Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management African Geese and Pekin Ducks

I had a man over to do some work and he told me that his African Geese and Pekin ducks fixed his pond's leak. He then described how they are fun and loyal and eat snakes, bugs, etc, and how they are essentially pets and fun to have.

Is there a downside to getting these critters for the my pond? Thanks. Rick

All they do is eat and poop. The extra manure will increase the pond fertility which can be good and bad. You will be walking in goose poop a lot.

Get some guinea fowl... They don't poop in the water and do all the above and more.

So Bill do they poop on land mostly? We have a barn with concrete porches by the pond and I sure don't want them messing around that. The man who told me about african geese said they stay in or around the water ...

We don't live there so wanted some pets that would live around and on the pond (feeder) and their good outweigh the bad. My wife really loves it when the canadian geese visit with their babies and I shutter to fear them staying bc I know they are messy.

Travis are guinea fowl friendly and do they swim on the water, thus shedding feathers in the water?

Are these creatures able to live in a coyote area? We have seen 3 at a time in the past.

With coyotes around, you won't have geese or guineas very long. Both roam around with guineas being much more nomadic. Enjoy watching them initially because their numbers dwindle and before long you'll have only well fed coyotes left.

Coyotes will even attack dogs and cats. Large owls will kill ducks. Numerous geese and waterfowl putting manure in the water will cause the water to have lots of algae and E coli bacteria. It has been shown in University studies that about 10 geese will make the equivalent manure of one cow.

My neighbor has a 1/4 acre pond. One pair of Pekin Ducks kept it muddy so you couldn't see 12" into the water by dabbling all along the shore. He got rid of the ducks and within a month the pond cleared right up.

ok thanks to all. I will not get any water fowl for now and stick with the fish and trees on the place as the pets that stay there.

My experience is based on a few friends who have guineas. Guineas are smart birds from what I have seen and have to be raised from chicks to get them to stay on your land. If you get them at an older age, they tend to wander far and may never come back. However, they are very friendly to their owners and people they frequently see. However, they are quick to make alarm calls and go nuts when they see things out of place. A reason my friends like them or hate them, depending on how often they get to making their alarm calls... They are land birds and do not swim in water.

As far as coyotes, my friends(3 of them) who have them all live in areas with coyotes. They've been able to maintain flocks for several years now. I know they loose birds here and there to hawks, owls, foxes, bobcats and I am sure coyotes. However, it's not overly often. They loose far more chickens than guineas. If you can train your guineas to roost in an elevated location it's a big help in lowering predation.

I'm in the hate 'em crowd. Too noisy for my ears.

Around here, the people that don't have them fenced in usually end up loosing them on the roads.

Yeah, that is where my friends loose more of theirs to. They are not smart about the roads. Two live far enough away from a major road to keep it to a minimum. The other fenced an area along the road to help keep them from wandering into it.

They are pretty dumb, except as watchmen. Friendly enough unless you get around their nests or chicks, in which case they will fly at your face and scratch the heck out of you. They are lousy mothers. They are terrible about leading their chicks out into weeds wet from dew, where they get chilled and die. They don't seem to have the instincts of chickens to keep close track of their chicks. The pearl colored are the easiest to keep around here. The powder blue and white ones get eliminated by owls because they are easy to see roosting in trees. They will eat a lot of bugs and you won't have ticks with them around. My flock dwindled down to one lone male over the years and he took up with a flock of wild turkeys that drink out of my front pond. He stayed with them for 2 years but I didn't see him with them at all last year. I guess he either died or some critter got him.

My guineas lasted 3 years before the predators took the last one. The last couple roosted on lattice over the porch (not good), and the coyotes would occasionally come right up on the porch and try to get them. The remaining birds then started roosting in a tree in the dog pen. The females would get taken out when they nested, and the last male got it from a hawk. Mink are pretty lethal too. My wife want to try more fowl in a pen surrounded by a dog run. We will see how that works out. I was thinking about the duck breed that lays lots of eggs, but folks here are pretty negative about domestic ducks in ponds, so maybe that is a bad idea.

Here in South Africa we have a lot of them. We call them Tarentale in Afrikaans. They are extremely alert and also known as natures alarm system. They aware of a predator before anyone else and have a knack for survival. If you in a bush veld survival "bear Grills" scenario with lions and all kinds of creatures who sees you as an easy meal, stay close to a confusion of Guinea fowl and they will most certainly warn you of any danger before that danger spotted you. . They adapt very easily and in the suburbs almost every street has its own group or "confusion" of Guinea fowl. They cause havoc in gardens and they scratch everything to shreds. Predators in general is part of life and they do make a nice meal for animal like a coyote, but what difference is a coyote from a stray cat or dog,. They sleep in high branches in trees at night and the only true vulnerability would be for their babies or "keets". They restricted to ground, cannot fly and rely completely on the protection of their parents. My sister can testify on what frightening experience it is being attacked by an adult Guinea fowl protecting their chicks. I thought she stepped on a cape cobra when I heard her alarming frightening screams. So as peaceful and tame in general they do have their techniques of protecting their young. I think more keets die because of drains on side of roads or swimming pools and then there's your playful cute kitten with that catlike predator instinct to catch and kill small prey. I can understand why people love the sound of them but if you live with them and share your property worth over 15 of them then Its different story.. The loud Rooster cry sound is nothing in compare to the nonstop softer noise the females make during mating season. Its similar to that car alarm in far distance that stops after a while only knowing it will start again in couple seconds as you slumber off into sleep awaken by the same toneless sound.. lol.. They are funny creatures and can be entertaining to watch especially when they chase each other around. We have to love them and accept them because we intruding on their space and not other way around. Where else are they suppose to go..

twsitingturn, welcome to the forum. Thanks for the info.