We had geese, and they are fantastic to have on a farm, but our type of farming wasn’t suitable – we grow berries, rockmelon, watermelon and such and they LOVED the crops, however, our 25 geese ended up going to an olive farm to bolster their geese flock for that very reason.

I think geese and guinea fowl are my favorite bird options on a farm. I know chickens are great for eggs, but if you don’t want to eat the eggs and looking for birds to manage pests, these two options are ideal.

Geese being completely vegetarian, some people choose ducks for slug and other bug control, but our guinea fowl area also bug and grass eaters as well as being very alert for snakes and in general, anything that shouldn’t be there.

I was surprised at how complementary to farming these personable critters are.