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

[livininbrazil]

Moved the post...

 

[Fiji Farmer]

Hi I have Pilgrim geese that produce infertile eggs... third lot of eggs with no result. I had one gander and three females and after the first two failures I got another gander and another goose from a more remote farmer. there is another nest filled with eggs now but no breeding seems to be happening- the geese have a big pod and lots of grass and feed. No one in Fiji is able to breed these birds and I think that they will eventually die out- only a few remain after their introduction perhaps a decade ago. Ideas anyone?

 

[livininbrazil]

Hi I have Pilgrim geese that produce infertile eggs... third lot of eggs with no result. I had one gander and three females and after the first two failures I got another gander and another goose from a more remote farmer. there is another nest filled with eggs now but no breeding seems to be happening- the geese have a big pod and lots of grass and feed. No one in Fiji is able to breed these birds and I think that they will eventually die out- only a few remain after their introduction perhaps a decade ago. Ideas anyone?

Hi Fijifarmer.

Yet another country on here. Great! My immediate thought is that maybe they´re all rather inbred. Could that be the case?
Do you actually see them mating? Strange you get absolutely nothing. And the eggs are infertile, then, not just died and gone rotten? What are you feeding them? Pilgrims shouldn´t need much more than just grass and greens...a bit of corn or something for a top-up, but just a bit. Over-feeding can make them fat and less likely to be fertile, so I´ve read.
Does everyone in Fiji have infertile eggs, or goslings that fail to thrive?
The nest filled with eggs, is a goose sitting on them? Is that your new goose?
First-year breeding is often a failure, second is a lot better, and by the third year they´ve usually got it sussed.

 

[subhanalah]

Hi Fijifarmer.    Yet another country on here.  Great!  My immediate thought is that maybe they´re all rather inbred.  Could that be the case?
Do you actually see them mating?  Strange you get absolutely nothing.  And the eggs are infertile, then, not just died and gone rotten? What are you feeding them?  Pilgrims shouldn´t need much more than just grass and greens...a bit of corn or something for a top-up, but just a bit. Over-feeding can make them fat and less likely to be fertile, so I´ve read.
Does everyone in Fiji have infertile eggs, or goslings that fail to thrive?
The nest filled with eggs, is a goose sitting on them? Is that your new goose?
First-year breeding is often a failure, second is a lot better, and by the third year they´ve usually got it sussed.  

Could it be that it is simply too hot/humid for proper developement? Or perhaps it is affecting fertility?
What kind of feed are they on? Nutritional contents?

 

[Fiji Farmer]

The same problem everywhere in Fiji. My flock has no sign of breeding...and the geese are not over fed... the two new geese keep to themselves-I think I will try to force the pairing of the new gander with the original 3 geese... by removing the original gander and pairing him with the new goose....this would correct for any inbreeding.

BUT will they mate successfully without any access to water to swim in?.

 

[Fiji Farmer]

Fiji never gets really hot-the maximum is about 34C in summer and only 28C max in winter, often the high is closer to 23C...it is now cold and down to 15C in the early morning.. the supplemental feed is chicken grower and so that should not be a problem.. I can try adding grated coconut and even seaweed from the ocean for trace nutrients. We have a boron deficiency in the soil and so they might be affected by that? I could spread bit of borx on the grass they eat? I actually don't see them eating much grass though!

 

[livininbrazil]

The same problem everywhere in Fiji. My flock has no sign of breeding...and the geese are not over fed... the two new geese keep to themselves-I think I will try to force the pairing of the new gander with the original 3 geese... by removing the original gander and pairing him with the new goose....this would correct for any inbreeding.

BUT will they mate successfully without any access to water to swim in?.

I´m not sure how successful you´ll be in swapping the pairs. They get very attached to each other.
Why do you ask about water? I understood that you have a pond from your first post. Water really does encourage them to mate. Some of mine are in pens with bowls enough to bathe in. They don´t breed on the grass nor in the bowls, but wait until I let them out and they go straight off to a paddling pool for children that I put up for them, and away they go....within seconds.
I´m a bit lost. do you have 2 ganders and 4 females? Or just the one gander with 4 females?

 

[livininbrazil]

Fiji never gets really hot-the maximum is about 34C in summer and only 28C max in winter, often the high is closer to 23C...it is now cold and down to 15C in the early morning.. the supplemental feed is chicken grower and so that should not be a problem.. I can try adding grated coconut and even seaweed from the ocean for trace nutrients. We have a boron deficiency in the soil and so they might be affected by that? I could spread bit of borx on the grass they eat? I actually don't see them eating much grass though!

Temp here is much like you have, and mine do fine, so it´s not that.
I have no idea what boron is, I´ll have to google it. They don´t eat much grass? What do they eat, then? They don´t need chicken feed. Grass is their staple. Greens and fruit are most important. chicken feed isn´t what they need.
Oh, just read your first post again properly..you still have 2 ganders. You may need to move a gander and two geese to somewhere where they can´t hear each other (in the pair) calling. Maybe leave each gander with 2 geese?

 

[Fiji Farmer]

That is a good idea... Thanks! I can locate each group on either side of the hill and they won't; hear each other calling. I have pekin ducks in with the geese and they need the feed, but the geese like it too. I got the geese as adults and I wonder if they were raised on chicken feed and never learned to eat grass properly?

 

[Fiji Farmer]

I have an old bathtub and will set that u as a breeding pool for the second group of geese. I have never seen them mating... and I have heard that geese will not pair well with their mother or with their sisters. I think we have a good strategy for that now though as they come from two sources... so I will mix them up.