickens, though. They eat differently, they nest differently, and they need water in a way chickens never do. I’d recommend getting a good book on goose husbandry to fully understand their needs before jumping in.
The Modern Homesteader’s Guide to Keeping Geese is a great beginner’s guide, and Keeping Geese: Breeds and Management is another good book just on geese. For a general guide to poultry, Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry covers just about every type of backyard bird, geese included.
When you’re ready for the details, my beginner’s guide to raising geese walks through brooding goslings, housing, and feed. If you’re still choosing a breed, there’s a full list of goose breeds to compare, too.
Notes from My Homestead
We had one very lovely female goose in with our ducks for years before we got more geese. Geese do really well with ducks, as long as you stick with a single female, since a gander will harass the female ducks.
We’ve also had a matron goose who looked after a mixed flock of ducks on the pond. She adopted the ducks as her own and defended them.
Geese Are Grazers
Unlike ducks and chickens, which prefer bugs and high-protein food, geese are grazers. They’re made for quickly turning grass into meat and eggs, and they’ll spend hours a day grazing.
Be sure they have access to fresh greens, as well as a standard unmedicated poultry feed. We also start trays of microgreens for our goslings every week, and they’ll eat a whole tray in about an hour.
Once they’re grown, they’ll happily work through the lawn weeds and pasture. Keep them out of new garden beds, though, since a hungry goose doesn’t know a seedling from a weed.
Geese Are Very Hardy
Even in very cold climates, geese prefer to stay outside during daylight hours. Ours would lie out on the snow, contentedly grooming themselves, even in the harshest blizzard.
With that in mind, they only need the most basic housing, just enough to keep predators from getting to them.
Geese Defend Themselves Better Than Chickens
Geese make good free-range birds because they’re good at defending themselves against predators during the day. Some mixed flock poultry keepers add a few geese to help keep their chickens safe while they free-range.
I’ve seen geese hold their own against weasels and raccoons, but we’ve lost geese to coyotes, bears, and foxes. Geese also have very poor night vision. They can’t fight off what they can’t see, so be sure they’re locked up safe in the evening.
Geese Don’t Roost
Geese have big, flat feet for walking over soggy ground and paddling through water. Those feet are very different from chicken feet, or the feet of any bird that perches.
They’re ground birds, so they need clean floor space in their coop and big nesting boxes on the floor. They can’t get into raised chicken nest boxes. If you don’t give them a spot, they’ll make their own nests in the bedding.
Geese Are Water Birds
Geese are happiest when they have water to bathe in, but you don’t need a full pond. They’re happy with a small kiddie pool to splash in during the warm months. If you do have a pond, here’s how to maintain a homestead pond with geese on it.
In the cold months, we’d bring them warm water daily, and they’d rely on eating snow for much of their water. Be careful that their winter water source is small and not easily spilled. They’ll try to climb in to bathe, and then they’ll freeze their breasts and feet to the snow and ice.
It’s best to keep them as dry as possible in winter if you’re in a cold climate. Eating snow may seem harsh, but it’s much nicer than trying to chip a panicked goose out of the ice.
Goose Eggs Need Moisture to Hatch
Chickens are land birds with very dry nests, but a mother goose actually bathes to wet her feathers and keep her eggs moist while she sits. An incubator takes a different routine than hatching chicken eggs, and The Modern Homesteader’s Guide to Keeping Geese covers it in detail.
All that extra moisture means goose eggs are a bit different from chicken eggs in the kitchen, too. The yolks are much larger and richer, but the white is runnier.
I love making homemade custard or waffles with the goose egg yolks. There’s a long list of goose egg recipes to work through in spring, too. Just don’t try to make a meringue with the whites. They won’t whip up right.
Goose Meat Is More Like Beef Than Chicken
If you raise geese for meat, you’ll find that goose meat tastes more like beef than poultry. For a small homestead, a goose is a great way to get some variety into the harvest without the work or expense of raising a cow. When it’s time to cook one, here’s how to roast a goose.
