2020 Gosling Hatch-A-Long

[Silkie2005]

If they manage to hit the world record and be in the oldest geese ever (got to beat 49 years and 8 months) I will make them their own thread so people can keep updated on them! I don't think I could put them in the Guinness book of records because I don't know their exact DOB, all I know is that it is in the 1970s so I couldn't prove their age and I really dont want them going to a load of vets so they can take blood samples to verify the age because that would hurt them.

 

[servpolice]

So good and bad news,

Bad news first : with the 3 goose eggs that are hatching around now 1 gosling pipped but didn't make it and it was a buff gosling I opened the incubator too much as I had chicks hatching at the same time which I know is the reason of my loss.

Keep your incubators closed at all times during the last 3 days of incubation folks!

Good news! One gosling (Brown) hatched yesterday! I'm taking him out of the incubator tomorrow and yes of course there will be pics

The 3rd egg is still not ready for another few days and I stopped turning the egg's 4 days ago so the 3rd egg might not make it but finger's crossed

Since I was sad the buff didn't make it and my females seem to make no effort to start brooding I decided to grab all 15 eggs from both nests (leaving one egg in each nest although) and will put them all in the incubator once the 3rd egg hatches

 

[servpolice]

13 eggs due on the 22 of April! Any browns will be sold and any buffs will be kept.

My buff female started brooding 4 day's ago, she's on 2 eggs. Any buff gosling she hatches will be taken off her and any browns I hatch in the incubator will be adopted to her

 

[CindyinSD]

I found a target in my breakfast! Saving goose eggs now.

 

[arkiechick lady]

Well the incubator room attitude is not going well at all. At least for Ms Looney.
Daily meetings with the new kids is a fiasco to say the least. I just candled the geese eggs before turning at 21 days and they’re looking great. I sure hope she’s adapted to new kids by then

 

[ColtHandorf]

ahhh!! I am so jealous of all these baby pics!! Healthy, happy looking goslings!!
BB goose abandoned her first nest...to try to coparent ducklings She's back at it again though so we shall see!

Thank you! I’m completely enamored with them. You’d think I’d been the one sitting on them all this time. As far as BB and Chance are concerned, I’d keep all the other birds away from them as best you can. Mine had the entire pen and yard to themselves, bar the single, spare Silver-laced Orpington rooster they didn’t seem to mind.“Uncle” Sterling is very interested in the babies, but Golly and Georgia insist on keeping all intruders at least ten feet away from the babies, including those pesky barn swallows that are swooping around eating insects on the wing. Georgia has been hissing at them all morning.

They both slept in the doorway, effectively blocking the babies inside until I came out this morning to check on them. Once I came out they let the little ones go eat and drink and took them out to play in mud puddles and graze.

Here are some more pictures from yesterday afternoon.

 

[Titus Kiptoo]

Week 3 , Mother Turkey and her Goslings

 

[Gray Farms]

@Pyxis @Miss Lydia @Gray Farms and all the other gosling experts out there...

So the seven babies are doing amazing. They follow Georgia and Golly around everywhere (I now know how my short friend feels when she's walking behind me...lol). They've gotten a little braver and pop in and out of both the chain-link fence and the welded wire fence to graze on grass that must be much tastier than the grass in the yard. Their parents do not at all approve of this and I for one will be very glad in a couple more days when they are too big to do it anymore.

All the grazing has led me to my question:

I do have unmedicated starter down for them in low dishes along with several small water containers (don't get me started on Golly and Georgia introducing them to the not so very small med puddle in the center of the yard) but they are grazing, a lot. In fact I'd say that 90-95% of what they are eating is fresh green grass. Is there a problem with that, nutritionally or otherwise? I would like to avoid any leg problems or angel wing if possible with the little sprouts.

Also as a fun observation:

Georgia absolutely hates the barn swallows that nest here every year. She will literally jump up, straight of the ground, bill open and hissing away at them as they swoop around catching little bugs. Golly doesn't seem to mind them and I'm not sure the babies even notice them. But it is quite cute. I know she's trying to protect them from what she sees as a fast-moving over-head threat.

The goslings also surprised me by showing fear of the big scary hose that came out to fill the pool for their parents who are bathing a lot. Golly and Georgia stepped right over it and kept on grazing/walking, but the goslings were quite distressed. lol They'd each bravely get close and leap up and over it to race after their parents. It was super cute.

Edite to add: I also performed a partial egg-topsy on the eighth unhatched egg and just opening the portion with the air cell showed a large amount of fuzzy-grey bacterial or fungal growth. I didn't even bother looking any further and tossed it. But has anyone ever seen that? I know I haven't with chicken eggs.

It sounds like your doing fine. Let them graze. I've found that angel wing is more related genetics not feed.

 

[Gray Farms]

3 more today

 

[prex]

Hi all,
I wanted to pop in and share my results for the season. I set 6 dewlap Toulouse and 2 Sebastopol eggs. Six babies arrived starting on 3/28. I had 100% fertility but lost one Toulouse towards the end and one Sebastopol who hatched too early.

The babies were lovely - so personable and they thrived, growing like weeds. I had to send all of them to new homes due to my current living situation. It was upsetting to let them go, especially the first-hatched who imprinted on me strongly. Nevertheless I am grateful for the experience and I look forward to hatching more in the future at a time when I can keep them. Geese are such marvelous animals, and these two breeds are very special to me.

Thankfully I am starting a large batch of silkie eggs shortly so I’ll have something to fill the void. Until the next time I’ve got lovely memories. I hope you’re all well and you’re enjoying your little ones.