Emden Guard Geese

[rjmt]

our new batch of geese turned out to be 1 female and 4 males - has caused a social imbalance and aggression in our flock

so I asked my wife to order 3 certified female geese

she contacted a breeder in California and we'll get 3 Emden goslings in April

just now I looked into the special breed of Emden's from this breeder - the largest domestic geese bred in North America

3' tall, 31 lb and live 25 years - you got that - a 3' tall goose - they will dwarf all the geese we have now

now imagine the scenario - an unknown creature gets in our yard - 2 leg or 4 leg - screams of alert from our existing large gander

then

a deep evil hiss comes from the coup - the forest animals and birds are quiet

then BOOM - BOOM- BOOM - three monstrous 3' tall geese stomp out of their nesting coup - fire coming from their eyes - they stand on their legs, stretch out their 6' wingspan, hissing like demons from Hell - their flock is threatened

geese lower their heads and charge at full spread against threats - I've seen grown men run from our Chinese geese, much less a 3' tall angry Emden!!!

tell me about your alarm system

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[Knobgoblin]

 

[rjmt]

View attachment 1170976

$35 per goose for Emdens

but they will outlive me

and you can make a 3 egg omelet with just one Emden egg

and each Emden will lay 35 eggs a year - time 3 geese

 

[patrikky]

our new batch of geese turned out to be 1 female and 4 males - has caused a social imbalance and aggression in our flock

so I asked my wife to order 3 certified female geese

she contacted a breeder in California and we'll get 3 Emden goslings in April

just now I looked into the special breed of Emden's from this breeder - the largest domestic geese bred in North America

3' tall, 31 lb and live 25 years - you got that - a 3' tall goose - they will dwarf all the geese we have now

now imagine the scenario - an unknown creature gets in our yard - 2 leg or 4 leg - screams of alert from our existing large gander

then

a deep evil hiss comes from the coup - the forest animals and birds are quiet

then BOOM - BOOM- BOOM - three monstrous 3' tall geese stomp out of their nesting coup - fire coming from their eyes - they stand on their legs, stretch out their 6' wingspan, hissing like demons from Hell - their flock is threatened

geese lower their heads and charge at full spread against threats - I've seen grown men run from our Chinese geese, much less a 3' tall angry Emden!!!

tell me about your alarm system

Once a person gets used to how domestic geese, ducks and other waterfowl verbally communicate it's easy to know what's happening on ones property at night just by listening.

 

[rjmt]

Once a person gets used to how domestic geese, ducks and other waterfowl verbally communicate it's easy to know what's happening on ones property at night just by listening.

that's why I sleep with my window open even in the Winter

I met people in Portland who don't believe animals and birds can communicate - how arrogant

 

[rjmt]

$35 per goose for Emdens

but they will outlive me

and you can make a 3 egg omelet with just one Emden egg

and each Emden will lay 35 eggs a year - time 3 geese

 

[DirectDrive]

View attachment 1170986

You might get a dinosaur out of that one !

 

[rjmt]

You might get a dinosaur out of that one !

you know goose are the modern decedents of dinosaurs

 

[OldBroad44]

On one occasion I deployed a flock of 9 mature Embdens including three ganders in a field to prevent obnoxious trespassers from breaking down my fences to hunt hallucinogenic mushrooms. It was very satisfying to watch the next attempted trespass. The three stoners climbed over and damaged my fence again, then sauntered down the dirt road toward the bridge across the creek like they owned the place, as usual. The geese, resting on the bridge, saw and heard them and stood up honking loudly. The stoners stopped in their tracks. The geese ran toward them, honking angrily, wings flapping, about 170 lbs of avian fury. The stoners ran for it, scrambled back across the fence, took off in their car, and never returned.

Where are you ordering your Emblems from? 3' high is relatively normal for Embdens but most lines top off at 20 lbs. If that's 31 lbs in good breeding order, not just super fattened maybe those are the ones I want. Metzger Farms lists their giant dewlap Toulouse as up to 25 as breeders, but those are very mellow and slow and not very good foragers.. The Embdens are usually mellow and friendly with owners but aggressive towards strangers. Also they are autosexing as goslings. The females have darker grey markings than the males. However both sexes are white as adults, so you need to put leg rings on them before their adult feathers grow. Most females are obviously female with smaller heads and more gracile forms. But a small runt male can be mistaken for a female.

For others contemplating getting watch geese--Even relatively mellow geese make good watch dogs, as they are very territorial. Africans are often credited with being the best guardians because their voices are louder and shriller and they are noisier. And they are 20 lbs. Likewise Chinese, though they are much smaller. I disagree. A watch dog that barks all the time whether there's a problem or not gets ignored, so disturbs the tranquility uselessly. A flock of Roman geese was credited with rousing Rome so it was not caught out by a surprise attack. Roman geese are small and relatively mellow...as geese go. If your flock of Roman geese sounds off it probably means you have a problem. Big geese have the advantage that they can often intimidate humans or dogs into backing off. However a dog, coyote, even a fox can easily take a goose, especially at night. They have almost no night vision, though good hearing. Unless there is a nest or goslings nearby, goose attacks are mostly bluff. They can in fact, buffet you with their wings and leave bruises as well as bite. And they have little serrations on their bills and also shake and twist once they have a grip like a dog. But they aren't all that fast or agile. And the most aggressive single gander is pretty much the whole deal. Everybody else is just support. Grab the top gander--who will reach you first--by the neck and get your arms around him and pick him up. He will be embarrassed and the rest of the flock will drop their attack and stand around watching. I like Emblems as watch geese. However I don't think I'd leave them outdoors at night where there are cougars, bears, or coyotes. Not without a livestock protection dog. And if you have nearby neighbors geese can be a problem. You can hear them a mile away.

