Hatching a goose egg under a bantam hen~RESULTS & UPDATES!

I posted this question under the Incubating & Hatching Eggs section, I hope no one minds me asking the goose experts too. I have an experienced broody bantam hen that I want to use to hatch a goose egg. I am certain she can cover the egg to give it sufficient warmth, but I wonder if she will be able to turn it as much as is needed. I wonder if I should mark opposite sides of the egg with an X and an O and turn it myself. Or at least monitor it for movement. Do you think it's necessary? If I do turn it, how often & how far?

I am of the Let-The-Broody-Do-It-By-Herself school of incubation so I'm willing to just give her the egg & see what happens. But I'll intervene more if you all think it's necessary. Thank you.

Bump

Just saying 'a bantam hen' gives a lot of room for opinions. I have some bantam hens that aren't any bigger than a pigeon, then I have some that aren't much smaller than an Old English Game hen. Depending on the size of the hen, she shouldn't have any problems turning it some. If it were me, I'd make sure to give it a quick turn at least once a day, just to be sure. The eggs don't have to be turned completely over, we just do that when we turn them in an incubator. As long as their is movement, they should be all right. I'd be more worried about the egg drying out to fast, but that's just me. Maybe you can spray the egg with water and turn it when she gets off to do her business? I'd at least do that.

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That little bantam will take care of that egg and the baby when it comes. Dont worry.

The hen's name is Tarantula, named by my son for the way she looked as a chick, dark & furry. She's a mixed-breed bantam, sort of mid-sized for a bantam, not on the small delicate end of the scale like a Dutch or a game, but not as big & fluffy as a Brahma. It's near midnight here & I'm getting ready to go out & put the goose egg under her. I'm going to write in pencil around the sides, N - E - S - W, like the 4 directions on the globe. That way I can see how much the egg is getting turned by Tarantula, if it's going completely from North to South each day or just getting a quarter turn. I won't mess with it as long as it gets turned at least a quarter each time.

Do you recommend candling, and if so, when? Again, I usually don't bother with candling the chicken eggs I set, but I'd like to be sure there's something beginning to develop, and also later to see that it's growing. Is it 32 days for goose eggs to hatch?

Well, soon after I posted I went out with the goose egg to give to Tarantula. She is on our patio inside a plastic-bottomed wire rabbit cage. The floor is covered with straw and she is snug in a nest of straw inside a flat-sided plastic feed bucket laid on its side. I had given her a golf ball to bookmark her place.

Ignoring her growling and the stink eye she was giving me, I reached under Tarantula and pulled out the warm golf ball. Then I placed the goose egg up against her breast.

She bent her head and just stared at it for a long moment. As if she were saying "Oh. My. Goodness!!! What in the world is this THING??!!" I expected to see her eyes bulge out and hear a scream like the hens in the Denny's Superbowl commercials. But the broody hormones are a powerful force. She quickly recognized it for what it is, a dear precious baby egg in need of her warmth and protection and care. She bent her neck, wedged her beak under the egg, and scooped it deep under her breast. Then she did the movement we like to call "The Chickie Cha-Cha", when they shuffle themselves back & forth to settle their eggs in place. Only her dance movements were not quite as graceful as usual. "Chickie...uh!... chickie...ooh!... cha... ... ... CHA! Ahhh, that's better!"

She really is able to cover the egg well, I was almost thinking I should have given her two goose eggs. But I don't want to press my luck this first time. If my Jersey Giant hen goes broody I'll give her 2 goose eggs if they're available at the time.

I still want to know on what day I should candle to check for the beginnings of life, and when to check again for growth. If today is Day 1, is the egg due to hatch on May 30?
Please pray for Tarantula's success! I'm off to go get her some extra-large knitting needles so she can make some big booties for her Baby Huey!

Oh! SO cute!!!!!

Well, Tarantula's egg never did hatch. And I never did candle it because she has a bad habit of pooping in/near her nest while brooding and the egg got really dirty. I kept giving her ACV during her set to help her firm up her poops, and let the egg go all month. She has successfully hatched eggs that she's pooped upon, but just not this time.

BUT another hen just hatched out TWO goslings yesterday! Bluebell is a mixed-breed hen larger than Tarantula, so I gave her 2 eggs to incubate, and she got both of them to hatch. Today she took them off the nest for the first time, she is bluck-bluck-blucking her biddy lullaby to them and they stay nestled close gazing with adoration at her. It's going to be funny to see when they begin to grow bigger than her!

I also have 2 other hens, a bantam and a Houdan, each sitting on 1 goose egg, and last night I set 2 goose eggs under a broody Khaki Campbell hen.

But NO photos to post, sorry!

I am sorry her egg didn't hatch. BUT, I am happy the other eggs hatched! Congrats, and good luck with all the goosies!

Sunny Side Up...I always love reading your posts...you have a gift. You tell a great story...love the descriptons. Congrats on the new babies! Sorry the little bantum didn't become a "mom" - better luck next time. Thanks for sharing!

Joni