moving geese nest and eggs

[JanR1]

New to raising and caring for geese. I have a gander mixed White Chinese and African and 2 females that are African. We have had the gander since earlier in the year and he had a mate but either a coyote or big dog got her. He was so broken up that he talked all the time and although they had not been fooled with much he would follow me around and even came up on my porch once. I told my husband we had to get another female for him so I started checking on Craigslist to see and nearly everyone was done for the season. I finally found a feedstore about an hour away and he said he did have some so we grabbed a carrier and were on our way. We ended up bringing home 2 females about 8 months old. Talk about a happy gander! Now the problem. They both have started laying. We're in Texas so the weather isn't like the northern states. We did pick up some eggs in the beginning but when they started shaping up a nest we decided to let them have those. We need to move the geese into a better pen to be protected at night and I want to know if we move the nest and the eggs to the new pen will they accept them? They are only laying now and not setting at all. Sorry this is so long but as others have said if I'd known they were so much fun I would have done it long ago.
Jan

 

[Tofu the chicken]

New to raising and caring for geese. I have a gander mixed White Chinese and African and 2 females that are African. We have had the gander since earlier in the year and he had a mate but either a coyote or big dog got her. He was so broken up that he talked all the time and although they had not been fooled with much he would follow me around and even came up on my porch once. I told my husband we had to get another female for him so I started checking on Craigslist to see and nearly everyone was done for the season. I finally found a feedstore about an hour away and he said he did have some so we grabbed a carrier and were on our way. We ended up bringing home 2 females about 8 months old. Talk about a happy gander! Now the problem. They both have started laying. We're in Texas so the weather isn't like the northern states. We did pick up some eggs in the beginning but when they started shaping up a nest we decided to let them have those. We need to move the geese into a better pen to be protected at night and I want to know if we move the nest and the eggs to the new pen will they accept them? They are only laying now and not setting at all. Sorry this is so long but as others have said if I'd known they were so much fun I would have done it long ago.
Jan

Honestly as much as this anwser sucks every goose is different and it is circumstanstal you won't know if she will accept it until you move it because some will and some wont

 

[Percheron chick]

I wouldn't bother to move the eggs. More than likely they are not fertile. First eggs of the season are questionable plus the fact that they are yearlings would make me remove any eggs for the first month. 2 girls will lay more than enough eggs (20+) late in the season if you want to hatch some. The eggs will equal 2-3 large chicken eggs. They are highly valued by bakers. As you crack open the eggs, monitor fertility. Selling fertile goose eggs ($1-2 each) can generate some extra income.

 

[JanR1]

Honestly as much as this anwser sucks every goose is different and it is circumstanstal you won't know if she will accept it until you move it because some will and some wont

At least you answered me. We haven't moved them yet my husband finished the shelter inside a tall chainlink fence for security. We let them have a water tub inside the current pen which I'm finding was a mistake. Bog big time. What would be good to put in the new pen for water?

Honestly as much as this anwser sucks every goose is different and it is circumstanstal you won't know if she will accept it until you move it because some will and some wont

 

[Tofu the chicken]

If you get cold winters get a small rubber pan I've inserted a picture of what I use for out door water then if I have to have water inside I use a small 1 gal rubber pan (duraflex brand I think) small is good if you need water inside cause they can't swim in it great for waterfowl cause they can dip beaks in and great for winter cause they are rubber and won't break with ice, can find at any tractor supply sorry can't find pic of small pan atm

 

[JanR1]

I wouldn't bother to move the eggs. More than likely they are not fertile. First eggs of the season are questionable plus the fact that they are yearlings would make me remove any eggs for the first month. 2 girls will lay more than enough eggs (20+) late in the season if you want to hatch some. The eggs will equal 2-3 large chicken eggs. They are highly valued by bakers. As you crack open the eggs, monitor fertility. Selling fertile goose eggs ($1-2 each) can generate some extra income.

