Bunch of eggs, overwhelmed and no clue

[SittinDuck]

That's a nice set up. Australia is opposite us. Our winter is their summer and our summer is their winter.
I don't know. If they wait until they get an x amount it may just be a matter of time before one of them goes broody? Tough call.

Maybe the problem is not enough eggs. Maybe I should leave the duck eggs in there?

It's a tough call. That's why I thought I'd come here to ask. I don't know what to do and I get one shot per year.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Maybe the problem is not enough eggs. Maybe I should leave the duck eggs in there?

It's a tough call. That's why I thought I'd come here to ask. I don't know what to do and I get one shot per year.

It might entice her to go broody if she is going to.

 

[SittinDuck]

That's a nice set up. Australia is opposite us. Our winter is their summer and our summer is their winter.
I don't know. If they wait until they get an x amount it may just be a matter of time before one of them goes broody? Tough call.

I went down today to feed them and they were all coming out of the water honking. The egg count is close to a dozen now, so I cleaned the duck eggs out and packed in some more pine needles.

 

[Danielle2189]

Any updates?

 

[SittinDuck]

Any updates?

No, just a big pile of eggs and no interest from the mother. Every time I go down there, the eggs are cold and all the geese are swimming up to meet me. I think I should have tried to rig some kind of incubator.

I read that incubating is such a delicate process that I couldn't even raise the lid for fear of reducing the temp and humidity inside, but somehow the geese manage to keep everything right with temps bouncing all over? It doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Danielle2189]

No, just a big pile of eggs and no interest from the mother.  Every time I go down there, the eggs are cold and all the geese are swimming up to meet me.  I think I should have tried to rig some kind of incubator.

I read that incubating is such a delicate process that I couldn't even raise the lid for fear of reducing the temp and humidity inside, but somehow the geese manage to keep everything right with temps bouncing all over?  It doesn't make sense to me.

Oh no. well, I just incubated chicken eggs for the very first time and I'm positive I did a hundred things wrong. I had an incubator spike to 113 degrees, had way too much humidity and candled at least once a day. I have twelve hatched out so far and many more have pipped through the egg. Maybe you could try it and at least give them a shot? I think it seems very overwhelming and difficult but they really are hardy little things and then at least you tried. It's too bad the momma goose doesn't want to set on them. Is she still laying more eggs?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

No, just a big pile of eggs and no interest from the mother. Every time I go down there, the eggs are cold and all the geese are swimming up to meet me. I think I should have tried to rig some kind of incubator.

I read that incubating is such a delicate process that I couldn't even raise the lid for fear of reducing the temp and humidity inside, but somehow the geese manage to keep everything right with temps bouncing all over? It doesn't make sense to me.

It's not as delicate as the hatchers make it out to be. Believe me. The most important thing is temperature. You do need a fairly steady temp and you need to be able to know how to adjust the humidity for the eggs. Those two things are certain, everything else is opinion and philosophy. To low of temps can cause delay in development and hatch, too high and it can cause development problems and fry your eggs. The best thing is to have steady development and that takes steady temps. Humidity can easily be understood by monitoring your air cells (or weighing the eggs) this will tell you if you need to higher or lower your humidity.

As far as opening the bator....during incubation and prior to the hatching process, they only danger there is if you leave it off and let the eggs go cold. I switched to hand turning, so I do that at least 3 times a day, sometimes 5 if I can get an extra couple in. I also am a candling addict and I spot check at least 4-5 eggs every night by candling. At lockdown you need to higher the humidity. Here's where you get a lot of division of people. You have hands off hatchers that will swear if you open the bator during the hatch certain doom will come to your hatch. Your pipped eggs will shrink wrap the chicks and everyone will die!! The reality of this is if you have your humidity up (I use 75%) and you aren't hanging out with the lid wide open, you have little chance of negative effects. I take out my chicks as they hatch, remove shells, turn over pippers that have been knocked over and if I need to I assist. I have never had a pipper/zipper die on me. You have to take precautions. You have to make sure your humidity comes right back up after you close it and you hae to know what to look for in case you have an egg that the membranes are drying out on.

People do make things harder than they are. My biggest concern in your situation is the lack of an incubator that is known to hold fairly steady temps.

 

[SittinDuck]

Oh no.

well, I just incubated chicken eggs for the very first time and I'm positive I did a hundred things wrong. I had an incubator spike to 113 degrees, had way too much humidity and candled at least once a day. I have twelve hatched out so far and many more have pipped through the egg. Maybe you could try it and at least give them a shot? I think it seems very overwhelming and difficult but they really are hardy little things and then at least you tried. It's too bad the momma goose doesn't want to set on them. Is she still laying more eggs?

I'm not sure if she is laying more, but I saw one goose riding another across the pond the other day. There are a lot of eggs in the nest. Maybe close to 20.

Yeah, I was figuring it wasn't as delicate as they made it seem. There's no way a wild goose could hatch one if it were. At first I was thinking if I took them inside and messed up the hatching, then I would regret not leaving them with the goose. But now I'm thinking leaving them is a guaranteed loss. I think if I took them and messed up, I wouldn't feel as bad knowing how poor the mother is.

