Adding gosling to human imprinted goose

[The goose girl]

I'm planning on getting my goose a playmate. As she is imprinted on humans, she's never expressed any interest in other geese, but I'm hoping to get her maternal instincts to kick in.

The plan is to get her to brood and then sneak a newly hatched gosling under her. She's 4 years old, and her instincts regarding nesting and laying seem to be very sharp. So, step 1, how do I get her to go broody?

So far I've placed 6 fake eggs in her nest. Should I get more? Any idea how long it'll take? She usually goes broody around the end of June, but I can get a gosling around June 5th, and I'd really like her to be sitting on her nest by then.

Background: We're two people sharing her, and she spends her days with us in our respective yards, going for walks, and visiting friends and neighbors. She sleeps and nests in her goose house. She thrives. But her other caretaker turns 77 in a little bit, and he can't spend as much time outside as he used to, especially during the cold season. If we could get her to accept another goose, she'd be less dependant on human company when playing outside.

 

[Nyla]

I once had a goose who wouldn't go broody till she had about 10+ eggs. Is she laying eggs herself? If she is, let her build up the eggs and she might start making a actual nest. If she isn't laying eggs, then she most likely won't go broody. But if you give her some soft bedding and maybe collect some lose feathers for her also and lay them in a corner or nesting area for her, she might build a nest and go broody.

 

[The goose girl]

Oh, she is laying eggs. 33 of them so far, last one last night. And she's built a nice nest in her goose house. I take the eggs as soon as they're laid (cause they're yummy!), but I leave her fake eggs to sit on. I blew out some of her eggs and filled the shells with sealant. Also, she has a golf ball. I guess I should give her more fake eggs.

I can't leave real eggs in her nest; the magpies would take them in an instant. Actually a magpie abducted one of the sealant filled eggs last year. He must have been so disappointed!

 

[Nyla]

Has she plucked out her feathers to line the nest? If she has, then she isn't far from brooding.
If its loaded like my female has hers, she should be broody already!

 

[Tenrec]

Be careful about those magpies around your goslings. Corvids are notorious nest robbers; you'd do well to predator-proof the enclosure until the goslings are big enough.

And good luck!

 

[The goose girl]

Has she plucked out her feathers to line the nest? If she has, then she isn't far from brooding.
If its loaded like my female has hers, she should be broody already!

No, she hasn't done that yet. She usually doesn't start lining her nest until she sets on it. Yours looks ready to become a mom, though!

Be careful about those magpies around your goslings. Corvids are notorious nest robbers; you'd do well to predator-proof the enclosure until the goslings are big enough.

And good luck!

Thank you! We will be careful - there'll always be one of us with them during the day, and the goose house is predator proof. I'm hoping so much she'll accept the baby. I can't wait to have a gosling again!

 

[The goose girl]

Update: She now has 13 fake eggs in her nest, AND she's still happily laying more. But her interest in mating seems to have subsided a lot, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll soon sit tight on her nest.

 

[capper2013]

one of my girls didn't start sitting until she had about 15 eggs in her clutch.
i say "about" because there were 2 geese laying in the same nest and i didn't get to count them for a couple of days before she finally gave in and decided it was time.
it's been 28 days now since she first started incubating so i guess we will see in the next week if we have any success.

 

[The goose girl]

Well, my goose seems to be a greedy one who wants a gazillion eggs in her nest!

She's still not broody and still laying eggs. As the gosling we wanted for her hatched last week, we've given up the project for this year and hoping we'll succeed next year. The breeder is not incubating any more eggs, and the few fertilized eggs he had left are quickly going stale.

I'll start preparing a ton of fake eggs. The crows have been stealing the sealant eggs from her nest almost as fast as I could make them - maybe I should visit the local golf course instead to stock up on egg decoys?

 

[The goose girl]

New year, new hope! Last year she didn't go broody until June 25th, so she didn't get a gosling. But lo and behold, yesterday she wouldn't leave her nest, and she's still sitting there today!

A lot has happened since last year. The breeder sadly has died, so I have to find another place to get a gosling. And her other caregiver is hospitalized right now, which makes it ever so much more urgent to get her some goose company.

I may not be able to get a day-old gosling this late in the season. Does anyone have experience adding an older gosling to a broody goose? I'm thinking 1-3 weeks old.

Also, I may have to move her to my yard if the hospital stay drags out. She absolutely won't accept my goose house, so I'll have to move her house to my yard. Has anyone tried to move a broody goose?