Gander Reproductive Issues

[RURU]

GF thank you for adding to the facts about keeping the ganders lean throughout the winter. It is a know fact from breeders that understand and know what they are doing.

Yes, you are right on that GF because exposure to the cold just kills off the embryo as well. So if you want fertile eggs in the super cold weather you better get you butt out there early in the AM to retrieve them. Then set them in a cool place to warm up to room temp. Or in a cool dark area to save until you get more eggs. But it is best to get them in the incubator while fresher instead of 4-6 days later.
With Sebastopol's it is iffy when you begin the incubation if the eggs will make it until term. Everything in the incubator and the losing of the proper amount of moisture is so important to a healthy happy hatch!

Markt1 started this asking about fertility and what to do with the geese. I have tried to answer his question. I am glad GF that you also can agree on the same methods.....

 

[RURU]

If you feed too much protein through out the winter to the ganders it can cause fat to accumulate around the fertility organs


That is what you posted.....a very specific cause....did you sacrifice any ganders to provide data? I asked about the fat accumulation, which I have serious doubts about. I really don't care about cats....apples and oranges....


Clint

I am not going to kill a gander just to prove a point. Why kill a gander just to prove your point. Clint I am sorry it seems like you go after people with your scientific views. You seem to not care about facts that have been proven.
If you are a scientist please write a book letting everyone know your proven facts about all you quote to us here. Thank you.

 

[Speceider]

You haven't proven any facts...just you experience, making claims that you have no proof of.

Clint

 

[Speceider]

That is a pretty well known occurance with geese. Naturally geese will be living on less in the winter leading up to breeding season. They will have burned off much of the fat they stored during summer grazing, leaving them lean and ready to mate. And fight, if need be. If you artificially supplement them with high fat and protein while keeping them confined, especially, its only natural that fertility will suffer.

ETA- collecting eggs after they have been exposed to cold temps can also
cause them to be infertile.

Where do you get that...all research on wild geese has shown how increased winter nutrition increases productivity....think mid-continent lesser snow geese...most geese tend to be capital breeders....meaning the better condition they are in winter, the more productive they are....

Clint

 

[Goose and Fig]

Exactly- the LEANER AND MORE FIT they are, the more productive. That is what RuRu and I said.

 

[Speceider]

Actually condition means fatter, not leaner.

Clint

 

[Cottage Rose]

Obviously all animals need certain amount of fat on their bodies to be in good condition but in the case of domestic geese a lot people tend to overfeed corn and scratch feed and the geese become overly fat.
Waterfowl tend to put on extra weight around their reproductive organs according to the experts this can in some cases cause infertility issues.
According to the poultry management experts at Fertrell, poultry and waterfowl need to be on a maintenance diet during the post breeding season months with limited feed and protein so they don't get too fat.
Their advise is based on science not hear-say.
If you have any questions you can contact the experts and I'm sure they will be happy to explain it all to you.
Animal Nutrition Team
Don Brubaker: [email protected]
Jeff Mattocks: [email protected]

 

[Cottage Rose]

Mark can you give us more details on your management and your ganders behavior?
So many things could cause issues so its hard to pinpoint it.
Are your birds dewormed annually, what do you feed them?
We need more info.
Despite all the variables I would give them more time.
I've had low fertility some years and high the next with the same geese.

 

[markt1]

I bought six adult geese from Holderreads and received them on February 21st . Holderreads did deworming and any necessary shots before I received them. I had three ganders and three females, all large and impressive. One of the ganders was aggressive and killed one of the other ganders even though they all were enclosed in a 100 foot x 100 foot fenced area. Afterward he began attacking all of the others (except his chosen mate) so I got rid of him. One of the females began chasing the other females out of the goosehouse (10 foot x 12 foot), even though all had nests with eggs. So I got rid of her. Now I have two females (Rosie & Lucy) and one gander (Gus) that all get along fine. I fed all of them Purina Layena plus omega 3 (16% protein/ 4% calcium/1% omega3) in a large pan in the goosehouse. They ate some but seemed more interested in the thick grass of the gooseyard. I got six eggs from Lucy (one of which was partially developed (I suspect the father was the deceased aggressive goose since Lucy was his mate). The other 18 eggs were from Rosie which is bonded to Gus. Only one egg was hatched from Rosie's 18 (incubator), and all others were non-fertile as verified by my employer's xray machine. The one goose that hatched was eventually butchered because she relentlessly crawled under the goosehouse and had to pulled out with a hoe. I was afraid she'd die under the center of the goosehouse and stink it up forever. In May I bought 16 day-old goslings from Metzers of which 15 survived. Since June all my geese get a 50-50 mixture of Purine Layena plus omega 3 & cracked corn. I go through 90 Lbs of that mixture every two weeks which equates to 1/3 Lb per day each. And I cut up one large watermelon every day into quarters for all of them to enjoy($120/month for watermelons!). I'm gonna butcher most the Metzer stock (except one semi-crippled gander I've become very attached to) and am considering sparing one other gander and one female. Don't know if the current unattached adult female will mate with a younger gander come spring (opinions on that?) But also am thinking of calling Holdereads up and trying in October to buy a NON-AGGRESIVE gander with proven reproductive skills, cost be ****** (Holdereads ain't cheap!). So that's the total story.

 

[RURU]

When feeding you are only suppose to give enough feed for them to eat up in 15 minutes or else you are feeding too much feed. They graze all through the summer so that is the most important food source through the summer. I do not feed cracked corn or if I do, do not feed much at all just as a treat. I believe you are feeding too much corn. But I only have Sebastopol's and am not sure if you can feed more corn to other geese.
With you mixing 50% feed and 50% corn I believe you are feeding too much corn...
How come you do not feed cleaned whole oats as your half and half mixture? Who told you to feed that much corn? Are you trying to fatten them up for slaughter?
Because some mixtures of feed is for that purpose. But then if you are trying to reproduce goslings the feed you use for fattening them up can cause the fat I explained before. Then your ganders can not get the job done.
You might have to think about if you are going to use some for food to feed them your 50/50 and feed your breeding pairs a separate type mixture to make sure of a better fertility rate for breeding.