5 months old goose being broody?

[jennjen2011]

I have a 5 month old White Chinese goose that has decided to go broody and has run a duck off her nest and is now sitting on her eggs. She has never laid eggs herself. Question I have is, why would she be doing this if she has never laid an eggs herself and should I let her continue to sit or remove the eggs from her? Just to add, the duck has been sitting on these eggs for over a week too.

 

[Jenbirdee]

oh no poor ducky. Maybe goose is showing dominance? I don't know but @Goosebaby knows all about goosey behaviors.
I think I would get her off and then put the eggs and the duck in a private quiet area where the goose cant reach them.
But ducky might not want to continue now that shes been interrupted
I do remember reading that the first year a goose is too young to brood and hatch because it can be bad for her health.

 

[Goosebaby]

She may be about to start laying and her hormones are kicking in. How long has she been sitting on the stollen nest?

I‘m not sure if you should let her, though she probably will just give up on the eggs at some point, first year geese often don’t know what they’re doing and frequently abandon nests.
There’s a risk she could crush the eggs, duck eggs are very fragile compared to goose eggs, she is a Chinese which is much lighter than some other breeds, but duck eggs aren’t even necessarily safe under a duck “as ive found out this year ” so there’s a high risk that the eggs could break under a goose.

Also are you sure you have a goose and not a gander? Ganders can get really into nest building and brooding.

 

[jennjen2011]

She may be about to start laying and her hormones are kicking in. How long has she been sitting on the stollen nest?

I‘m not sure if you should let her, though she probably will just give up on the eggs at some point, first year geese often don’t know what they’re doing and frequently abandon nests.
There’s a risk she could crush the eggs, duck eggs are very fragile compared to goose eggs, she is a Chinese which is much lighter than some other breeds, but duck eggs aren’t even necessarily safe under a duck “as ive found out this year ” so there’s a high risk that the eggs could break under a goose.

Also are you sure you have a goose and not a gander? Ganders can get really into nest building and brooding.

She has been sitting for 2 days now, I even picked her up and got her off the nest and she went right back too it, and I have 2 female white Chinese and 1 male American buff all the same age

 

[blackbox]

I'd remove her and block her access to it, brooding geese decrease their food and water intake and can even stop eating and drinking entirely. At 5 months that would be really hard on her, she's still growing and needs plenty of nutrition. Unfortunately there's no guarantee the duck will go back to the nest if you were wanting them to hatch.

 

[jennjen2011]

I'd remove her and block her access to it, brooding geese decrease their food and water intake and can even stop eating and drinking entirely. At 5 months that would be really hard on her, she's still growing and needs plenty of nutrition. Unfortunately there's no guarantee the duck will go back to the nest if you were wanting them to hatch.

Update!! I have taken her off over and over till she has finally gave it up! So far today she hasn't messed with the nest and the duck if back on her nest.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

My female goose at 5 months is also very interested in eggs
Although she hasn’t sat yet she goes in each morning and chases the ducks out of the coop so she can cover the eggs then goes on with her day
I figured it’s just her hormones coming in
I gather my eggs daily so nobody is sitting but when I did have a broody this summer I made her a fenced in area inside the coop to keep her safe from other ducks laying in her nest
I would open the gate so she could go in and out after the others laid their eggs
It also helped when she had the babies I was able to keep her closed in so the babies weren’t harmed