Goose Breaking Duck Eggs

[sarahgray18]

Hello, I am having a bit of trouble with my goose breaking duck eggs in the coop. I was hoping for some help or suggestions on what to do.

We have ducks and 3 Sebastopol geese. The geese hatched at the end of May 2025 and we are in the process of getting them DNA sexed, so I am not yet sure if they are male or female.

Everyone has access to the coop and run area 24/7 along with pasture/grass access during the day. Just to note, both the coop and run are secure and covered.

I kept finding eggshells in the coop so I checked the cameras and saw that one of our geese was going and biting the eggs open. It wasn't eating them, just biting them until there was a hole, and then leaves the coop. The ducks will come along after and eat them. Any eggs that are laid in the run area are left untouched/unbothered by the goose. I am able to see that it is only the one goose doing this, the other two aren't.

This is my first time having geese and I was hoping for some suggestions or ideas on what to do to help stop or prevent this from happening. I would stay it started about 1-2 weeks ago.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've never seen that in my geese. Goose eggs are pretty tough so it must really have to work at making a hole. Can you block them off from where the ducks are laying? What are you feeding them?

 

[sarahgray18]

I've never seen that in my geese. Goose eggs are pretty tough so it must really have to work at making a hole. Can you block them off from where the ducks are laying? What are you feeding them?

Thanks for your reply! It did seem super odd to me that the goose was just biting at it enough to make a hole and then leaving. I've heard of poultry breaking and eating eggs when they have nutritional deficiencies but it definitely isn't eating it.

I can get my boyfriend to make a temporary smaller opening for the coop so only the ducks can go inside. I think I will try this for a couple of days and see if it corrects the behaviour at all. I can't do this permanently as we get cold winters here and I would feel bad blocking them out of the coop, but the next couple of days are supposed to be nice.

They are fed a waterfowl grower. I live in Canada and the feed stores near me only have generic waterfowl starter and grower so I don't have the option of choosing between different brands/types. They also get access to grass during the day and fresh fruit/vegetables as treats.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds like their diet is good. We have experimented with wooden boards are were able to set it up so ducks and chickens can go under or over, but the geese cannot. So perhaps you can figure something out if it continues.

 

[sarahgray18]

Sounds like their diet is good. We have experimented with wooden boards are were able to set it up so ducks and chickens can go under or over, but the geese cannot. So perhaps you can figure something out if it continues.

Thank you so much, that is a great idea! I will do that if we need a more permanent solution.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thank you so much, that is a great idea! I will do that if we need a more permanent solution.

We had to figure it out because the geese were getting violent during the breeding season and we needed places for the chickens and ducks to escape. I've had my geese corner and kill a few chickens. We had to remove one gander who seemed to be the leader of it all and I haven't had any killed since but they occasionally still go after them. Seems some gander get over protective and territorial.