Our American Buff geese seem to laugh at the cold. They’ll even bust the ice on their wading pool so they can bathe and play in the frigid water. They’ll come into the barn during the dark of night, but otherwise they like having open sky above their heads. Not that they do much flying in that sky — on a good day they might manage to get five feet off the ground and coast 50 feet or so. Even so, you’d think that a nice bed of fresh straw in the barn that’s not twenty feet away would be a better place to rest than an inch-thick layer of sleet.
: ) Is that the one thats laying eggs now?
Quick question – I was thinking about getting some geese in the spring…do they need to be in the barn at night? or, they can hang out in the open? I am just concerned about the predators….Given that they are so loud – does that help them fend predators off – or one has to lock them down at night? I close the barn at sunset for the chickens, ducks, peacocks etc. Not sure about geese.
Thanks!!!
My stepmom used to lose geese to foxes a lot, in broad daylight. So I’m leery about leaving the geese out in the open at night when the predators have more of an advantage. I think a big flock would find safety in numbers – lots of mean beaks in action – I wouldn’t mess with them.
I used to keep my geese locked up in a secure wire pen at night before they were grown. I think if they didn’t always go into the barn at night, I still would. With the livestock gathered in the barn, it’s easier for the farmcollies to protect them all, and the geese do a bit of their own policing.