Goose Egg Incubation!!!

[fangedknight]

Hey guys!

So I figured I'd post here to get some advice and start a thread, this might turn into a hatch-a-long so worst case scenario I can always move it (Or gracious mods if you deem it worthy to move please go right ahead).

Sooo a little background info for ya'll. I have a pair of Pomeranian Saddleback Geese, one Buff (My Gander Klaus) the other Grey (My Goose Sophie). (He was surprisingly a hatchery bird and has decent markings on him with only a couple faults. First show I took him to he almost got Reserve Medium Goose, but it's easy things to work on).

They've been together for... oh I'd say a year and a half now? Something like that. Last spring I got them their own coop and yard, preparing for possible babies, and he was as happy as an old guy living in the suburbs mowing his yard on a Sunday morning. Unfortunately nothing happened and Sophie never laid any eggs. We were all getting worried that she might not even be female because we didn't see any kind of nesting or anything and everyone was planning on the possibility of having a Christmas goose. Well not anymore!

Fast forward to now. It's the middle of February... in Pennsylvania. Thanks to it still being Winter, I had put all the waterfowl back in the big coop with the Chickens to keep them all nice and warm. So I go out there to go feed the gang and what do I find when I bring in the first bag of feed. A nest, in the corner, next to the feed bin with 3 gorgeous goose eggs in them.



Yes they're dirty as all get out, I'll wipe them down before putting them in the incubator. Now normally I would leave them be, however, Sophie didn't make any moves to go over and even attempt to sit on her nest, didn't even yell at me when I got close, nothing. Klaus hissed at me because I tossed an empty feed bag next to me and he didn't like it.

I originally checked the temperature of the eggs by touch when I went over to check and see if they were warm or not because if she was sitting on them and just taking a break, I didn't want to take them from her. Unfortunately they were so cold it felt like she never once sat on them at all and I didn't want to ruin any chances of possible babies by leaving them out there when it's supposed to snow again tomorrow.

This is technically my second attempt at incubating goose eggs, the first time I had gotten some shipped to me and they all turned out to be duds. However I have learned a few more things in my recent research (such as the 180 degree flip) and the cooling time.

My setup for this crazy venture which I am praying works is my Brinsea Octagon Eco 20 set up on the desk in the living room (which the room is room temp at 73 F ). It has an auto turner which I will be using, however I'll be planning on flipping the eggs once daily as per what I've been finding.

Right now all three of them are thawing/coming to room temperature in the kitchen while the Brinsea comes up to temp. I'm going to leave them there for about 24 hours or so so they can rest just in case. I may wipe them down tonight so they can get as much oxygen as possible since some of them are covered in a lot of poop and dirt.

Any and all incubation process advice would be phenomenal. I honestly don't understand the equations and formulas for how to calculate weight loss for eggs. I just understand keep the humidity at this for this long, flip, mist, cool.

 

[Pyxis]

Congrats on the eggs! I'm still waiting for mine to start, though I hope they hold off until March at least, since I don't want the eggs to freeze.

Her not sitting on them is normal, they don't start to sit until they have a whole clutch. This time of year though that means the eggs can freeze.

I'd be more than happy to help you calculate the weight loss, it's not too hard once you know how to do it

 

[fangedknight]

Oh thank you so much! Math has never been my strong suit lol, I'm sure it'll get easier once I learn it but I just don't know where to start. And my fingers are crossed for you! Hopefully yours don't go till it's waaay warmer. I'm still severely surprised that she even laid any.

Whole clutch?!? oh dear gods above... Okaaay looks like I'll be going out to the coop daily because we're supposed to get snow tomorrow! I'm glad I left the nest alone, I just hope they aren't mad at me when I go out again...

Is there a normal clutch amount? Like am I going to be looking for 3 more eggs?? (For a total of 6) Might she do another clutch when it gets warmer?? Is there a possibility that once she lays the next batch she'll start sitting on them? Or will I need to grab those too because there's eggs "missing"?

(I want to say she's a bit dumb and can't count but these are geese we're talking about, never underestimate them).

These are all things I didn't think I'd need to know till now...

 

[Pyxis]

You'll need to weigh the eggs before you put them in so we can calculate their correct weight loss

Clutches can vary in size. My Tufted Roman has sat on as few as three before when I missed taking the eggs for a bit. You could let her build some up and see if she sits, but they might well freeze in this weather. Sometimes they do more than one. My oldest Tufted Roman surprised me once and did do a second round of laying later in the year, though that is the only time it's ever happened here.

You can take them and she will still sit eventually if you leave some in the nest for her.

 

[fangedknight]

Oh wow okay! I'll be sure to go out and start checking daily till I know she's laid more or not. If she actually starts sitting I'll just keep an eye on her and the eggs and make sure they're okay. If she winds up not sitting on them I'll just bring them in and put them in the Brinsea.

I can weigh them right away! I'm assuming grams would probably be the better weight to take? I know that's what we do for reptiles to measure their growth rate since it's more accurate.

EDIT: I have found weights for the eggs! 188 grams, 188 grams, 194 grams! They are some chunky monkeys.

