Geese can do well on a homestead, in a wild flock system. They can provide large eggs and very succulent meat. You can even harvest the down for pillows. Remember that geese, like swans, often mate for life, so if you butcher a gander, you might as well cook the goose. They like to eat grass, and in sufficient numbers will mow your lawn for you. From what I have seen, it would probably take about twelve to twenty large geese to keep an acre mowed, at which point they will require feed in the winter. They are often used to mow orchards or weed strawberry patches, because they tend to ignore fruit trees, and seem to prefer grass and weeds, to strawberries.

The larger geese are big enough that they can often, if in a flock, defend themselves against the smaller predators. If they have access to a pond of reasonable depth they often will be able to defend against the larger predators, as well.

The larger geese mate on the water, and therefore will require a pond to mate; the smaller ones might not. The larger the geese, (e.g. Emden and Toulouse) the less likely they will be able to fly away. Our Toulouse can fly short distances as long as they have a running downhill start. Smaller geese can be stopped from flying by cutting their pinion feathers, or, by my preference, use of daily treats. If they know there is ample food readily available, they will have no reason to fly away.

The disadvantages of geese are mainly their attitude and their droppings. Unless you fence them in such a way that they can’t get a running start, they may fly over your fence, into some other place, that they think needs mowing. This might mean getting chewed on by a dog, or eating your flowers. If this is in an area such that the droppings are convenient to gather for fertilizer, and you like to do gardening, you will be a instant convert to keeping geese. They eat grass, and leave behind a lot of mostly composted organic material. The smell is not as much a problem as the fact that it sticks to your shoes, and if you don’t notice it, it will be tracked into your house.

Their attitude is such that they think they should be the boss, especially during the season of spring, when the geese set, and the ganders strut. A setting goose will usually lapse into a stupor, and as long as you stay more than twenty feet away, will ignore you. The ganders however, even if they are a half mile from the goose, will think you are too close to the nest. Smaller children have reported frightening memories of gander encounters. There are reports of geese or ganders running between people’s legs, then opening their wings, causing the persons legs to be pushed apart, breaking the person’s hips. Granted, these reports are rare, and the exception, but livestock of any sort can be dangerous, under the right circumstances.

The key to dealing with geese, is the same as any livestock. Never, never, never, let them think they are the boss. If a goose lowers its head and approaches, honking, that is its way of issuing a challenge. Raise your arms and look as big as possible, walk towards it and make some sort of annoying sound, like honking. If the goose doesn’t back away (like if it happens to be the alpha gander), then push it over with a stick, a bucket, or your foot. Geese are basically round, and this is not likely to physically hurt it. You have, however convinced the gaggle that you are the alpha, or at least someone not to be trifled with. However, if you "dominate it" in this fashion, the other geese may decide it is time to find a new pecking order, and a battle for the crown may ensue. If you are far enough away such that it isn’t worth your time to do the dance of dominance, or run away; what will result is the gander explaining to the rest of the gaggle that it was appropriate for them to select that gander as king, and see what a wonderful defender he is. The other members of the gaggle will very vocally respond with their supplication and praise of their king.

The biggest problem with poultry of any sort (for a Wild Flock System), is finding ones with good parenting abilities. The modern poultry businesses have unintentionally bred out this skill, and like all other forms of modern livestock, they are selecting against stock that can replenish itself. In nature, there will hatch some birds that just don’t have it in them to raise a brood. Perhaps they don’t quite figure out how to build a nest. Maybe they don’t set, in a proper fashion. Maybe they ignore the young ones and don’t defend them. Because of this, in nature, these birds would be lost from the gene pool. The hatcheries, however, want to hatch and sell every possible chick, duckling, gosling etc. The eggs are taken from the mother and artificially incubated. All chicks therefore, capable of hatching, will hatch, and many will go on to breed, in this unnatural system. Their eggs, in turn, will likewise be artificially incubated, and they, without any parenting abilities, go on to produce more offspring. Those then get purchased by a farmer, who finds out after a few seasons that there are no new birds hatching from the nests. Birds do fly, and fences do break down. Most hatcheries will sell, at a cheaper price, the unintentional crossbreeds. These birds, although not a particular "breed", tend to be more likely to raise a brood, and can be a good source for initial livestock. If there is an actual breeder in your area you can probably obtain a starting flock of a particular breed.

When you decide it is time to butcher poultry, it is often easiest to grab them when they are asleep (if not on the water). Some use snake snares, others toss blankets over them. Others simply grab them by the head and break the neck by swinging them around. Once you have subdued your poultry, if you hold the legs and if possible with the same hand pin down the tips of the wings, like you are trying to shoot a pistol with the wrong hand, then, with the other hand use a hatchet, or small ax, and decapitate it at a tree stump or section of log. Allow it to bleed out, (some like to collect the blood for sausage). They will convulse, like a "chicken with its head cut off". Pluck it against the grain. Some like to dip it in scalding water first, but I am not convinced that this helps anything, other than making the feathers stick to everything. Alternately, you can skin it, but the meat seems to loose something when you cook it without the skin, if it is a waterfowl. Cut a hole through the skin around the vent. Start with a knife and then use a scissors if you are not used to doing this. Then reach in and pull out the viscera. Save the liver if you like it. Pate De Foie Gras is Goose liver and is considered a delicacy almost everywhere, for a reason; try it and you will probably like it. If you have pastured or free range livestock, you can leave the other entrails for your potbellied pigs. They will even eat the feathers, feet and head. (I know some people who do fry up the feet. I have to admit, I have not tried this, but they say it is a delicacy, and I have seen duck feet soup on a cooking show). If your pigs are penned and you tend to give them commercial food leftovers, there may be salmonella to deal with, so make sure you have cooked everything you are going to eat. Free range animals will have already eaten far less appetizing things.