Egg eating goose

[BuffG]

I have about 11 geese. They free range on about 20 acres with a pond. They are penned up at night to prevent predation. This egg laying season one of my Buff geese went broody. She is one year old. The nest was inside the goose pen with approximately 5 eggs in it. At approximately 3 weeks of incubation I saw her eating one of the eggs. She didn’t eat the shell, just the partially developed gosling. Over the next couple days she ate all the developing goslings, but not the shells. I don’t have an incubator so removing them from the nest was not an option. She had water and food close by. She is a pretty dominant goose.

Currently I have an African goose sitting on eggs inside the shed. She has hatched eggs before. The other geese also have access to the shed but do not bother her. The eggs are approximately 3 weeks incubated. Today I found one of the eggs about three feet from the nest cracked open and the gosling eaten. My African is still sitting on the rest of the eggs. I did not see it happen but I think my egg eating Buff took one of the eggs and ate it. I closed the shed up so the other geese do not have access to it.

I have looked all over the internet but can find nothing on geese eating goslings, but apparently I own one. Was wondering if anyone else has ever heard of this.

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

I have never heard of this in geese, Rabbits will sometimes eat their young if they have a nutrient deficiency. Perhaps it’s the same with geese? I personally would not let them go broody until the problem is found. @casportpony

 

[SilverBirds]

It's likely that one of the eggs accidently cracked underneath her and she discovered the tasty contents inside. She then figured out she could continue breaking the eggs for more tasty treats.

Now that she has figured out how to break open the eggs, I wouldn't let her go broody again. She may even continue eating hers and the eggs of the other geese, whether they are developing or freshly laid.

You can try to break her off this habit but it may not be possible. For chickens, people fill eggs with a bad tasting substance. Normally mustard or soap. Not sure if the same would discourage geese.

 

[Goosebaby]

This is unusual, geese will eat eggs either for the calcium or the protein and vitamins of the contents. I’ve never seen one break open and eat a developing egg though.

 

[BuffG]

I won’t rule out a vitamin/ mineral deficiency, but as I stated earlier they free range and consume a very natural diet. They have access to different grasses, weeds, seed heads, aquatic plants, insects, grubs. They also get fed a wheat/ barley mixture with oyster shell added. I think it’s more likely one of the eggs cracked or broke for whatever reason and my Buff goose has now developed a taste for partially incubated goslings. As I stated above she is just a year old and has never been around goslings before.

On a more positive note, my African, who is sitting on a nest of 5 eggs, has goslings hatching as I type this. 2 are completely out, one is working on hatching, and I couldn’t get a look at the other 2 (I didn’t want to disturb her to much). I’ll try to get some pictures this weekend when they start moving around and post. And yes, I will keep them away from my gosling eating Buff until I am positive they are big enough they won’t get eaten!!

 

[Julene]

You are not alone. I've been reading these forums for two years (since first getting chickens) but this is my first time posting anything. I came here this morning because of this very issue. I also have a Buff goose (also a year old) who went broody on a dozen or more duck eggs (we don't have a gander but we do have a drake). I decided to let her try to hatch them since there was a good chance many of them were fertile. I started noticing after a while that there seemed to be fewer and fewer eggs under her. I assumed they were either hidden under the straw or that a duck who had also gone broody was stealing them when she wasn't looking. Well, yesterday morning we discovered two dead ducklings under her that looked like they had either very recently hatched or were very close to hatching. Both of them had their heads crushed and the goose had the evidence of the horrible deed on her beak. I, too, found little to nothing online about geese doing this, until I saw your post. She's my sweetest and tamest goose and I had high hopes for her as a mother. I was even going to get a drake so I could breed her but now I've completely decided against this. She was still determined to sit on the nest, even though there wasn't an egg to be found, but we removed her from it and put her outside the coop. We are also keeping her from being able to get to the broody duck and her nest (I also have a chicken who has moved in with the broody duck and is also determinedly sitting on a bunch of duck eggs) because I don't want her getting any ideas about eating those eggs. I have no answers for you, as I have found none myself, but I wanted you to know that you are not alone.

 

[Lindalv]

You are not alone. I've been reading these forums for two years (since first getting chickens) but this is my first time posting anything. I came here this morning because of this very issue. I also have a Buff goose (also a year old) who went broody on a dozen or more duck eggs (we don't have a gander but we do have a drake). I decided to let her try to hatch them since there was a good chance many of them were fertile. I started noticing after a while that there seemed to be fewer and fewer eggs under her. I assumed they were either hidden under the straw or that a duck who had also gone broody was stealing them when she wasn't looking. Well, yesterday morning we discovered two dead ducklings under her that looked like they had either very recently hatched or were very close to hatching. Both of them had their heads crushed and the goose had the evidence of the horrible deed on her beak. I, too, found little to nothing online about geese doing this, until I saw your post. She's my sweetest and tamest goose and I had high hopes for her as a mother. I was even going to get a drake so I could breed her but now I've completely decided against this. She was still determined to sit on the nest, even though there wasn't an egg to be found, but we removed her from it and put her outside the coop. We are also keeping her from being able to get to the broody duck and her nest (I also have a chicken who has moved in with the broody duck and is also determinedly sitting on a bunch of duck eggs) because I don't want her getting any ideas about eating those eggs. I have no answers for you, as I have found none myself, but I wanted you to know that you are not alone.

Wow, the reason I am here also because I am loosing the hatching geese eggs with no reasons. I caged the entire area and made sure nothing can get in, but my eggs are less and less, but I didn’t find any evidence that they were eaten by the geese mom. As there is mo egg shells or any other things….