MissPrissy>gosse egg incubation info

Hey Prissy, I wouldnt worry about it to much. I set a bunch last year and discovered that if you wait the first week or so and then spray lightly with a mister for the next 2 weeks and then stop on day 25. It is to imitate a goose going for a swim and then getting back on the nest. This extra moisture for a short period of time is to help soften the shell. I hand turn all of my eggs. I had a turner and just didnt have any luck with it. I figure the time it takes me to open the bator and turn all the eggs and close it is kinda like the mother getting off the nest for a while. I hope you have a good hatch. The biggest thing is what works for one might not work so well for others. Jenn

I use Tex Trol for spraying my eggs. I don't spray any that go out as I don't know each person's preference, but I spray all my own and any that come in. I spray into my bator too at any time with eggs in it except right when they are hatching. I got told to use this by a big pheasant breeder.

http://www.qcsupply.com/Products/2380.aspx

Stacy

ok , I knew I had a couple articles saved from when I had looked it up for other members...refound them and posting here in case it is helpful (some of the charts did not copy properly so refer to the article to view):
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/poultry/species/geese-raising/egg-production
Goose egg production
The main egg-laying period for geese is in the spring, commencing about August or September. Chinese breeds can start laying in winter. Encourage early seasonal egg production, so goslings are of marketable age and weight in time for the Christmas market.
Fertility will be up to 15% higher and hatchability up to 20% higher with mature female geese than with 1-year-old geese.
As geese usually lay in the morning, collect eggs late in the morning to reduce the chance of egg breakages, and collect eggs at least four times a day.
Because most eggs are laid early in the morning, it is best not to give geese access to swimming facilities until later in the morning, otherwise eggs may be lost. As mentioned earlier, swimming improves the condition of geese generally and helps to keep them clean, which in turn helps to keep eggs clean.
Geese usually lay a clutch of 12–15 eggs and then go broody.
Early onset of egg production can be encouraged by the following:
Genetic selection and cross-breeding. Chinese breeds are better egg producers than Toulouse or Emden breeds, but their smaller body is a disadvantage. Cross-breeding the Chinese breed with either Toulouse or Emden produces breeding stock of acceptable egg production and carcase.
Use of artificial light. This will induce early onset of egg production, as it does in laying hens (see Primefact 604 – Lighting of poultry).
Improved nutrition. Put geese in broody coops as soon as they go broody. If geese are allowed to remain broody without being checked, egg production will be seriously affected.

A suitable nest box
To reduce the incidence of egg breakages, provide nest boxes (shown at right) and encourage their use for laying. Line them with suitable nesting material, such as shavings or straw, and allow one 50 cm × 50 cm nest box for every three geese in the flock. It is best to have nest boxes in the shed and throughout the yard if large yards are used.
Incubation
Natural incubation produces the best percentage of goslings hatched. Using geese to hatch out their own goslings is expensive and wasteful, since geese are not laying while they are sitting on the eggs. Turkeys, hens and Muscovy ducks may be used satisfactorily to hatch out goslings — best results will be obtained from Muscovy ducks (which are really geese). Goose eggs can be hatched artificially, but results are better if Muscovies are used.
Eggs should be collected at least twice (preferably four times) daily, and, as geese lay most of their eggs in the morning, the bulk of the eggs will be collected in the morning.
Eggs for incubation should be stored in a cool room at 15°C — an airconditioned or refrigerated cabinet is ideal. Turn eggs daily (see Table 1). The longer the eggs are kept over 7 days, the poorer the hatching results.
Select only uncracked eggs weighing at least 140 g and no more than 200 g. Clean those eggs that are dirty by lightly rubbing with steel wool and wiping with a clean damp cloth. Eggs will need to be handled and stored in this manner regardless of the method of incubation.
Eggs can be disinfected by fumigating them immediately after collection.
The actual period of incubation of goose eggs varies slightly with the breed. Some eggs from the lighter breeds may start pipping after 28 days, while eggs from the larger breeds may take 35 days. It may take up to 3 days for hatching to be completed.
Natural incubation
Depending on the size of the bird, 4–6 eggs may be placed under a broody hen whilst a Muscovy duck may sit on 6–8 eggs. Since the eggs are too large for most hens to turn by themselves, turn the eggs by hand daily when the hens leave the nest to eat and drink. After 15 days, eggs should be sprinkled with lukewarm water each time they are turned.
Candling, that is, passing eggs under a bright electric light to view the contents, can be carried out on the 10th day and all infertile eggs removed.
Where a goose is to be used for hatching out the eggs, 10–15 eggs may be placed under her (the number of eggs depends on the size of the eggs and the size of the goose). If geese have access to swimming facilities, the eggs need not be sprinkled with water.
Artificial incubation
Unless machines are properly managed, goose eggs do not hatch very well in artificial incubators. Hatches often are no better than 40% of the eggs set, even though fertility is about 90%. This is because of poor management and because incubators available in Australia are not manufactured specifically for geese.
With forced-draught machines, maintain a constant temperature of 37.5°C throughout the incubation period. The desired humidity will be obtained if the wet bulb thermometer is kept at a reading of 32.2°C to the 29th day. Then increase it to 34°C for the rest of the incubation time, using moisture trays and adjusting the ventilation.
Incubators with a slow air movement over the eggs will hatch goose eggs better than those with a fast air movement. Slow air movement ensures complete distribution of air over all parts of the egg to maintain uniform and equal evaporation.
Experiments in France, using 2000 eggs in eighteen incubators, have substantiated the need to place eggs horizontally (see Table 1).
Table 1. Results of setting eggs at different angles*
Hatchability
Eggs set on pointed end Eggs set horizontally
Turnover angle Turnover angle
90° 120° 90° 120° 180°
All eggs set 49.0% 66.6% 69.2% 69.8% 69.2%
Fertile eggs 64.0% 85.3% 86.2% 88.9% 89.4%

