# Geese -- how much land do they need



## mskrieger (May 1, 2012)

For those of you who keep geese -- how much land/space would you need for, say, three pairs? If you wanted them to primarily free-range for food in spring/summer? All year round? If you didn't want goose poo everywhere constantly? And if you didn't want them to drive you or your neighbors bonkers every time a car/deer/cat/human/hawk/gust of wind went by?


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## uncle Will in In. (May 11, 2002)

Where the goose park is located is more important than how big it will be. 
Don't wonder around where geese have taken a break. Don't have them where they can honk you silly every time something makes a move. A quarter acre of good grass kept from getting too tall should feed them.


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## zephyrcreek (Mar 30, 2012)

Yep, I would agree. A 1/4 acre is a good amount of land. They will need to be kept off it for winter though. They will compact it during the winter, and then have nothing to eat the following summer. Three pair is also a good number. Geese are happier when they are in a gaggle of six or more.


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## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

If you have the fencing, you can rotate them through pastures - same as cows or goats. I would still be prepared to supplement feed a little - partcuarly if growing for meat. You didn't mention your ambition.


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## lilachill (Apr 2, 2006)

Since all the other fencing is in use right now, we have our flock enclosed with 100" of welded wire, supported with a few posts. Moving it almost daily allows the geese to graze well and manages the manure for field improvement. I appreciate that the geese are not manuring my sidewalks and eating the new seedlings that I am planting.
Last winter I enclosed them in a cattle panel (hog panels will be better and I will make the switch this coming winter)fenced area with shelter. I let them out daily to allow grazing in the field and they stayed there. I am planting their winter area in sugar beets and eventually a cover crop. I will use another area in the field for this winter's housing.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I have 8 geese and they are in a 1/2 acre fenced orchard. They have a smaller corner fenced where they are confined in the winter and early spring to give the grass a chance to get up. The grass does not provide all their feed.

How much pasture you need is going to depend upon your local weather conditions, which affects how well the grass grows and for how long.

Geese don't eat tall tough grass very well, They need tender fresh young grass. So, if your field is too big, you might end up having to mow to keep the grass fresh.

I don't know how far out in the middle of nowhere you'd have to put geese before they couldn't notice what was going on. Mine don't miss anything, not night or day. They are very alert.

I've got Pomeranians and they rarely honk. I'm greeting with burbles, strangers are greeted with hisses. They honk a bit when they are separated, and that's about it.

However, just because my Poms are quiet doesn't guarantee that Poms from a different source will also be quiet. Or that geese in a different type of neighborhood will be quiet.


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