Goose
Geese bond in pairs or small groups and both parents raise the goslings. They graze grass rather than grain, and they will announce a visitor before the dog does.
Overview
Geese are grazers, which makes them unusual among poultry. Grass is genuinely the main part of the diet, with grain second, so a goose on decent pasture costs very little to feed through the summer and keeps the grass down while it does it.
They also live a long time. Twenty to twenty five years is normal, which is longer than most dogs and far longer than the other birds on this shelf, so this is a decades long commitment made by somebody who often thinks they are buying a lawnmower with a temper.
Temperament
Loud, bold and genuinely protective. A gander will put himself between his flock and anything approaching, including you, and geese are kept as yard guards for exactly that reason. It is not aggression so much as a species that does not back away.
They are strongly bonded to each other and pair off, and they know their own people. A hand reared goose can be devoted, and the same bird will still see off a stranger at the gate.
Care and grooming
Grass first, supplemented with wheat or a poultry grain, and always water deep enough to get the head under.
They do not need a pond to survive but they need enough water to bathe and to keep eyes and nostrils clear, and they are much better for having somewhere to swim. Watch for bumblefoot on hard dry ground, and keep the grazing rotated, since geese are heavy on a small paddock.
Living and exercise
Grass to graze, water to bathe in, and a house that shuts at night, because a fox will take a goose as readily as a chicken.
They need less housing space than their size suggests, since they spend the day out in almost any weather. What they need is room to walk and graze, and a stretch of water. Do not keep a single goose: they are flock birds and a lone one is a noisy, miserable animal.
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