You might have fun looking on YouTube for "geese marching" and "four loyal geese on guard for a grandmother". If you handle, pet and talk with your goslings and start leading them around as goslings they will readily follow you. And protect you. And hang around on your doorstep when you are indoors, poop all over the porch, and knock on the door when they want you to come out. Which is often. I think of them as feathered goats. If they have access to your house they will shred the webbing off your lawn chairs, shred any plastic greenhouse covers or the tarps on your woodpile, remove the bark and leaves below five feet from any trees or bushes, remove any electric or other wires from the house, and even shingles sometimes.

 

[RicInOR]

I found this picture on the interwebs, not so sure that's a deterrent.

 

[Certaindeaf]

View attachment 1170986

They sell goose eggs at winco.. I've never tried them..

 

[rjmt]

On one occasion I deployed a flock of 9 mature Embdens including three ganders in a field to prevent obnoxious trespassers from breaking down my fences to hunt hallucinogenic mushrooms. It was very satisfying to watch the next attempted trespass. The three stoners climbed over and damaged my fence again, then sauntered down the dirt road toward the bridge across the creek like they owned the place, as usual. The geese, resting on the bridge, saw and heard them and stood up honking loudly. The stoners stopped in their tracks. The geese ran toward them, honking angrily, wings flapping, about 170 lbs of avian fury. The stoners ran for it, scrambled back across the fence, took off in their car, and never returned.

Where are you ordering your Emblems from? 3' high is relatively normal for Embdens but most lines top off at 20 lbs. If that's 31 lbs in good breeding order, not just super fattened maybe those are the ones I want. Metzger Farms lists their giant dewlap Toulouse as up to 25 as breeders, but those are very mellow and slow and not very good foragers.. The Embdens are usually mellow and friendly with owners but aggressive towards strangers. Also they are autosexing as goslings. The females have darker grey markings than the males. However both sexes are white as adults, so you need to put leg rings on them before their adult feathers grow. Most females are obviously female with smaller heads and more gracile forms. But a small runt male can be mistaken for a female.

For others contemplating getting watch geese--Even relatively mellow geese make good watch dogs, as they are very territorial. Africans are often credited with being the best guardians because their voices are louder and shriller and they are noisier. And they are 20 lbs. Likewise Chinese, though they are much smaller. I disagree. A watch dog that barks all the time whether there's a problem or not gets ignored, so disturbs the tranquility uselessly. A flock of Roman geese was credited with rousing Rome so it was not caught out by a surprise attack. Roman geese are small and relatively mellow...as geese go. If your flock of Roman geese sounds off it probably means you have a problem. Big geese have the advantage that they can often intimidate humans or dogs into backing off. However a dog, coyote, even a fox can easily take a goose, especially at night. They have almost no night vision, though good hearing. Unless there is a nest or goslings nearby, goose attacks are mostly bluff. They can in fact, buffet you with their wings and leave bruises as well as bite. And they have little serrations on their bills and also shake and twist once they have a grip like a dog. But they aren't all that fast or agile. And the most aggressive single gander is pretty much the whole deal. Everybody else is just support. Grab the top gander--who will reach you first--by the neck and get your arms around him and pick him up. He will be embarrassed and the rest of the flock will drop their attack and stand around watching. I like Emblems as watch geese. However I don't think I'd leave them outdoors at night where there are cougars, bears, or coyotes. Not without a livestock protection dog. And if you have nearby neighbors geese can be a problem. You can hear them a mile away.

You might have fun looking on YouTube for "geese marching" and "four loyal geese on guard for a grandmother". If you handle, pet and talk with your goslings and start leading them around as goslings they will readily follow you. And protect you. And hang around on your doorstep when you are indoors, poop all over the porch, and knock on the door when they want you to come out. Which is often. I think of them as feathered goats. If they have access to your house they will shred the webbing off your lawn chairs, shred any plastic greenhouse covers or the tarps on your woodpile, remove the bark and leaves below five feet from any trees or bushes, remove any electric or other wires from the house, and even shingles sometimes.

yes, we ordered from Metzger
we lost an Emden to a predator at night last year, so we put them up every evening, but in a large wire enclosure so they can still watch the yard
we've had geese for 24 years, several lived to be 20
but we weren't getting any eggs to hatch, so I wanted new breeding stock

 

[Rickenbacher39]

that's why I sleep with my window open even in the Winter

I met people in Portland who don't believe animals and birds can communicate - how arrogant

Arrogant? Nah............
People in Portland can't even communicate.

