Raising Ducks vs Raising Geese | Some Thoughts After 15 years of raising waterfowl
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Raising Ducks vs Raising Geese
If you're considering raising waterfowl on your homestead, you may be wondering if you should raise ducks or geese. In this video, we'll compare the positives and negatives of raising both ducks and geese, drawing from our 15 years of experience raising these birds. While there is no clear winner, we'll discuss the unique qualities of each bird and provide some guidance on which may be better suited for your homestead or situation. Whether you're looking to increase productivity or streamline your homestead, raising waterfowl is a great option to consider. Join us as we explore the world of ducks and geese!
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Thanks for watching!
Steph and Chris
#raisinggeese
#raisingducks
#raisingwaterfowl
#waterfountain #homesteading #homesteading #pasturedpoultry
Duck duck goose. There I said it. Great info Chris!
A coyote can jump a four foot fence & a fox (believe it or not) can climb one . But a coyote can't carry a goose *over* that fence, so they're more likely to think twice about killing one. They tend to be more cautious *during the daytime* & prefer to carry their kill away to a safer area. I believe that's why typical four foot fence (or even lower) is often a good deterrent (at least during the daytime). Ditto for foxes killing ducks.
It's not perfect protection but you're 100% right; It really helps. That's been my experience, here in Ontario, Canada.
100% grass fed goose! Sounds good. I’m very interested in geese.
On the gaurd goose concept, i have heard it only really works with a lone goose raised with chickens.
That way they "bond" and stay with the flock. If they're with other geese they will wander off with their fellow geese.
We have read the same; from some experience raising both ducks and geese for some time, I honestly don't know how "viable" the guard goose idea really is. If it is a male, he will likely eventually try to breed with whatever he's guarding (not always great for the ducks or chickens), and a female, pending the breed, may be less "assertive." We basically just found having them around the other birds seems to be a deterrent for some predators, but if the predators figure out it's more bluff, be a deterrent for some predators, but if the predators figure out it's more bluff, then follow through...
I had Muscovy ducks years ago. I refered to them as my attack-ducks as they were VERY aggressive. They would flap their wings and raise up their claws and attack you. I have scars to this day from those mean SOB's. I ate them; the only good thing about them was that they were consumable. I will NEVER understand peoples' recommendations to raise Muscovy ducks!
Im curious, did you raise your Muscovy from day one? My Muscovy are incredibly friendly. I bet its like pit bulls. Some are just cuddly and some get bad raps.
The one big plus for Muscovy ducks is that they are great mothers and can hatch out many ducklings. Like a lot of animals they do certainly seem to vary and I will admit the drakes can be a tad bit on the aggressive side compared with mallard derived breeds (though mallard derived breeds tend to have a high libido which can cause it's own problems sometimes with the hens). Though we never had truly aggressive Muscovy's the big thing for us was keeping them somewhat where you wanted them (because the hens can fly) was always a big challenge.
How have geese owners experienced their loyalty? Do they roam too much?
That video is a lot of great information. As I have researched geese, before and after seeing this video, I can say that it is also very accurate, so anyone looking for one video to get the basics, this is it. But I have one question; and I realize there is probably not one answer, but would you take a swing at, which goose variety is best as a common large meat bird and great layer and great brooder for hatching its own and possibly other eggs?
I wonder if there is any benefit to running ducks and geese with hair sheep on the same pasture.
Thanks Chris for making this video. I think you were planning on this video when we met in the fall. I was talking about this last night. Definitely will get some views as I've not seen this topic covered much.
Oh and by the way, the two Hickory ewe black twins I got from you and Steph are doing just fine!
And my Cayuga are holding up
That is great to hear glad they are doing well! and good news on the Cayuga's as well! This was a video I've been meaning to do for a while so it was good to put it together. I have one more "similar" video I want to do so maybe I'll do that in the near future we shall see!
Great info Chris. We decided to stick with chickens. We’re thinking of 1 goose but unsure.
Your video answered a lot of our questions. I hear 1 goose could help as a guard goose but after watching the video I am questioning it.
They both need water to eat grain. And to clean there bills
After few years of raising geese, I found Swangoose species breeds (Kuban, African, Chinese, partially Kholmogory) to be a lot less feed intensive than Greylag base breeds, which tend to consume more grain and fatten up more. That said, swangoose produce smaller and leaner carcass, so they're not for everyone, especially if you like to eat plenty of meat.
