Can A Goose Hatch A Chick?

[Kelly Klumpp]

On our farm, we recently got a goose that became broody. She has 6 fertile goose eggs under her, and we were wondering just out of curiosity could a goose hatch chicken eggs?

I've heard of Chickens hatching ducks, and some other fowl hatching breeds that aren't their own; but what about geese? Considering how big the geese eggs are, would the goose step and crush the chicken eggs by accident, or would the goose just hatch it normally? Also, would the goose step on the born chicks? Most likely, we will not put chicken eggs under the goose as she already is hatching her own species, but it did spark some questions within our family and I just wanted outside opinions on whether or not a goose can hatch a chicken's egg!

 

[MGG]

On our farm, we recently got a goose that became broody. She has 6 fertile goose eggs under her, and we were wondering just out of curiosity could a goose hatch chicken eggs?

I've heard of Chickens hatching ducks, and some other fowl hatching breeds that aren't their own; but what about geese? Considering how big the geese eggs are, would the goose step and crush the chicken eggs by accident, or would the goose just hatch it normally? Also, would the goose step on the born chicks? Most likely, we will not put chicken eggs under the goose as she already is hatching her own species, but it did spark some questions within our family and I just wanted outside opinions on whether or not a goose can hatch a chicken's egg!

Well, she probably could. Humidity would be on the high side for chicken embryos, because waterfowl are usually wet when they come back from their breaks, while chickens are not.
The goose would not do well raising chicks, and the majority would probably die. The goose would lead the chicks to water as she would with goslings, and the chicks, not knowing any better, would follow "mama" in. Then they would of course drown. Geese are mostly grazers (herbivores) while chickens are carnivores, so they would not necessarily be getting adequate nutrition. And if the mother goose took her chicks around other geese, the other geese would probably kill them.
There's many other things, such as the incubation period being shorter than the goose would expect, she could crush the eggs, etc. etc., so I would not reccomend doing it. But I'm sure it's possible for a goose to raise chickens. Just a bad idea because of how much could go wrong.