 

[rjmt]

View attachment 1171071

I found this picture on the interwebs, not so sure that's a deterrent.

try this guy, he's our old gander

 

[Mikej]

our new batch of geese turned out to be 1 female and 4 males - has caused a social imbalance and aggression in our flock

so I asked my wife to order 3 certified female geese

she contacted a breeder in California and we'll get 3 Emden goslings in April

just now I looked into the special breed of Emden's from this breeder - the largest domestic geese bred in North America

3' tall, 31 lb and live 25 years - you got that - a 3' tall goose - they will dwarf all the geese we have now

now imagine the scenario - an unknown creature gets in our yard - 2 leg or 4 leg - screams of alert from our existing large gander

then

a deep evil hiss comes from the coup - the forest animals and birds are quiet

then BOOM - BOOM- BOOM - three monstrous 3' tall geese stomp out of their nesting coup - fire coming from their eyes - they stand on their legs, stretch out their 6' wingspan, hissing like demons from Hell - their flock is threatened

geese lower their heads and charge at full spread against threats - I've seen grown men run from our Chinese geese, much less a 3' tall angry Emden!!!

tell me about your alarm system

This ^^ is a beautiful scenario! I remember many years ago when land owners didn't care if you fished the river through their property. Busting brush to the small island in the river, where unbeknownst to us, a mama goose had her nest. We steered clear of that island the next few weeks.

 

[OldBroad44]

yes, we ordered from Metzger
we lost an Emden to a predator at night last year, so we put them up every evening, but in a large wire enclosure so they can still watch the yard
we've had geese for 24 years, several lived to be 20
but we weren't getting any eggs to hatch, so I wanted new breeding stock

What was egg production with age? When did they stop laying?

My guess is that older geese would still be able to hatch out and raise goslings if you give them eggs from your younger birds.

 

[rjmt]

What was egg production with age? When did they stop laying?

My guess is that older geese would still be able to hatch out and raise goslings if you give them eggs from your younger birds.

she never stopped laying, they just stopped hatching
both goose and gander were about 14 years old
have only one female now, that's why I ordered 3 females from Metzger
the gander in the photo I attached is now 16 years old

 

[OldBroad44]

View attachment 1171071

I found this picture on the interwebs, not so sure that's a deterrent.

Not yet.

Even goslings can be feisty though. When I introduced my day-old Embdens to my Chow-Spitz cross watch dog within a minute or so she made little whimpering noises and flickered her tongue out showing she thought the goslings' bottoms needed cleaning. (Young puppies can't defecate by themselves. Their mothers lick their bottoms, causing release of feces, which mother consumes. This instinctive canine maternal behavior keeps burrow sanitary and unsmelly.) From that instant the goslings were under her protection. On nice days I took the babies out to forage on the lawn, me sitting in a lawn chair nearby, the dog lying down never more than a foot from the goslings, who accepted her completely. Then one day when they were still only two weeks old the entire flock marched like a wedge to the dog and the lead baby bit the dog on her nose as hard as he could! Then they all ran. The dog was so shocked she rose from lying to about six inches high and landed still lying.

 

[OldBroad44]

she never stopped laying, they just stopped hatching
both goose and gander were about 14 years old
have only one female now, that's why I ordered 3 females from Metzger
the gander in the photo I attached is now 16 years old

Did you candle the eggs? I'm wondering whether the eggs were fertile. With ducks its best to use drakes that arent too old. I'm wondering if its the same for geese.

try this guy, he's our old gander

View attachment 1171087

He's not an Embden. He's at least part African given the neck stripe and knob. Hes a beauty though. However, at 16 years old, he may not be fertile. People talk about how long ducks or geese live but not how long they produce. I found some info saying in commercial flocks geese are culled at ten years and ganders at six. however in a home flock the older birds can be used to hatch and tend eggs and goslings from younger birds. If you want fertile eggs and goslings it might be a good idea to expand your order to get a male and four instead of three females so each gander would have two ladies. You'll probably need to separate the goslings when they are older and put two females with the young drake. Otherwise the four females will likely bond to the older bigger gander who is probably infertile, and you'll have no fertile eggs.

 

[rjmt]

Did you candle the eggs? I'm wondering whether the eggs were fertile. With ducks its best to use drakes that arent too old. I'm wondering if its the same for geese.

He's not an Embden. He's at least part African given the neck stripe and knob. Hes a beauty though. However, at 16 years old, he may not be fertile. People talk about how long ducks or geese live but not how long they produce. I found some info saying in commercial flocks geese are culled at ten years and ganders at six. however in a home flock the older birds can be used to hatch and tend eggs and goslings from younger birds. If you want fertile eggs and goslings it might be a good idea to expand your order to get a male and four instead of three females so each gander would have two ladies. You'll probably need to separate the goslings when they are older and put two females with the young drake. Otherwise the four females will likely bond to the older bigger gander who is probably infertile, and you'll have no fertile eggs.

his mother was Emden, his father was African