Broody bantams on goose eggs!--we have GOSLINGS!!!

[Sunny Side Up]

Please say a prayer for success here! Tonight I set 2 broody bantams with one goose egg apiece. They've been setting for a few days on little bantam eggs so I know they're committed to the task. Tonight I swapped their eggs for goose eggs. Biscuit is a practiced professional and has hatched anything I put under her, bantam or standard chickens, ducks, and last year a goose. She has already settled down on her goose egg, I can almost hear her motor running. However, Chiquita still seems doubtful. When I last checked on her she was standing up near her goose egg, looking awfully peeved. She's even smaller than Biscuit, so this might be too much for her. I gave her back 2 of her bantam eggs so she will have something to set upon tonight. If she refuses the goose egg I'll give her 2 standard-sized chicken eggs instead, that's what she hatched last time.

My geese are nearing the end of their laying season, so I hope these eggs are still viable. Are goose eggs easy to candle? When should I check for development?

Yes, I'll try to get pictures to post soon. Here's one of her 2 years ago with some of the ducklings she hatched:

 

[ICallMyselfCherie']

Oh my gosh, that is sooooooo cute.

It made me laugh when you posted at the bottom that yes,

you would post pictures soon. You know the BYC community too well. That was the first thing I was going to ask for!

Anyways, I can't say if goose eggs are easy to candle or not, I don't have experience with them. But I know banties, and I'm not surprised to hear that one of them at least has adopted anything you put under her.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your other banty girl!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Good news, little Chiquita has decided to set on her ginormous egg, I hope she'll be able to turn it all right. I wrote an X in pencil on the side that's facing up tonight, let's see if it moves position. And I found a fresh goose egg in their nest this afternoon, so I put it under Biscuit, she seems able to cover both. Last year she successfully incubated one goose egg, and then was willing to adopt another gosling hatched a day later under a different hen. That other hen was acting mean towards her gosling and pecked it repeatedly, so I offered it to Biscuit and she was kind enough to care for it. Here's a photo of Biscuit with her hatched & her adopted goslings.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I think today is Day 25, anyone remember how long it takes to incubate a goose egg? I'm guessing there will be goslings this weekend if all has gone well. Both girls are dedicated setters, I tried to peek in the eggs with a flashlight but I'm not good at knowing what it is I'm seeing. I haven't bothered them since, just left them to do their job. I also set another larger hen with 3 goose eggs a couple of weeks later. Now the geese are done laying for the year.

Pray for live healthy goslings from each of these eggs!

 

[Meghalu]

I can't wait to see what happens! Good luck!

 

[CatDaddyAlbert]

 

[Sunny Side Up]

It's the morning of Day 29 and WE HAVE GOSLINGS!!! There are two ultra-adorable fluffly little goslings in Biscuit's nest, and the egg under Chiquita is pipping. This is so wonderful because I wasn't certain the eggs were still viable, and wasn't sure that these little hens could successfully incubate them. Thank you Jesus!!

Of course I wouldn't post this without including photos. Here's Biscuit with her new babies:

And here's little Chiquita, a tiny Dutch Bantam hen, setting on a now-pipping goose egg:

 

[ChickenCrazed]

Good job girls!...They are so cute!...How exciting!

 

[Tiss]

That is a riot! Talk about ugly duckling....err chick.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Chiquita's gosling hatched today!!! It had been pecking away at one end of its egg all day yesterday. This morning it hadn't made much progress, so I picked away just a little bit more around the opening it had already made. The gosling was apparantly ready to hatch, once that extra bit of shell was removed it pushed itself right out.

Just hatched!

Getting cozy with Mama

Look at how big the gosling is compared with Chiquita! I'm impressed that she was able to successfully incubate that egg.

And more of Biscuit's adorable pair:

You could bottle these and prescribe them to people with hypertension