Backyard Poultry Forum

Hi
Would love to have a couple of Chinese Geese, the brown ones.
Have a dam with island.
Large poultry area thats snake and fox proof but....

we already have 50 odd Guinea fowl, Muscovy boy with 6 mussie girls and a dozen chooks with a rooster that barely crows and is a real gentleman, oh and Dexter cattle that will boos both guinea fowl and chooks especially when poultry are near their treat bowls.

So,

Am I looking at possible trouble down the track if I introduce a couple of chinese geese?

Mussie girls love the dam. The boy was raised on his own in someone's backyard until 5 yrs old. He has been here just over a year now. Will allow you to sit him on back of quad and take him to dam, after swim he walks back up to pen but he wont go there on his own.

Forgot to mention - while everyone is allowed to run feral all day - everyone is locked up of a night in the pen. Guineas roost in the gum trees within the pen. everyone else is in the converted 20ft shipping container.

What's your opinion on adding some newbies to the place?

What kind of trouble? Yes the male might hiss at you if you get close to the broody female, but that's about it.

Hi Andrewschooks (Had to re register)

Concerned my want may upset the balance we currently have maybe?

Will the geese be bossy with the Guineas?
Will they boss the mussies?
Will they be boss and dominate the dam? Not letting the mussies there or the Grebes we have visting frequently?

Oh and there is a pair of Plovers that nest not far from that dam and they do bring their young around it

I know personalities are unique but does the 'breed' tend towards taking over other poulty?

Drake hissing...cant be worse than a protective mussie mum (have one of those. Its dont look at me with under week olds, but boy what a mum - has raised chicks, ducklings and keets, never loosing one) And we keep multiple bulls. While they are mashmellows they do need respect when mating.
Geese would receive the same respect.
So no. Not bothered at all

I make pets out of anything - so will seek very young ones or fertile eggs to incubate so we can hand-raise
The chinese geese sound like they can have quite exceptional personalities in many ways *LOL*

My Chinese Geese get on very well up-close with ducks, chooks and guineas in a free range environment, but they get a little snarky when locked in from foxes at night if other species too close. In a 3x3 metre night pen I have six geese - and half a dozen bantams who keep to one end and don't make waves. If the pen was smaller or more stocked I think there would be some aggression. Another smaller pen has a pair of geese and some ducks, no problem from them - as you said they are individuals. But so far as being pets - one of my males was said to be hand raised from hatching, you wouldn't know it, he is just one of the flock and doesn't acknowledge people as 'friends' any more than the others.

They hiss at wild birds and intimidate them up to a point - but magpies and crows still take any new-laid goose eggs they spot. Plovers chase wild ducks off, but I haven't seen them have a go at the geese yet. Geese chase off the little crested doves, but the guineas allow the doves to share a feed bowl.

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PC

We've recently added geese to the menagerie. The ducks couldn't care less, the chooks nip out of the way when the geese feel stompy (rarely), and the four-legged critturs have learnt to respect a chook with a long neck and a peck

Go for it! Geese are COOL.

Mine are farmyard crosses, seriously fancy Chinese though.

Today one of mine very suddenly declared broody, in the rain, in the open, no eggs. (She has only laid a very few that I know of recently, unless the magpies have taken more than I realised). Pulled out a lot of downy feathers, made a nest, and changed from a placid little bird into a hissing pit-bull if approached. Her partner stood by all day, and the other pair and 2 spare males didn't move far away.

I herded them reluctantly into their night pen and will keep the pair locked in tomorrow, try to make a shelter and some straw in a corner and see how it goes. And if she wants to stay broody guess I buy her some eggs. Ouch.

Ouch because I already just spent more than I should have today on two pairs of White Chinese Geese. Very excited, pick them up in two weeks time. Which still leaves me needing two females for the two bachelor-boy Browns. And a lot to learn about them. Where is Tribe of Honk who was on the forum a few years ago and had a lot of experience keeping geese - is he or she still around does anyone know?

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PC

YAY Infoaddict - you have sold me. OK. Now to obtain such 'personality-filled' waddles.

Possomcorner - Pit bull huh?! Oh what a sight *L*
Well we dont want them to be boring balls of feathers in the paddock now do we?

And your info before this works well with me. Our poultry pen is quite large. 2 x 20ft shipping containers sit within with still miles of room. So space should not be an issue - unless someone decides to make it one.
And would love geese to hunt away the cockatoos especially . Those little buggars know how to open wheelie bin lids where we keep moo treats. The biggest problem though is they dont close the lids afterwards.

OK now to put the call out for Chinese Geese babies / or eggs.

If you manage to get some eggs try RnBs's method in this thread when incubating viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8009924&p=550155&hilit=duck+eggs+humidity#p550155

Good luck, I love my geese although they can be pretty noisy in the breeding season, night time included

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John

Thanks John
I have incubated Mussie egss with great success but I do cheat with a digital RCOM. Set and forget except the water well every now and then 

If I can source some eggs soonish, I have my fav old mussie girl Peas who will hatch anything and everything that is fertile, and has never lost a chick, keet or whatever. So she is my preferred incubator.
Or if I can have babies, the fire is still on every night and most days so I can put the little fluff balls in the Keet cage so we can hand raise them.

Are the Chinese Geese like other geese in that adults may tend to fly away so require locking up for a period of time before being allowed to run feral?