 

[Pyxis]

Perfect! Yes, grams is the way to go

Okay, so the formula is pretty easy. For geese, you like them to lose 15% of their weight over incubation. Incubation time can vary, since it can take longer for the larger breeds than the smaller breeds, but I use 28 days since that's a good ballpark number and also when the smaller breeds tend to hatch. I know pomeranians are on the smaller side too.

So, to find out what 15% of their starting weight is, you simply multiply the starting weight by .15. So take the eggs that are 188 grams and do the math and you get 28.2 grams. So you want them to lose 28.2 grams total over 28 days. You can then calculate how many grams you want them to lose a week (I do weekly weighing) by dividing that by 4. So divided by 4, you want them to lose 7.05 grams a week. If your scale isn't that specific, don't worry, just round down and say 7 grams a week.

If you want to be weighing them more often, you could also find out how much you want them to lose a day by dividing by 28 instead, but I don't really get that specific with mine.

What reptiles do you have? I have a bearded dragon

 

[fangedknight]

Thank you so much for explaining this Pyxis I seriously appreciate it! (And you're right it is indeed much simpler than I thought!)

Okay so 28 grams over 28 days (because alas my scale isn't that specific last I checked). 7 grams every week.

Now are we counting that as a week is 4 days? Or are we just dividing by 4?

Ooo! You have a beardie! That's awesome! I have a Crested Gecko, 2 ball pythons, and 1 big Red Tail Boa. (She's a sweetie, just a lot of snake to handle sometimes)

EDIT: I forgot my update on the Incubator! So currently I've had the Brinsea running overnight. I have my handy dandy household thermometer inside of it, and while it doesn't register half degrees it's accurate and I've hatched chicks before while using it in the incubator to keep an eye on things.

It's been sitting at 100 degrees since last night, I saw 99 after about an hour or so of being in the incubator. I'm wondering if it'll be fine if I leave it be or if I should attempt to adjust the temperature (I really don't if I don't have to because I don't trust myself not to screw up).

 

[Pyxis]

Thank you so much for explaining this Pyxis I seriously appreciate it! (And you're right it is indeed much simpler than I thought!)

Okay so 28 grams over 28 days (because alas my scale isn't that specific last I checked). 7 grams every week.

Now are we counting that as a week is 4 days? Or are we just dividing by 4?

Ooo! You have a beardie! That's awesome! I have a Crested Gecko, 2 ball pythons, and 1 big Red Tail Boa. (She's a sweetie, just a lot of snake to handle sometimes)

You divide by 4 since there are four weeks in 28 days, to get 7 grams a week Here's another way, take the 28.2 grams it's supposed to lose over all the days, and we'll round that to 28. That means it should lose 1 gram a day. So over 7 days, that's 7 grams.

The numbers don't always come out so neatly like that, you just a have a 'lucky' weight on those two eggs, lol.

So your other one, which is 194 grams, when you multiply that by .15 you get 29.1 grams. Divide that by 4, because of the four weeks in 28 days, and you get roughly 7.3 grams a week. See, that number isn't so nice and round, lol.

Oh awesome, I love snakes! I would love to have one myself, probably a milk snake, but my mother is terrified of them and has told me she won't enter my house if I have one, lol.

 

[fangedknight]

You divide by 4 since there are four weeks in 28 days, to get 7 grams a week Here's another way, take the 28.2 grams it's supposed to lose over all the days, and we'll round that to 28. That means it should lose 1 gram a day. So over 7 days, that's 7 grams.

Of course I forgot about how many weeks were in 28 days! Welp now I feel silly. It's alright though!

And of course I'd get stuck with one that isn't such a nice neat number! I was honestly wondering if they were all going to be the same weight when I started weighing them. (I also double checked because I got worried that my scale was broken for a minute cause it seemed too perfect).

Aww Fear of snakes can be fixed it just takes time and patience and well you have to get them to understand that it's a harmless snake and there's nothing to be worried about since they're kept in their tub/tank all day. I've helped a few people get over it with my ball pythons, Sunny specifically, he's a sweetie and when it's warm out I take him and the others to our local Home Depot (since they're pet friendly) and show him around.

 

[Pyxis]

Aww Fear of snakes can be fixed it just takes time and patience and well you have to get them to understand that it's a harmless snake and there's nothing to be worried about since they're kept in their tub/tank all day. I've helped a few people get over it with my ball pythons, Sunny specifically, he's a sweetie and when it's warm out I take him and the others to our local Home Depot (since they're pet friendly) and show him around.

Oh no, there's no fixing it with her, lol. She doesn't mind going into pet stores and looking at them in the tanks, but she said she'd always be worried it would get loose or something. She is deeply terrified of them. We have harmless little garter snakes around here that I caught all the time as a kid and she was terrified of those too. Apparently I once came into the house with one to try to get her to look at it and not be afraid and she freaked out. I don't remember this, lol.

I think she'd honestly have to go to therapy to get over it, it's that bad. For instance, I'm scared of spiders, but I can still be in a room with them loose (as long as they are away from me, lol) and actually could probably keep a tarantula in the house as a pet and be fine. Her, she can't even see a snake outdoors without panicking.

She's not big on lizards, either. She's not afraid of my beardie per se, but she's definitely not going to be touching her anytime soon. She says her tail looks snake-like