Beware of Geese…ever see this sign before?

At Spinning Wheel Alpacas we have geese that are on guard. Not for the predator control you are thinking about, it is for pesky flies, bug and slug control. That's right; certain geese eat bugs and slugs. There has been a significant difference with pesky flies this year. Flies have decreased in numbers on the farm since the geese and ducks have arrived. There have been studies that concluded that "ducks can remove 30 times more flies that traditional fly paper in dairy barns and pig pens" concludes an article in Small Farm Magazine Sept/Oct 2005 issue. The article states that "The Study found, in single pen, that one Muscovy duck reduced adult fly numbers by 97%, while in two dairy enclosures, Muscovies reduced the fly population by 84 and 93 per cent." We certainly would recommend ducks in a barn yard if you can handle the mess they make. They are comical as well. Watching geese waddle to the field is very entertaining. Starting off with Muscovy ducks, Spinning Wheel Alpaca Farm also added Indian Runner Ducks to the farm.

What is also nice about geese or ducks is that they will eat the left over lettuce that is not consumed by humans.