Thanks for the reply. We finally got the move made and was so much easier than I expected. I took one egg from each nest along with some of the hay and I marked each egg. I placed one in each section and when I checked the second day there was a new egg in one of the nest. They have been laying about every other day. One of the geese covers her eggs with some of the straw but the other one doesn't seem to bother. The eggs weren't covered so I'm pretty sure I know who laid the new egg. The eggs that we didn't move we just picked up and will probably feed to the hogs. We had temps in the teens and twenties for a couple of nights and they weren't setting on the nest so we thought they would be bad. My gander has decided that I'm okay so I don't have any problems with him around the girls. He has calmed down a lot recently. I'm sure it has a lot to do with me feeding them and he sees what I'm doing for them.

I have learned so much on this site. About chickens and geese. I appreciate being able to come here and find answers to my questions and also for the people that respond with answers to questions.
Jan

 

[JanR1]

We're still getting eggs and still having some frigid nights so picking them up. They did well with being moved but are missing having a tub inside the pen. I won't make that mistake again. We divided the space so that each goose could have a nest but apparently they decided they would share. It's funny because one covers the eggs and the other doesn't. I guess if they decide to sit on the eggs we will see what happens.

They have eaten all the availabel grass and I was really feeling bad about them not having some green food. I discovered a very large bag of Kale in a local grocery and they were so happy to have something green. It was funny listening to them gobble the green stuff.

 

[Finnie]

the shelter inside a tall chainlink fence for security.

One thing I discovered when I let my geese brood inside a chain link pen. The babies could get outside the fence, away from the safety of the parents. I lost several babies one night, their bodies strewn about the outer area. This year I plan to put a hardware cloth apron around the bottom of the chain link to keep the babies in, and to prevent raccoons from reaching in.

 

[JanR1]

We had decided not to let them set and hatch the eggs so my husband dutifully picked them up. Two females laying every other day and we were getting an egg a day. Chicken eggs are one thing but goose eggs quite something else. After a couple of weeks my fridge was loosing out. I put an ad in Craigslist and a nice young man contacted us and has been buying them. He's Asian and they love to eat them. Just recently one of them stopped laying but showed no sign that she was broody. The other one continued to lay for another week or so then stopped. When she laid her last egg she started sitting on an empty nest. We quickly decided to let her have a couple of the latest eggs so I marked them with a pencil and we took them out to see if she would let us near enough to put them in the nest. We got them into the edge of the nest and she turned her back on us. Later checking revealed she had pulled them into the nest and covered herself up to the neck in loose hay.

 

[JanR1]

Update on the geese and eggs. I failed to say that I let the eggs get to room temperature before we took them out for her. She was so happy to have the eggs to set on that she wouldn't leave the nest. After about 3 or 4 days I thought she was going to starve so I told my husband we had to make her come off to eat. He had to lift her off the nest and put her on the ground. She finally went to eat and then straight back to the nest. That is the way it was for the rest of the term. Sometime during the setting time I think about 2/3 of the way one of the eggs disappeared. The only thing that could have gotten was a snake and it had to be a big one to swallow that egg. The whole egg was gone no shell or anything to be seen. We passed 31 days with no hatching so we let her set a few more days. One day we decided it was enough so we caught her off the nest and took the egg. He took it out in the pasture and broke it. He said there was an embryo in it but it had quit developing at some point. No babies. She kept going back to the nest and we kept having to lift her off to go eat.

I had ordered 3 Pilgram goslings the first part of January and they arrived at the end of May. We were still having the nesting thing but when I started taking them out for a little sun and green grass she showed an interest in them. But would go back to the nest. She was morning herself to death. I was afraid we would find her dead on the nest. I was keeping the babies in the house but that only lasts so long with goslings that grow so fast! We had a pen but I was afraid to put them in it alone. I told my husband that I was thinking about putting her in with them so I would feel safer about them being outside. So we did. She wasn't sure she wanted to stay but we shut the gate. The next day they were all okay and she was a mom! They are as big as she is now and she's still mothering them like she did when they were little. The reason I wanted to keep them in the house for a while was so they would imprint on me. They did and it's so funny they will even follow my husband around. Like I said before if I had known they were so much fun I would have done this a long time ago. I'm sorry this is so long but maybe it will help someone that doesn't know a lot like me when we first started.

Below are the Pilgrim babies. Two females and one male, he's just a little lighter than they are. He is the one against the fence in the center picture. He is white with some tan markings and they are all feathered out now.