Very interesting!
I appreciate the thoughtful discussion, and you did bring up some things that I had not considered before with geese.
Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed the video. And glad that it gave you some things to think about too!
I have 10 ducks and about a month ago got 2 ducklings and a gosling. They are quite the trio. The gosling has already shown to be protective over the ducks and us at times but also has such a sweet personality. She absolutely loves being with us, over the ducklings even and follows us when we're outside, not letting us get far from her. We got her for alarm/guard goose reasons so chose an African Goose because from what we read this breed would suit our needs.
I've been raising ducks ( on 3 ponds, 5 acres) now for 4 years and enjoy it so much I've been thinking of bringing a goose into the mix, along with the fact that our family dog is getting very old. Would a single goose do well or would still need a partner outside of my 16 duck hens ( no drakes)? Also as winter occurs ( I keep my ducks in when it drops to -5*C) will a goose do well on duck feed?
Excellent content! We actually just got ourselves a goose for "bird guarding" purposes. For our chick's and Keats. All are being raised together in hopes of companionshipand cooperation. 😊❤️ Going well so far! If anyone's reading this and trying something similar, get your chick's/Keats first (a few weeks older) and THEN get your gosling.. Geese grow sooo quickly and much larger, they can (by accident) step on or trample the chicks/Keats. But this isn't so much an issue once the chick's/Keats have grown a few weeks. 😊👍
We’ve done Muscovie ducks and now are trying geese. We have 4 Toulouse consisting of 3 females and one gander. We took all the eggs they layed up till April as it was too cold for them to survive. We will leave them to hatch out now and hopefully we will get a few to process this November. Thanks for your informative videos.
we are big fans of the geese. I've always liked raising waterfowl in general but the geese just have something about them where the pressure is not as great even if you don't get big hatches of chicks they still are worthwhile! Good luck with the hatch and glad you enjoyed the video!
I'm glad you gave sufficient attention to discuss schmaltz but you missed out on talking about the gribenes, the skin cracklings. Delicious.
Very informative and well articulated. Thank you!
Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed the discussion. Its always interesting to look at things like this.
How do you feed geese when you have zero grazing/pasture? We live in NM and have zero grass. Weeds yes but no grass.
Well, it can be done (the big hatcheries etc., do it), but honestly, I'm not sure for us anyways we would keep geese if we had nothing for them to graze, There are some issues you can end up with like angle wing when they have to much-concentrated feed (which is greatly helped by access to pasture). Not saying it can't be done but its a lot more complicated for sure. Not sure it would be the most economical animal to raise without access to the pasture (i.e. there may be some better options out there).
Great info. Will geese try to mate the chickens like ducks?
we have never had an issue with geese trying to mate with our chickens but they did try with our ducks though in all fairness we were keeping them in the same pen at night at that time (and decided that was enough of that pretty quick). If they are all out on pasture together (i.e. not confined) there doesn't seem to be much issue but we have always kept our poultry separate when locked up.
Great info. We had experience with meat chickens before and last year was our first year with layers and a rooster. Then a neighbour gave us 3 ducks. They are living together and the ducks are so cute! But messy with the water.
I picture Steph off camera shooing the birds into camera view behind you.
yah the mess ducks (especially mallard derived breeds) make with water is pretty intense sometimes. They are certainly something that is better outdoors (we never kept water in with the ducks indoors unless they had very little chicks and then it was a very small amount). As for the geese they just did that all on there own in the video it was kind of funny! Our American Buff geese are so relaxed its almost comical sometimes!
How many goslings did you get from Romeo and Juliet pair?
DUCKS CAN BITE
We've had Ancona ducks and now have Cayuga ducks as well as a pair of juvenile Bastopol geese. The Anconas behaved less like a flock than the Cayugas do. We find it relaxing to sit with them.
awesome breakdown, thanks man!
🙂
Great thoughts!
Our drakes typically end up in the garden as fertilizer!
Squash King When to start your 2 wonderful varieties?
We usually don't start them until beginning of May in big pots so we don't disturb the roots when we transplant, or direct seed in June. Hope Spring is starting off well for you!