Even if you don’t plan to raise geese for meat, there’s always the occasional gander that just can’t be tamed. It’s nice to know that if you do need to harvest one to stop the attacks, you’re in for a rare treat. Save the fat, too, and render the goose fat for cooking.
But Aren’t Geese Aggressive?
Geese have a bad reputation for aggression, but more often than not, that has more to do with handling than anything else. Hand-raised geese are devoted to their owners, and they welcome them in as part of the flock.
Geese hand-raised on our homestead are more lap animals than farm animals. Ours would welcome us when we came home, come when called, and circle our ankles nuzzling just like house cats.
While they accept you as part of the flock, visitors might be a different story. Our family of friendly geese needed to be locked in when friends visited, and we had to work out a fencing compromise with the delivery guy. They were liable to attack anyone outside of their known flock.
This guard dog behavior makes geese a great fit for a rural homestead without a lot of visitors. They’ll holler at anything that comes up the driveway. A prison in southern Brazil even replaced its guard dogs with geese, because the staff found them more vigilant.
I’d pit my geese against a burglar any day. If you want a friendly flock, start with goslings and handle them every day. A calm breed like the American Buff or the Embden helps, too.
Getting Started With Geese FAQs
These are the questions readers ask me most before they bring home their first geese.
Not well. Domestic geese can’t fly like wild geese, and they only really fly when startled. Even then, they generally make it 30 feet or so at most.
Yes, as long as it’s a single female goose. Geese do really well with ducks, but a gander will harass your female ducks and can be territorial. We had one female goose in with our ducks for years before we got more geese.
No. Female geese lay eggs without a male, though you’ll need a gander for eggs that will hatch. We had a single female Buff goose in with a flock of ducks, and she laid plenty of eggs.
A lot bigger. Most grown geese run about 10 to 20 pounds depending on the breed, and the big meat breeds can run heavier still.
No. A kiddie pool or a tub they can bathe in is enough in summer, as long as the water is deep enough for them to dunk their heads. In winter, keep their water small and hard to tip so they can’t climb in and freeze to the ice.
Goose Breed Guides
A few breeds to consider for your first flock.
Did you find these things to know before getting geese helpful? Tell me in the 📝 comments below about the geese on your homestead!
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Raising Geese
More help with raising geese on the homestead.
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I’m planning to build a small farm geese is one thing I’ve been thinking about. There good for security, I was tariffed of them when I was young lol. I could never afford a goose because there expensive. I’ve had duck and there good and they don’t taste like chicken. Geese are bigger than chickens?
Yep, a lot bigger. A grown goose runs 10 to 20 pounds depending on the breed, where a meat chicken is more like 5 to 8. They’re also great watch animals, they’ll holler at anything that comes up the driveway. Good luck with the farm!
Thank you so much for this information! My daughter just brought home 2 Whit Chinese geese. I first response was I have been wanting to add geese but have a bad predator problem. Mostly hawks and coyotes. So reading this help answer some of my fears. We have made great stride at coyote protections but still working on the hawks.
Hey, Ashley, I’ve been following your blog for years and wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the work you’ve put into it. Every time I search a random topic and discover you already have an article written about that same topic, I think, “Thank goodness!” I know your writing is thoroughly researched, something you’ve probably already tested at home, and doesn’t contain superfluous nonsense. Thank you for being such a consistently reliable source of information!
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We adopted two one-year-old Roman geese last year. They came from a family of two lovely adults, their sweet child, and a horrible grandmother. The geese love my husband, but hate me (and guests). They attack me and seem to be getting worse. We’ve noticed that suddenly they are also going after my husband, though he seems to be able to stop them from biting him. What’s going on with their change in behavior toward my husband and how do I show them I’m a friend? I’ve tried everything we’ve come up with, but they seem to feel very threatened by me. We assume the former grandmother was as mean to them as she is to human beings.
I found this recipe from Cackle Hatchery that might be helpful for you. https://www.cacklehatchery.com/how-to-deal-with-an-aggressive-goose/
I’m thinking of adding a goose to my mixed flock of chickens and ducks. I have a dog but he’s inside half the time and I’ve heard geese can help keep watch 🙂