We started with three ducks, then got three more. Sadly, they kept getting taken out by owls or hawks, sometimes in the middle of the day. It would suck to be prey… the saying “a sitting duck”… it’s true.

We were almost going to call it quits with ducks as they are not the cheapest birds to buy online, especially when you want all girls. We decided to try again, and in that batch of ducklings, we added a gosling.

Preparing for a Goose – Getting a Bonded Group

When they arrived, we thought it was important to have them bonded already. They were all so cute! We named the gosling Gertrude, aka Gerty Goose. She was by far the most curious out of the bunch and continues to be curious today.

We wondered how having a goose would be. We had heard horror stories of geese being very aggressive and territorial. I did a lot of research and found that the Buff Goose is gentler. Gerty is very curious and protects her ducky friends. She is gentle and has never turned on us. We have built a trusting relationship. One of our young ducks died in her sleep early on, so we bought a full-grown female duck, and Gerty included her right away!

She has a very loud squawk that wards off predators, and I genuinely believe that having a goose has tremendously helped our ducks live a good life without fear of owls or hawks. We had an eagle flying above us the other day and Gerty was making sure it wasn’t getting closer. She couldn’t relax and kept looking up in the sky. Whenever Gerty is doing this, we look up in the sky. Sometimes, it’s just a plane flying over.

We built the Easy Clean Duck Coop for our ducks. We didn’t know if Gerty would be willing to go in because the coop is built for four ducks, but she was willing to go in. Gerty has been left out numerous nights as she sits on the nest she built, but in the morning, she’s at the door of the Easy Clean Duck Coop, waiting for her friends to come out. I really think she would rather be with her flock than by herself.

We thought ducks had personalities, but Gerty Goose has given them a run for their money. She is hilarious! We frequently find her visiting our kitchen slider door to peek in and see what’s going on. She chomps grass down like it’s not going to be there tomorrow, and she talks back to us when we talk to her.

Was Getting a Goose Worth it?

Adding a goose to our flock has been a money saver in the long run. She’s so pretty and very friendly. She has never been aggressive or shown aggression. We have finally had a set of ducks for the last year, and I credit it to our Gerty Goose sounding her alarm and our Easy Clean Duck Coop, which keeps our sweet little ducky friends (and Gerty) safe at night. Gerty loves checking up on what we are doing in the yard. You can find her peering through the fencing to check up on us whenever we are in our garden area.