* Artigueres Research Centre, France
In the incubator:

Turn eggs through an angle of 180°,
and set eggs horizontally
Best results are obtained if eggs are turned over completely at least four times daily, that is, through an angle of 180° (as shown in the diagram at right) and not 90° as with chicken eggs. Best hatching results are obtained if eggs are set horizontally.
Eggs must be spaced evenly throughout the incubator if the machine is not full. The temperature of the machine should be 0.2°C higher when the machine is less than 60% full.
Because goose eggs require high humidity, they should be sprinkled daily with warm water. After the 15th day of incubation, eggs should be completely submerged every second day in water kept at a temperature of 37.5°C and then daily in the last week of incubation, for 1 minute. Alternatively, fine nozzles that spray water at 37.5°C when needed can be installed in the incubator.
In the hatcher:
Eggs should be transferred to the hatcher on the 27th day of incubation unless experience shows eggs are hatching at less than 30 days of age.
Eggs should be dipped or sprinkled with water, as previously described, only once after they are transferred.
Temperature in the hatching compartment should be kept at 37°C and relative humidity at about 80%. After the peak of the hatch, reduce to 36.5°C and 70% humidity.
Leave goslings in the hatcher for 2–4 hours after the hatch is completed, then transfer them to the brooders.
Cleaning the incubator
Thoroughly clean and sanitise all incubator trays and incubators when not in use. Fumigate incubators with formaldehyde gas which is produced by combining formalin with potassium permanganate (Condy’s crystals). Note: A respiration mask fitted with a suitable gas cartridge filter should be used in the presence of formaldehyde.
To fumigate the incubator:
Turn off the motor.
Place the required amount of potassium permanganate in an earthenware container on the floor of the incubator and pour over it the required amount of formalin (25 g of potassium permanganate and 35 mL of formalin (40%) are enough to fumigate 1.0 m3 of incubator space).
Allow the machine to run for at least 10 minutes at the normal operating temperature and maximum humidity with the incubator door closed.
To prevent operators being overcome by formaldehyde fumes, open the doors and windows of the incubator room to provide ventilation before opening the incubators.
the article continues further with a section on Sex identification of geese....