Then again, if I leave them with the goose this year, then I will know 100% what to do next year. I am kinda busy with other things to be doting over eggs all the time and everyone asks me why I want more geese. I just think it would be neat to have a baby one, that's all. Other than that, it would be another mouth to feed. The geese don't give anything back like the ducks in terms of eggs. And the geese eat more. I don't know what to do.

It's not as delicate as the hatchers make it out to be. Believe me. The most important thing is temperature. You do need a fairly steady temp and you need to be able to know how to adjust the humidity for the eggs. Those two things are certain, everything else is opinion and philosophy. To low of temps can cause delay in development and hatch, too high and it can cause development problems and fry your eggs. The best thing is to have steady development and that takes steady temps. Humidity can easily be understood by monitoring your air cells (or weighing the eggs) this will tell you if you need to higher or lower your humidity.

As far as opening the bator....during incubation and prior to the hatching process, they only danger there is if you leave it off and let the eggs go cold. I switched to hand turning, so I do that at least 3 times a day, sometimes 5 if I can get an extra couple in. I also am a candling addict and I spot check at least 4-5 eggs every night by candling. At lockdown you need to higher the humidity. Here's where you get a lot of division of people. You have hands off hatchers that will swear if you open the bator during the hatch certain doom will come to your hatch. Your pipped eggs will shrink wrap the chicks and everyone will die!! The reality of this is if you have your humidity up (I use 75%) and you aren't hanging out with the lid wide open, you have little chance of negative effects. I take out my chicks as they hatch, remove shells, turn over pippers that have been knocked over and if I need to I assist. I have never had a pipper/zipper die on me. You have to take precautions. You have to make sure your humidity comes right back up after you close it and you hae to know what to look for in case you have an egg that the membranes are drying out on.

People do make things harder than they are. My biggest concern in your situation is the lack of an incubator that is known to hold fairly steady temps.

There's no way they're going to have steady temps outside. I'm 100% sure of that. They won't have steady humidity either. A couple days ago it was 30-40% outside and now it's 60-70%. I don't think humidity would be that big of a problem because the goose stays wet all the time and the eggs are soaked. I could replicate a wet goose butt with a wet towel

I wonder if I should cut vent holes in the doghouse? Maybe that's why she doesn't want to sit on the nest? It's starting to smell a little funny inside.

So what is an incubator? Just a box with clear lid and light? I have some clear plastic glass sheets and could build a box. I have all sorts of lights. I have a few thermometers and humidity gauges. I could rig something. But now I'm wondering if it's too late. I started this thread 10 days ago, so I think the eggs are 7 days old on average.

I don't need 20 geese to hatch. One would be fine lol

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm not sure if she is laying more, but I saw one goose riding another across the pond the other day. There are a lot of eggs in the nest. Maybe close to 20.

Yeah, I was figuring it wasn't as delicate as they made it seem. There's no way a wild goose could hatch one if it were. At first I was thinking if I took them inside and messed up the hatching, then I would regret not leaving them with the goose. But now I'm thinking leaving them is a guaranteed loss. I think if I took them and messed up, I wouldn't feel as bad knowing how poor the mother is.

Then again, if I leave them with the goose this year, then I will know 100% what to do next year. I am kinda busy with other things to be doting over eggs all the time and everyone asks me why I want more geese. I just think it would be neat to have a baby one, that's all. Other than that, it would be another mouth to feed. The geese don't give anything back like the ducks in terms of eggs. And the geese eat more. I don't know what to do.


There's no way they're going to have steady temps outside. I'm 100% sure of that. They won't have steady humidity either. A couple days ago it was 30-40% outside and now it's 60-70%. I don't think humidity would be that big of a problem because the goose stays wet all the time and the eggs are soaked. I could replicate a wet goose butt with a wet towel

I wonder if I should cut vent holes in the doghouse? Maybe that's why she doesn't want to sit on the nest? It's starting to smell a little funny inside.

So what is an incubator? Just a box with clear lid and light? I have some clear plastic glass sheets and could build a box. I have all sorts of lights. I have a few thermometers and humidity gauges. I could rig something. But now I'm wondering if it's too late. I started this thread 10 days ago, so I think the eggs are 7 days old on average.

I don't need 20 geese to hatch. One would be fine lol

You can collect eggs up to 10 days and store them, some do longer. The longer they are the less chance they have, but there is still a chance. There are threads on here with DIY incubators and lots of them. As for water poultry, a lot of people that hatch ducks/geese do mist their eggs during incubation. You'd be surprised how much birds do to control the heat and humidity that reaches the eggs. It's not as obvious to us, but when I started incubating I had the more experienced hatchers point out things that the birds do that I'd never thought about. It is fascinating. Worth a google too.

 

[Greg88]

from my childhood, so a few years back.
They would not pay a LOT of attention until they had a big batch of eggs (12 or so) as long as she is laying, I would say she is probably ok.
When she decides to go broody she will.
My guess would be soon if she has 12 eggs,
maybe mark or number them so you know older from newer (if you have not already)