Range distance of a duck/goose?

When I let my chickens out, they have a certain area they cover and it pretty much doesn't change. Then by late afternoon they have all gone back in the hen house.

When our neighbours had guineas, we ALL had guineas because those goofy things ranged a huge distance from their home turf. Acres and acres, across a public road and into far away fields.

Where do ducks and geese fall on the ranging scale? Will unconfined ducks and geese stay in a fairly close territory, or are they explorers at heart, setting off to see what's beyond the horizon?

I have never let my Websters free range. I let them out and then hover over them, knowing that if I leave the area for 5 minutes, a coyote (raccoon, bear, hawk, owl, bobcat, dog) will arrive and make a meal. After a few minutes of putzing in their pool and snatching at grass, I herd them back into their pen. So I have no experience of their wandering behaviour. But I do know that they tend to get a little excited if I get out of sight. THey either get very noisy and do a lot of non-productive flapping and running, or they get worried looking and head back to their pen.

If left to their own devices, how far will they go?

I am not totally sure as our property is fully fenced. They do range around but mostly stick close to their pools, feed and shade. All go in to my hay barn every night to go to bed.

mine don't go too far from their shelter, food and water   Unless it is yucky, wet, mucky weather then suddenly they're everywhere around the yard LOL even then they don't go very far.  I don't have any bodies of water for them to follow so they stick pretty close to their kiddie pools

The geese stick together and wander as far as the perimeter fencing will let them.

So, Sue, are you guessing then that if there was no perimeter fence, the geese would just keep going?

My ducks would do walkabout regularly getting quite far away. I used to find them out asfar as the grid road which is in sight but pretty far and all the waybehind thecorral. I would say they kind of worked up to itbut by end of fall they were traveling pretty far afield. I would herd them home if I found them out too far. Like you I worried about predators so far from the yard.
I guess it would depend on lots of things but in my limited experience with waterfowl I would say they have a wider range than chickens.

My geese don't go far either occasionally they wander out to the back field but not often.  I do have a perimeter fence but they pretty much stay in our 2acre front yard area.  My geese come when called though so bringing them is no big deal 

My fencing wouldn't keep geese in - they could wander all over God's Green Acre should they wish. When I started with geese i kept them in the turkey run, then put them in a bigger run, then finally put them out in the barnyard - they just hung around the turkey run at first and I'd put them in a dog run at night.

Now when I let them out of the dog run in the morning they do a big loop, going over to the sheep barn where the clover is growing, then back to give advice on my morning chores, then down to the pig pasture to see if the sows have dropped any hog grower pellets, then spend some time with the heifers grazing with them, and finally spend the heat of the day under the barn eaves with the bull. They all lie down in the shade together. Then they hang about the dog run so they are RIGHT THERE when I put the whole wheat in their tub for evening treat. They all go in and tell me to close the door for the night, which I obediently do.

I think they cover between 5 and 10 acres a day.

Heda, your post made me chuckle. Who knew that geese were so vocal?!

When we are outside we take great pains to speak quietly and walk lightly because if the geese hear that we are out and have not let them out...Gordon help you, but the squawking they let loose! Sounds like goose murder, but it's just a temper tantrum.

Our very close neighbour is trying to sell their house and every time the real estate agent walks a prospective buyer near our property line, the geese set off their screechy racket, which sets the 5 roosters off, and then the prospective buyers get in their car and leave. The bedroom window of the neighbouring house is only about 150 feet away from my chicken pens. I should note that I had chicken pens there while the lot next door was vacant.

At any rate, the talking, squawking, scrabbling, gronking that comes out of the Webster pen...good grief. But at least they don't do it all hours of the night like those stupid roosters.