Difficulty hatching Geese this year?

[joe810]

I've had a very difficult time hatching geese this year. I have American Buffs and the past few years each goose has hatched 6-8 healthy goslings. This year I had three geese sit and only one gosling. I talked to someone else who does geese in the area and he had the same problem. Has anyone in the midwest experienced the same problems? It was a crazy spring for weather (and still!).

 

[Goose and Fig]

I had a hard time too. I realized too late what I was doing wrong, and the girls were all broody by then. Going to start early next year, and probably hatch way too many just to cover all the bases.

 

[roboboy]

It wasn't my best year, but certainly not the worst. Mostly mechanical problems here though, as i don't usually let the geese set and hatch themselves.

 

[joe810]

Is there something special you do with the eggs in the incubator? I've never had much luck putting them in there. It is a Sportsman and it does an excellent job with chickens and quail. Do they require more humidity?

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

We incubate all of goose eggs, had around 96/97% hatch rate this year, would have been better but had some family medical emergencies take me away from the eggs at hatch time.

Goose eggs require more work than chicken eggs do to incubate properly. They should be on their sides, not standing up. Should be hand turned an odd number of times a day. If in an auto turner, they should be turned 180* once a day. They require more humidity at lockdown, misting to encourage proper moisture loss and air cell development during incubation.

 

[joe810]

Thanks for the information!

 

[1MrsMagoo]

joe810-

First, yes, I have heard the same report from many different breeders this year. One gentleman I email with in Washington State only had a small fraction of the goslings this spring that he normally does: He lets his broody hens sit the nests; another in Iowa had similar results as well.

Even though it was written for a smaller incubator, you should check out Pete55's Waterfowl incubation guide. It can be found in the "Stickies" section on the Duck thread. It is very helpful and extremely informative.

I followed it to the letter and had very good results with my very first hatch: 7 out of 9 eggs hatched.

Good luck next year.