CALLING MISS PRISSY AGAIN!!~~New goose question page 5

I have been searching on how to hatch goose eggs, and have found quite a bit of info.

1. same temp as chickens-99.5 forced air, and 101.5 still air---I will be using still air

2. Higher humidity--65% days 1-26 then 80(?)% till hatch

3. Cool eggs for 15 minutes a day, and mist during cool down with warm water, days 4-?

Some things I have questions about.

In one post I read, Miss Prissy said that you can modify the chicken egg turner to accomodate goose eggs? How would I do this? Would the eggs stand up in the turner, or lay on their sides? I have 2 LG's, one with an older turner (metal with seperate, removable 'cups') and one new turner, with the one piece trays that hold 7 chicken eggs.

Another question is that I read in one post to mist them until day 26, but I read another that said to mist them even after day 26? So which is it?

Another question is that I will also have duck eggs at the same time, in the same bator. Will the cooling/misting thing be ok for them too?

Oh, my brain hurts from reading so much!! I can't think of anything else right now, but I'm sure I will come up with something!

Thanks for any and all suggestions!!

Goose eggs by far the hardest eggs to hatch in my experience. Don't be disappointed if you fail.

Once you stop turning those eggs in the last few days for hatching keep your hands off of them. It can take from day 26 - day 35 for those goslings to hatch. More so than with chicks - if you try to help them you will most likely end up killing them. This is why some goslings can be so very expensive. They are just VERY hard to hatch.

The neck is very long and curls up in the shell against their body. It takes them a fairly long time to get it under control so don't be alarmed when they frist start pushing out of the shell.

As for duck eggs - some people do mix them in a bator especially if they have a sportsman. My best advise is not to put anything in that bator with those eggs. Goose eggs have a tendency to be bacteria laiden. They come from wet mucky goose nests and need to be cleaned if they are relatively dirty. They will be a bit dirty but you can gently clean them with a damp cloth.

Some people think they should also be disinfected before setting a hatch. I did this with a bleach solution with info from a waterfowl site for one batch of eggs I received. They were nasty. Of 12 eggs only 3 hatched.

You will get a lot of people who mix duck eggs with other eggs and say they are happy with their hatch. Well those are the people who are usually esxcited and pleased with just one hatch and that is not a good hatch. If you set egg a good hatch is 80%+ live no just 1 gosling.

I urge you to only set the goose eggs and not mix your bator with other eggs.

I urge you to set one hatch and do not stagger other hatches in that bator.

You are setting yourself up for a failed hatch with geese.

I can not stress enough to make sure you wash your hands well before you begin working with the goose eggs and after. Wash, wash, wash.

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Yes, same temps as chicken eggs


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I boost the humidity to 85% at the end.


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Day 4 until you see a pip.

When you stop turning them on day 26, don't pick them up and move them around when you open the incubator to mist them. The goslings are turning and getting position to begin pipping. Don't handle them, just mist them and let them cool a bit.

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The cups will not work.

Goose eggs need to lay on their side. My goose egg turner has a wire frame on it.

The LG motor might not be strong enough to handle the goose eggs. They weigh a ton compared to chicken eggs. You will be amazed at how big some can be.

Usually 16 goose eggs is the max you can put in the turner made by hovabator. You may burn out the LG motor during your 26 days.

The LG lid is lower than a hovabator and with the turning in there the large goose eggs may touch the heating element. You may be better off hand turning them.

There once was an expansion ring you could buy to raise the lid height but I have not seen those in years.

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Mist them until you see a pip. After you stop turning them don't touch them!

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Some people mist their duck eggs too.

I strongly encourage you to set the duck eggs in another incubator or wait until after the goslings hatch since you are using an LG.

I have 6 incubators. I will probably buy a sportsman in January so I can dedicate it to a large gosling hatch.

Ok, so I have 2 incubators, one will have a few chicken eggs and a few button quail eggs. Would it be all right to put the duck eggs in with these? Or do the duck eggs need more humidity as well? I know I have been told that higher humidity with button quail is ok, and a friend of mine has volunteered to 'finish off' my chicken eggs, if I can get them to her house without killing them!

I do have another friend that has 3 or 4 LG incubators that he has stopped using for the season, would it be better to try and borrow one of his to put the duck eggs in? These are from show quality ducks, so I don't want to ruin them. I will only be getting probably 2 goose eggs as freebies, and they are mixed.

The incubator that I will use for the goose eggs does not have a fan. The one that has chicken and quail eggs does have a fan.

Because of the size of the LG, and the size of a gosling, I was planning on using my hatcher to hatch the goose eggs. They will only be in the LG for the incubation process.

I mist my duck eggs and quail eggs with water once per day. I have never tried to hatch or had the oppotunity to hatch Goose eggs. Duck eggs do require a higher humidity level than chicken eggs. Its recommended that you turn them an odd number of times per day, (1,3,5 etc) and turn them end over end. This simulates mother duck and is said to improve hatch rate. (works for me). I never do a cool down time for duck eggs, but I do turn them by hand 3 times per day which the lid has to be opened for. I turn all my eggs by hand as I have no turner. I incubate my duck eggs in my hatcher where I put my chicken eggs from day 18-21. The humidity stays between 65-80 in thier except during hatch periods for duck eggs which it is increased as high as 100% I make sure duck eggs only are in there for this high amount of humidity. This is what i have read to do and i am having success hatching my eggs. Good luck with your duckies and Goslings. Let us know how they turn out. Im thinking about trying to hatch some Goslings in spring if I can get ahold of some eggs...Goslings are SOO expensive here....MissPrissy?

Yeah I was thinking of just getting some goslings in the spring, but these goose eggs are freebies that are coming with the duck eggs. Have you had good luck with misting the quail eggs?

Any ideas on how I could transport 7 day incubated chicken eggs without killing them?

And what do you mean by 'end over end'? I have a turner that they will be in, would it be ok to have them in it?

Depends on how far you are going and how old the eggs are. I would put them in an egg carton pointy end down and wrap them in a warm blanket and heat pad if you are going farther than say 20 or so minutes.

the turner works for my friend when she incubates her duck eggs so should be fine. If you were turning by hand then you could use the end over end method. END OVER END: if the egg is laying on its side you would roll end over end til they are laying on the opposite side instead of just turning them in the same position. Its kind of hard to explain without showing you. I read this on a waterfowl hatchery site when I was getting ready to start hatching my own duck eggs so thats how I do it. It works soo..

Ok, I think I have my problem solved. a friend of mine that has 3 or 4 incubators has told me that either I can borrow one for this hatch, or I can take the eggs to him and he will hatch them for me!

So One more question, would it be better for the quail eggs to be in with the chickens or the ducks?

I hatch quail eggs and Chicken eggs together.