Do these eggs look viable?

Mother Goosey

In the Brooder
5 Years
Apr 21, 2014
32
0
24
Kentucky
My friend brought me some eggs today, but I don't think they're too terribly promising. He's new to the whole backyard poultry thing and I'm just starting to try out incubation. He brought them to me 'cause I wanted to test my knowledge, so it's kind of a test I guess. Problem is, he's not sure but he thinks they may have endured a cold snap where it was warm and then suddenly got cold and the parents weren't sitting on them. :/ .. So I kinda doubt these are viable eggs but I'm no candling expert. I think he said they were from his Toulouse pair.

Can someone a little more experienced than me tell if these eggs are viable? He thinks they were laid on the 13th, so they're roughly 8 days old. I've personally never candled goose eggs before, mine are too young to be laying right now.

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My friend brought me some eggs today, but I don't think they're too terribly promising. He's new to the whole backyard poultry thing and I'm just starting to try out incubation. He brought them to me 'cause I wanted to test my knowledge, so it's kind of a test I guess. Problem is, he's not sure but he thinks they may have endured a cold snap where it was warm and then suddenly got cold and the parents weren't sitting on them. :/ .. So I kinda doubt these are viable eggs but I'm no candling expert. I think he said they were from his Toulouse pair.

Can someone a little more experienced than me tell if these eggs are viable? He thinks they were laid on the 13th, so they're roughly 8 days old. I've personally never candled goose eggs before, mine are too young to be laying right now.

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Anyone got any ideas? I'll do another later tonight.
As long as he has a true pair, and the goose hadn´t started sitting, then you may be fine. No point in candling before they start to develop. Read the thread about goose egg incubation, then pop them in your incubator. after about 5 days you´ll be able to candle and you´ll see development inside...like a red spider. fertile and growing. Then let us know if you have anything happening. Important, read the incubation thread first.
 
I've already started them on incubation but it hasn't been 5 days. I got them between 99 - 101F. I know humidity is also necessary, especially near hatch day, 60% I think near hatch? I'll read the thread. I'm thinking they should hatch in early to mid May. He said he saw them sit on them for one day and they appeared to stop when the cold snap hit on the 15th. He took them from the nest yesterday thinking they may of died from the weather and not being sat on and gave 'em to me to just kinda experiment with incubation. I think, though, they may be fine. If they aren't chilled, aren't goose eggs fine for up to two weeks? Oh, something else that may be important to note. He said during the coldsnap they did have a blanket of downy over top of the eggs while they weren't sitting on them... then the eggs just continued to sit there until he took them yesterday
 
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I've already started them on incubation but it hasn't been 5 days. I got them between 99 - 101F. I know humidity is also necessary, especially near hatch day, 60% I think near hatch? I'll read the thread. I'm thinking they should hatch in early to mid May. He said he saw them sit on them for one day and they appeared to stop when the cold snap hit on the 15th. He took them from the nest yesterday thinking they may of died from the weather and not being sat on and gave 'em to me to just kinda experiment with incubation. I think, though, they may be fine. If they aren't chilled, aren't goose eggs fine for up to two weeks? Oh, something else that may be important to note. He said during the coldsnap they did have a blanket of downy over top of the eggs while they weren't sitting on them... then the eggs just continued to sit there until he took them yesterday
Geese seem to sit on their eggs a bit before getting down to the business of really incubating. Not always, but some do this. So, the eggs may be fine. You´ll soon know in a few days. A coldsnap won´t hurt them if they didn´t already start to develop. the down would have kept them protected from the worst, just depends if the goose only sat the one day. See what happens. If you find they´re developing inside, then you really should have a good read of Pete 55´s incubation guide.
 
Great, thanks! I'll be watching them over the next few days and hope hope hoping! I've only ever raised pet house geese/ducks so I don't know a whole lot about the breeding process they go through, but I've done some research on incubation. I'll go ahead and have a read at that post, though. I used to have a pet African Goose and she was a complete doll. Her sister sustained a neck injury during shipping and didn't make it. This past year she suddenly passed of unknown causes and we were completely heart broken, but after the griefing process had passed we back ordered an Embden and Indian Runner for the breeding season and they're doing well and growing quick! The Embden is just a sweetheart, she prefers my company, and the Runner doesn't seem to have a preference. She'll lay beside me and follow, but when I'm idle she follows the Embden around.
 
Ok! I've weighed them all, marked them, and placed them horizontally. One of them has a very low weight compared to the others, so... maybe a late bloomer? Hopefully I'll see some real developments in them in the next few days. So, just to see if this may cause any need for concern('cause I'm no expert), here's the weights. I do have them numbered so I can keep tabs on each individual one.

Egg 1: 137g
Egg 2: 155g
Egg 3: 166g
Egg 4: 158g
Egg 5: 163g

Just to note, I don't know if you noticed in the video, but Egg 4 seems to have some dark objects floating around inside it... well, I mean, they're staying in place but from all the egg candling videos and images I've seen, I've never seen one with random dark 'objects' inside of it... that kind of does concern me, is that normal?
 
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Ok! I've weighed them all, marked them, and placed them horizontally. One of them has a very low weight compared to the others, so... maybe a late bloomer? Hopefully I'll see some real developments in them in the next few days. So, just to see if this may cause any need for concern('cause I'm no expert), here's the weights. I do have them numbered so I can keep tabs on each individual one.

Egg 1: 137g
Egg 2: 155g
Egg 3: 166g
Egg 4: 158g
Egg 5: 163g

Just to note, I don't know if you noticed in the video, but Egg 4 seems to have some dark objects floating around inside it... well, I mean, they're staying in place but from all the egg candling videos and images I've seen, I've never seen one with random dark 'objects' inside of it... that kind of does concern me, is that normal?
i´ve just looked at the video, now the internet here has improved.
A new egg, fertile or not, should look nice and clear. the fact that you have some floaters does seem to indicate that the goose was sat for more than a day. Looks to me (maybe I´m wrong, though), that they had started to develop, but got cold and died. The others you should know in a short while. If these are no good, can you get some more, fresh, eggs from him to try? Oh, and it´s really best to move them about as little as possible when candling or otherwise. You don´t need to go round and round to see.
 
Egg 4 is the only one that has any kind of 'floaters' in it, so that one may be dead, but the others have a small bundle of cells in the center of the yolk, some with veins circling it, but I haven't had them long enough to tell any development, that's how they were when I received them. I'll be sure to only turn them once a day to the +/x side it's supposed to be on and candle them from the air sac side without picking them up. He currently doesn't have any others on eggs right now, his one toulouse pair are the only ones that have made a nest by far. :(
 
Egg 4 is the only one that has any kind of 'floaters' in it, so that one may be dead, but the others have a small bundle of cells in the center of the yolk, some with veins circling it, but I haven't had them long enough to tell any development, that's how they were when I received them. I'll be sure to only turn them once a day to the +/x side it's supposed to be on and candle them from the air sac side without picking them up. He currently doesn't have any others on eggs right now, his one toulouse pair are the only ones that have made a nest by far. :(
If the goose abandoned her nest, she´ll have a break, then start again. You could get some of those if these don´t work out. Veins will only develop once the goose is sitting tight, so I have my doubts she sat just one day. Once they´re in the incubator you should turn them even 3 times a day, but just a bit. And no problem picking them up, just try not to scramble them. So, pop them in the incubator, see what happens in 4 or 5 days, and if nothing, just wait til you find more eggs. The season´s not over yet.
 

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