Viability of Geese Eggs?

[MKUrbanGardener]

Hello everyone,
I'll be purchasing some goose eggs from a local farm, and initially I was going to buy them just for breakfast and to blow out and decorate... but, I was thinking of trying to incubate and hatch out a few in a homemade incubator. The only trouble is, we don't know exactly how old the eggs are, and whether or not they have a chance of developing and hatching goslings; I was told the geese laying the eggs aren't broody and sitting on them yet, so there's a chance that some of them might be too chilled to bother trying to hatch them out (in that case, they'll still be put to good use as Easter decorations and morning omelets

). My question is, how long can a goose stay off her eggs/nest and still keep the eggs "alive"? I've been reading that some wild species of duck won't go broody until they've laid all their eggs, which can sometimes take up to a week, and at that point they'll begin the incubation process. Right now the temps where I line are in the low 20's; I know the temperature can effect the survival of eggs and play a factor in the hatching ability as well. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[8GeeseALaying]

Geese lay an egg every other day. So for example If they go broody with 8 eggs in their nest, the oldest egg is atleast 15 days old.
Before being broody the goose is only on the nest long enough to lay an egg. As for the temps i cant help you ive never had a problem with the cold affecting the hatch rate

 

[MKUrbanGardener]

Thanks 8GeeseALaying,
I decided to pass up on trying to incubate. I wasn't expecting to see anything when I candled, even though I was really hoping to, and as expected no development. Plus I'm not confident in my skills building a homemade incubator, and the shipping if I bought one online would take to long so I'll be ordering some American Buff/Blue/Lavender goslings. Maybe I'll have a go hatching some next year.