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/DI1190.html
Brooding Goslings
A special building is not required for brooding small numbers of geese. Any small building or a corner of a garage or barn can be used as a brooding area for a small flock if it is dry, reasonably well-lighted and ventilated, and free from drafts. Cover the floor with 4 inches of absorbent litter material, such as wood shavings, chopped straw, or peat moss. Maintaining good litter requires frequent stirring, removal of wet spots, and periodic addition of clean, dry litter. Be sure litter is free from mold.
Heat lamps are a convenient source of radiant heat for brooding small flocks. Use one 250-watt lamp for each 25 goslings.
When using hover-type brooders, brood only about one-third as many goslings as the rated chick capacity of the hover. Because goslings are larger in size, with some brooders it may be necessary to raise the hover 3-4 inches higher than for baby chicks. Have the temperature at the edge of the hover 85 to 90 degrees F when the goslings arrive. Reduce the temperature to 5 to 10 degrees per week until 70 degrees F is reached.
Confine the birds to the heated area for the first 3 or 4 days with a corrugated paper or wire mesh fence. The behavior of the birds is an indication of their comfort: they will move away from the heat source if they are too warm, or may crowd together at corners or under the brooder if too cold. If there is no light at the heat source, a dim light on the birds at night tends to discourage crowding.
High temperatures may result in slower feathering and growth. Heat is usually not needed after the fifth or sixth week, and in good weather, the young geese can be placed on pasture. In warm weather, goslings can be let outdoors even at 2 weeks, but must be sheltered from rain. They must be kept dry to prevent losses from crowding and chilling while in the "down" stage.
Allow at least 1/2 square foot of floor space per bird at the start of the brooding period. Increase this to 1 square foot by 2 weeks. If birds are to remain confined due to inclement weather, be sure additional floor space is provided as they increase in size.

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Feeding Geese
Goslings should have feed and drinking water when they are started under the brooder or hen. Use waterers the birds can't get into to prevent losses from chilling. Waterers should be wide and deep enough for the bird to dip both bill and head. Pans or troughs with wire guards are satisfactory. They should be placed over screened platforms to aid in keeping litter dry. Change waterers or adjust size as birds grow.
Feeds formulated for goose feeding programs are not normally available from commercial suppliers.
Goslings can be started on a crumbled or pelted chick starter. Place feed the first few days on egg case flats or other rough paper. Use the same type of feeders as used for chicks, changing type or adjusting size as the birds grow. Keep feed before the birds at all times and provide insoluble grit. After the first 2-3 weeks, a pelted chick grower ration can be fed, supplemented with a cracked grain.
Geese are quite hardy and not susceptible to many of the common poultry diseases so medicated feed is not generally necessary. Certain coccidiostats used in starting and growing mashes may cause lameness or even death in goslings.
Geese are excellent foragers. Good succulent pasture or lawn clippings can be provided as early as the first week. By the time the birds are 5-6 weeks old, a good share of their feed can be from forage. Geese can be very selective and tend to pick out the palatable forages. They will reject alfalfa and narrow-leaved tough grasses and select more succulent clovers, bluegrass, orchard grass, timothy, and bromegrass. Geese can't be grown satisfactorily on dried-out, mature pasture. Corn or pea silage can be fed if available.
An acre of pasture will support 20-40 birds, depending on the size of the geese and pasture quality. A 3-foot woven wire fence will ordinarily confine the geese to the grazing area. Be sure that the pasture areas and green feed have not had any chemical treatment that may be harmful to the birds. The birds should be provided shade in hot weather.
Although supplemental grain feeding of goslings is often continued after they have been established on good pasture, many flocks are raised on green feed alone during the pasture period. Geese to be marketed should be fed a turkey finishing or similar ration for 3-4 weeks before processing. Any birds saved for breeding stock should not be fattened.
Farm geese are usually sold in time for the holiday market in late fall when they are 5-6 months old. They will weigh from 11-15 pounds depending on the strain and breed. Some young geese (also called green geese or junior geese) full-fed for rapid growth are also marketed at 10-12 pounds when they are 10-13 weeks old. For several weeks after this age geese have many pinfeathers which are difficult to remove during processing. Growth of geese after 10-13 weeks is very slow compared with the rapid growth of the young gosling.
Considerable attention has been given to the use of geese to control weeds in cotton, strawberries, and some truck crops. Development of more selective herbicides is reducing this practice. The problems in coordination of bird supply and management with weed and crop growth make goose weeding rather impractical for most producers.

