Mad scramble today!

That egg you took in the house, put it in the nest box. by the way that is really nice for putting it up so fast. And if they lay anymore leave them if you want them to get the idea of a good place to lay. And just because they are starting to lay doesn't mean they are going to automatically go broody, give them time.    Just don't leave the eggs long enough to rot, you might want to mark the first ones so if they do decide to brood you can take out the oldest ones. if it's cold or still cool where you are they will be fine for a couple weeks.

 

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Originally Posted by Yetti 

I came home at lunch to find one of my Geese nested up under a old porch in the duck pen. she had buried her self in leaves and was setting up house keeping. I checked for eggs and there was none so I booted her out and proceeded to get building proper safe next boxes for the coop. while I was scrambling to build I turned around to look at her in the pen and she was walking away from an egg. i gathered it up and put it in the coop and steered her in to try and sit and she refused at that point. I finished building the new digs and then tried again to get her in. she turned away. I said heck with it and finished my chores and left her be for a couple hours. I went back out and the egg was now ice cold. I gathered it up and brought it in the house. hopefully she and the other girls get the idea to use the new nest boxes. I hated having to disturb her and ruin the chances of setting that egg.

 

I hope this works out. I took a couple of house screens and put them down over the slats. then stood the walls up and screwed it together. I then added a couple pounds of leaves in each one since that what the one goose had been nested up in. the screens on the bottom should help keep them dry and warm.

 

My geese like to lay out in the open too.  I let them and just keep an eye on the nest.  Goose eggs need to stay damp and the goose will get out of the water and then sit on the eggs with the water keeping the eggs moist enough to hatch.  The shells are very tough and need the moisture for the baby to break them open.

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Originally Posted by Yetti 

well someone left another egg in the new nest box. it was ice cold when found so I don't think they had been sitting on it?

 Maybe not sitting yet but they know where to lay now so thats a plus.  But if you take all the eggs they may try to find a better place to lay. so I wouldn't be too quick to take the eggs, plus she'll continue to lay till she feels she has enough then start to sit if she is going to. They won't start to grow till she starts brooding full time.

I very much doubt it.  I had some freeze and we put them in water to see if they were spoiled and they sank so then we broke one open.  When the eggs froze the yoke froze to the shell on one side of the egg.  You could tell that the entire egg didn't freeze but what did was enough to disrupt the placement of the air sac.

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Originally Posted by Yetti 

can she hatch an egg that has been froze?

Don't think so you didn't say they were frozen, or did you?  well anyway the main thing i was getting at is mark the egg with the #1 then 2 etc. until you feel she has suffcient for brooding, then if she hasn't begun to sit just remove them all.
That way you are giving her a chance to decide if she wants to brood or not. She may not be ready this year, didn't you say this is their first year of breeding?  If the eggs freeze they are no good, but if they don't freeze then she'll continue to lay till she is done then she'll either sit or not. Then if she does start to sit remove the eggs that are no good[that have frozen] when my muscovy eggs freeze they sometime split open so what for that and remove them,. what you want is for her to realize that where she is laying is a good place and a safe place. I hope i am making sense.

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Originally Posted by Yetti 

well I tried leaving one yesterday. found it crushed today. that was #4

It happens, they are getting all the kinks worked out. It takes a while for them to get things going in the right direction. Smashed eggs, laying eggs on the ground. It will get better.