GOOSE BREEDING THREAD - for breeding, incubating, hatching and rearing.

[servpolice]

I have five geese all just under 1 year old.  Four are brown African and one is white Chinese or African, but it is the largest of the flock and is the alpha male. The other male is brown and second in command.
For sure two are females and one is ??? either a submissive male or a female. I wish I knew.
The question I have is fertility. The females have been laying for the past 3 months. I have picked about 100 eggs. I have tried them in an incubator and let the females brood. Not one egg was fertile.
Could it be because they are so very young? Maybe they haven't "got the knack" yet. I have seen them mating. Both ganders cover the geese; sometimes it's a goose with 2 ganders over her. Sometimes my lone (survivor) Muscovy drake tries to get in the action.
I tried separating them, but it distresses the group and the noise is very loud.
They free range  4 acres during daylight hour and get locked into their pen at night.
Any advise or suggestions would be appreciated. I am new to geese and these are my first ones.
They are not at all aggressive even when brooding.  

make pictures of your geese so we can sex them and see what breed you actually have

 

[Jharper]

I think I have only one female. What are y'all's opinions??

 

[Iain Utah]

I have a serious problem on my hands.

Recently one of my scovy girls has decided to set up nest in my main breeding dewlaps' yard and has been causing upset with the girls. Now, my top dewlap goose has laid 2 soft shelled eggs in a row. The first egg (Sunday morning) was in her nest and this morning's egg was a few feet away from entrance. In the nest's place is a scovy egg.

This morning I spoke at great length with Gary Overton about my dewlap girl. After ruling out calcium deficiency or other possible causes, he concluded the scovy is stressing my dewlap and I need to get rid of the scovy right away. I don't know if I should clip her wings and keep her in a fenced pen until my dewlaps are done laying or just sell her.

 

[Jharper]

I have a serious problem on my hands.  Recently one of my scovy girls has decided to set up nest in my main breeding dewlaps' yard and has been causing upset with the girls.  Now, my top dewlap goose has laid 2 soft shelled eggs in a row.  The first egg (Sunday morning) was in her nest and this morning's egg was a few feet away from entrance.  In the nest's place is a scovy egg.

This morning I spoke at great length with Gary Overton about my dewlap girl.  After ruling out calcium deficiency or other possible causes, he concluded the scovy is stressing my dewlap and I need to get rid of the scovy right away. I don't know if I should clip her wings and keep her in a fenced pen until my dewlaps are done laying or just sell her.

I would wait at night and move her to a new nesting location and clip her wings. That's only if you want her stay broody.

 

[servpolice]

I think I have only one female. What are y'all's opinions??

Are they embden?!

 

[Iain Utah]

My husband has agreed to catch his scovy girls, clip wings, and keep them confined in secure location until my dewlaps are done laying.

my dewlap girl will lay a normal egg on Thursday.

 

[mystil]

Hiya guys. Well im on day 31 and only one appears to be trying to internally pip.
It has been at it since yesturday.
There are also one or two that still have vein evident but no real progress.
Im loathed to give up on them yet.
What do you think? They are pretty large eggs and my other concern is that they have not lost 13% weight.

 

[servpolice]

My husband has agreed to catch his scovy girls, clip wings, and keep them confined in secure location until my dewlaps are done laying.   my dewlap girl will lay a normal egg on Thursday.

lets hope you get eggs with shells keep us updated

 

[servpolice]

My stil give it up to day 33 what breed is it ?!

 

[livininbrazil]

Hiya guys. Well im on day 31 and only one appears to be trying to internally pip.
It has been at it since yesturday.
There are also one or two that still have vein evident but no real progress.
Im loathed to give up on them yet.
What do you think? They are pretty large eggs and my other concern is that they have not lost 13% weight.

could be too much humidity. If they don´t lose enough water they can fail to internally pip, according to my book, and the fact that they´ve not lost enough weight points to this, don´t you think? Other possibility for taking longer is too low a temperature in the incubator. This isn´t what I know. it´s what I´ve just looked up in my book. Large eggs can take 32 days, but i don´t know what´s normal for West of Englands. I would have guessed, considering they´re one of the auto-sexing breeds, that they´d be much like Pilgrims, though. Which, by the way, need less humidity to hatch their eggs. I read that somewhere but can´t find it again right now.