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Breeder Flock Management
Select geese that are vigorous and well developed, have shown rapid growth, and have compact meaty bodies. Matings should be made at least 1 month prior to the breeding season (around the first of the year). The larger breeds of geese usually mate best in pairs and trios. Ganders of some lighter breeds will mate satisfactorily with four or five females. Males will usually mate with the same females year after year.
It is difficult to distinguish sex in geese except by examination of the reproductive organs. The process, described by the late T. H. Canfield, follows: Lift the goose by the neck and lay it on its back, either on a table or over your bended knee, with the tail pointed away from you. Move the tail end of the bird out over the edge so it can be readily bent downwards. Then insert your pointer finger (sometimes it helps to have a little vaseline on it) into the cloaca about half an inch and move it around in a circular manner several times to enlarge and relax the sphincter muscle which closes the opening. Next, apply some pressure directly below and on the sides of the vent to evert or expose the sex organs.
Figure 1. Exposed reproductive organ of an immature male.
Figure 2. Reproductive organ of sexually mature male.
Figure 3. Genital eminence of mature female.
In some birds the male organ is somewhat difficult to unsheath. An inexperienced sexer may easily call a bird a female if, after slight pressure, the cork-screw-like male organ is not exposed. However, only the presence of a female genital eminence will positively identify a female.
Geese do not do well if enclosed in a house. They should be confined to a yard with a house for shelter protection during winter storms. When green pasture is not available, breeders can be maintained on roughage such as leafy clover or alfalfa hay, corn or pea silage, with a small amount of grain. If breeding stock becomes overly fat, poor fertility and hatchability may result.
Start feeding a pelleted breeder ration at least a month before egg production is desired. Provide water at all times, as well as a supply of oyster shell and grit. Lights in the breeder house can be used to stimulate earlier egg production if desired. Geese start laying in February or March and often lay until early summer. Nest boxes should be provided to aid in obtaining a maximum number of eggs and reduce the amount of cleaning required. Boxes should be at least 2 feet square and built with partitions or spread some distance apart to reduce fighting. Large boxes or barrels are frequently used for range nests. The heavier geese lay from 20-50 eggs per season, depending on the amount of selection for egg production in the strain being raised.
Eggs should be gathered twice daily, especially during cold weather. They should be stored at 55 degrees F and a relative humidity of 75 percent until set for hatching. Eggs should not be held for more than 7-10 days, and should be turned daily if kept more than a few days.
The incubation period for eggs of most breeds of farm flock geese varies from 29-31 days. Four to six eggs can be incubated under a setting lien and 10-12 under a goose. Mark the eggs so that they can be turned by hand twice daily if the setting hen does not turn them. Better hatchability is reported by some growers if the eggs are lightly sprinkled or dipped in lukewarm water for half a minute daily during the last half of the incubation period. Remove goslings from the nest as they hatch, and keep them in a warm place until the youngest are several hours old. Since it takes some time to complete the hatch, if the goslings aren't removed as hatched, the hen may desert the nest leaving with the hatched goslings before the hatch is completed.
Goose eggs can be hatched in either still-air or forced-draft incubators. Follow the instructions from the machine's manufacturer. You may increase the success of your hatching operation if you can talk with a person who has had success with machine incubation of goose eggs.

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This Poultry Fact Sheet is one in a series produced jointly by faculty and staff of the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin. Members of both institutions cooperated in the planning and production of the series.

Thank you, dianna. I have some steel wool and a scotch brite pad I bought. I have looked in many stores and cannot find the brands or listed disinfectants.

If I am using a weak solution of bleach do you think 1 teaspoon to a quart of water is weak enough or not?

well , in addition to the former articles, I have found this pdf specific to bleach solutions for different purposes including food eggs and also using in brooders and such... perhaps it is helpful (I will keep looking for you):
http://www.cloroxprofessional.com/bsb.pdf

(there are several online convertors to use for converting ppm to ohter measurements but here is a link which may give some indication from Mississippi University
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE TO COMMON SOLUTIONS USED WITH POULTRY
http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/extsoln.htm
Dr. Tom W. Smith, Emeritus Professor of Poultry Science, Mississippi State University

"Weekly Sanitizing Rinse Solution

1 oz Chlorine Bleach in 6-8 gallons water
Rinse, soak, or expose equipment to this solution. Let stand at least one hour, then rinse with fresh water. This solution contains equivalent to 45 ppm chlorine. The procedure is most effective if conducted on a weekly basis. Remember, chlorine disinfectants are inactivated by organic matter. Clean all equipment well before using chlorine rinse solutions."

Now I am getting scared to set Goose eggs...

They are hard to hatch but when they do hatch it is awesome!

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how are yours doing? howd the hatch go?

This is a very old thread. I have hatched dozens upon dozens upon dozens since this was first posted.

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ooh sorry I read your last post was from this am so I thought it was new:-( I thought it sounded kinda funny ? LOL