Backyard Poultry Forum

Hi all. I'm a chicken and duck owner in southern Tasmania. I live in a rural area and up until last week had two beautiful dogs to act as guards(barkers only...no biting) of my family and flock. Last friday a tiger snake came into our house yard and killed my two dogs. I am devasted and also desperately trying to think of suitable pets which could act to warn us of any unwanted intruders, including snakes. I have a small child and if a snake could kill a 50kg golden retriever and a 30Kg lab, my little one would have no chance at all. I don't have the heart to buy another dog...I couldn't risk the same thing happening again.
I've heard that geese are good at raising the alarm when it comes to snakes and other intruders. Does anyone have experience with this? Also, would a small flock of geese do OK in a very grassy, 1/2 acre of house yard? Many people keep geese around here but I have no experience, so any information would be greatly appreciated!
Sara

_________________
Owned by a mob of faverolles,cochins, wyandottes not too mention the campbells, runners, pekins, mussies and a saxony...

Hello Sara,
sorry about your dogs.

My experience - I see a whole lot fewer snakes now than I did before I had the geese. Geese will chase animals they perceive as a threat unless it is obviously dangerous. I've seen them chase snakes and also cats.

I would NOT get geese and think all the snake problems are gone. Geese might deter snakes, they might get the nos. down but NEVER assume the property is now snake proof. I agree, if it could kill 2 big dogs, it will easily kill a child or an adult and so you need to be ever vigilant and snake proof yourself and your family byt attitudes and behaviour and good work practices. No better safety measure.

1/2 acre is not going to last long with a small flock on it, maybe a pair if the rainfall is good and consistent. The geese will need protection too, from predators, so they are not 24 hour a day protection like dogs. They will need a secure night yard.

I'm sorry about the dogs but it may be a better lesson to learn this way than the other. Get informed about snakes and get good habits now and teach your children the same. I'm sure you are aware but don't know what other advice to give, so hope I have not offended you.

_________________
Thank you kindly,
Tigger

Thanks Tigger,
Certainly no offence taken as you are right...you always have to be vigilant with snakes. Unforetunately on the day the attack happened I was in Brissie. It was a hot day and that is high risk for snakes. I would usually get the dogs onto the verandah and stomp around the yard a bit myself with my gummies on, just to check things out and move any snakes on.
I have around 16 acres so I could move geese into the paddocks when the grass gets low in the house yard - but its great to know from your experience that I will need more than 1/2 an acre of grass for a small flock.
Thanks Sara

_________________
Owned by a mob of faverolles,cochins, wyandottes not too mention the campbells, runners, pekins, mussies and a saxony...

Sorry to hear about your dogs.... can be a real bugger at times huh...

It all depends on what bred of Geese you have for the half acre (wether it be toulouse, chines or Xbreds). It also depends on what this half acre is like (wether it be rocky, dry, sparce, not much grass, not much water, and if you are willing to supplement their feeding with grain of some description.

You can have geese on half an acre...but it depends on the above I have found out. Of course I give them grain, so they are fine, and I definetly do not have too many on the on small patch of land!
Hopefully others will help you in what breeds of geese would be best or wether it just be Xbred farmyard geese.

Do not get me wrong though, the more land the better for geese.
They do not need a dam either.
(the bigger the breed the more water though usually).
Geese are hardy, and can usually tolerate lots.
Some breeds are much better at guarding and protecting them, their family, owner, and home than other breeds of geese.
Some breeds like to fly, others don't.

Geese might deter snakes, and you can pick up when there is trouble around, but geese will die from sankes and if it is an adult gander, or gosling, geese tend to get upset and mope around for days and it does hurt them. (not as bad as swans though).

From memory Tribe of Honk's website actually gives you the pros and cons of geese/each breed I think...and I think that's what you need to consider to help you along.

You cannot go wrong with geese I say.... go for it!
(just do a bit of research first!)
Keep the grass down yourself though bigtime Sara.

P.S. Peafowl (peacocks), warn of snakes, and any other thing like eagle etc, and will keep snakes away. They also don't need the amount of room and are as wild as what most people think they are...all depends on how you bring them up.
I have heard Guiena Fowl are good too....

Cheers,

Hi Sara,
sorry to hear about you dogs

My brother and i have had both Guinea fowl and Peacocks and both are Very good at telling you when there is danger of a snake they will make a terrible call to one another and are curious so will probably crowd around it (at a safe distance). guinea fowl would be better suited to you smaller block that Peacocks as they might fly off. i think that you could always try having a pair of geese and see what happens an if they are not right for you give Guinea fowl a go

Regards David

_________________
Bantam Saxony
Lavender Muscovy

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post. Its given me some ideas...I'm quite interested in the option of pea fowl or guinea fowl. I've always wanted pea fowl/ peacocks but haven't ventured into keeping them because i think they would have been just too interesting for the dogs. I can never own to many fowls of any kind (that's probably not true) and so look forward to the challenge of keeping something different to my ducks and chickens. Thanks again,
Sara

_________________
Owned by a mob of faverolles,cochins, wyandottes not too mention the campbells, runners, pekins, mussies and a saxony...

By the way Rockqueen1 what type of ducks do you have? and any pics?

Regards David

_________________
Bantam Saxony
Lavender Muscovy

Ducks... I have a pekin duck, a saxony duck (used to have a drake but he had to meet his maker as he was way to rough with the girls and kept putting huge holes in the back of their heads and broke one of their legs... plus he used to "sit" on the chickens...plus he was shooting blanks, poor bugger), 2 x 6 year old campbell/mallard crosses who still lay big green eggs almost on a daily basis, 2 white runner ducks and 2 white runner drakes...Actually, I think my runners will turn out to be good at warning against predators as they are extremely excitable and carry on like pork-chops even if you look at them the wrong way!

_________________
Owned by a mob of faverolles,cochins, wyandottes not too mention the campbells, runners, pekins, mussies and a saxony...

If you have water in the yard you have frogs. If you have animals you have feed you have mice. You have water, frogs, mice you have lots of snakes. Snakes come looking for water aswell as the frogs and mice.

Keep your grass real short. Leave no hiding places. Dig snake/mouse mesh down under your fences and patch any holes.

Dont leave water of any type near the house. Use rodent proof feeders.

We had a black snake in the drive near the house this week. Our grass had got a bit long and we had piles of green waste waiting to be disposed of. Heat, rain, millions of frogs around it was bound to happen.

Spent all yesterday cutting grass and cleaning up.

Once we have all our fences finished around the house and birds we are hoping they will stick to the bush up the back. Going to make it real hard for them to get in near the house and garden/birds etc. And if they do they will be easy to spot.

Also we are going round putting snake/mouse mesh over any open ends in logs, trees etc. Anywhere they could hide is getting blocked off.

We are surrounded by bush so they will always be here but taking action to safegaurd areas of the property helps.

AND ALWAYS KEEP A SNAKEBITE FIRST AID KIT AND MOBILE PHONE WITH YOU.

The scariest thing that happened to me was when I was home alone working up the back and had the snake bite kit under a tree near me. And a black snake come out and slithered right over the top of it near me.

_________________
MY WEBSITE http://shambhala-birds.webs.com