HELP! Goose egg enthusiasts, please help!

[jessmere]

Hey y'all! New to BC here....long story short, goose, gander and 2 goslings took off and left 3 eggs in the nest. She covered them up as if she was coming back. That was 4 days ago. No sign of them still...So, i brought the eggs in and have been incubating them since the day she took off. I've kept up wih the proper humidity, temp, etc...they were laid on 3/17. I know this because we fish right next to where she nested. I just got rid of one egg because I could tell it was rotten. I don't want to give up on the other 2 just yet but I need some input. I candled them as soon as I brought them in and from the looks of it, they are definitely fertilized. I don't exactly know what to look for in the air cell but from all of the hours and days of research has my mind boggled.

**The 3rd egg is clearly the bad egg....unfortunately I had to crack it open at the air cell so that I could see what happened....a sight that I can't unsee.

 

[Pyxis]

Were these wild geese or your geese? I'm going to start this by saying that if these are wild geese it's illegal for you to have those eggs and you could face fines and even jail time if caught. Not to mention that if you hatch the babies yourself and raise them, they aren't going to be able to migrate because they need parents to show them the route. So when it gets time for that and they fly off to try it, they would get lost and likely starve to death. If these are wild goose eggs it's best for them and you that you don't hatch them.

If you meant these are from your domestic geese that disappeared, I'd start looking for a predator because domestic geese, especially those with goslings, don't just take off. So get the predator taken care of before these hatch.

Onto the eggs! If they are still good, they are close to hatching. Do you see any movement in them? The lack of veins has me concerned that they may no longer be alive.

 

[jessmere]

Domestic.They have been with us for years. The predator has apparently been taken care of beings that its no longer spotted on any trail cams.

My camera isn't the best for showing the amount of detail. I haven't seen the eggs move but when candled, there seems to be movement.

 

[Pyxis]

Domestic.They have been with us for years. The predator has apparently been taken care of beings that its no longer spotted on any trail cams.

My camera isn't the best for showing the amount of detail. I haven't seen the eggs move but when candled, there seems to be movement.

Excellent, that's a good sign if you see movement when candling. If they have been in incubation since the 17th, they are due any time now. They'd be on day 33, which is late - geese usually take between 28 to 32 days to hatch. If they were just laid on that date and not sat on right away, that would explain it.

Keep your eyes peeled for draw down - when the air cell comes down one side of the egg. That means the time for internal pipping is nearing, and it's time to put them on lockdown and stop turning and raise the humidity.

 

[jessmere]

She laid them on the 17th. She wasn't sitting on them so thats most likely why they are late hatchers, like you said. I've prepared everything for the hatching but if nothing happens within the next 5 days or so, then i have to assume the worst. The air cell on one of the eggs is tilting more and more. I gently penciled the lines so that I could monitor the development.

 

[paintedbynature]

pyxis is right your real close theres a good resource on this forum the goose hatching guide it will tell u how to intervene if u have too. Hopefully u wont i just had to help one of my little ones get out with an external pip hole if they take a long time to hatch dont panic i did at first but i had one take 4 days to hatch and its doing great.

 

[jessmere]

Look how sweet!! It has gotten to the point where I think I am hearing internal piping, so I stay up and listen...yet I haven't spotted any evidence of that yet. I swear they are making me crazier by the minute! I hate that i had to dispose of one of the eggs earlier. When I try to spot any movement, my eyes want to play tricks on me so...I just sit and wait.

 

[jessmere]

UPDATE

I checked the remaining 2 eggs today and I have lost yet another one. The air cell had not continued to move like the remaining egg. I did and eggtopsy to find that somehow, somewhere along its journey, the head was detached from its body. I'm assuming it was from Mama trying to protect her eggs and maybe it got bumped around a little too much. My remaining egg is my last hope. While candling this afternoon, I noticed shadows dancing in the egg. I am hoping that it is going to make it out and be healthy. In the picture noted 2:17, it shows a dark figure that rolls its way to the backside off the egg. The image noted 2:38 is from the same angle, never moved the egg and did not turn the egg in any manor. The dark figure in 2:38 appears to be its beak. I can only hope! Please, anyone correct me if I am wrong. Any input or information will gladly be accepted.