Goose eggs are coming today! After ALLLLL my reading, have a few questions...

[bayyjayy]

I have been scouring this forum and another one, but still have a few questions I am not clear on.

Is there such a thing as TOO much turning? Read that turning is reallllly important in the first 2/3 time.......how often do you hand turn?

I have an LG still air.....do I just let the eggs hatch in there?? Right on the wire?

When do you worry about humidity? Not till day 18? Or right when I get the eggs in? How much humidity do I have and when does it change? I have read 45% and I have read 20-25%? I understand everyone does things differently, but I am so confused on this one!

What happens if humidity is too HIGH? How do you fix your humidity. I know if it is too low to ADD something wet, be it a paper towel, a dishrag, a sponge, water in the reservoirs. But...if it is too high, how do you make it lower?

Daily cooling and misting.....do you take the lid off the bator, spray (is this a light misting or a heavy watering) the eggs and then set your timer to put the lid back on?

When candling....do you take the eggs out of the bator or do you leave them laying where they are IN the bator?

If I have weird air cells because they are being shipped.....I need to prop the blunt end up, right, and not lay them on their side??? What do I use? Do I keep them like this the ENTIRE incubation?


I am sure these have been answered SOMEWHERE, but I have been reading for days and am a bit overwhelmed....been trying to take notes, but......you know how it is.

Thanks in advance for any help.....like I said, my American Buff eggs should be here today (I am HOPING!)! I am way excited.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't do goose eggs, so i'll skip several of your questions, but I think I can help on some general things. Goose eggs don't hatch out in 21 days. I think it is more like 30. So you won't lock down at 18 days but will much later, probably after 27 days.

Turning is important, especially early on. If the eggs are not turned, the body parts can form in the wrong place and these are generally forming in the early days. There are other reasons to turn too, but this is certainly one. And remember that just because something can happen does not mean that it absolutely will happen every time. Many people seem to get confused about that.

I don't know that there is such a thing as too much turning. It is generally recommended that you do a minimum of three times a day, but more will not hurt. Since you are hand turning instead of using an automatic turner, you need to look at your schedule and determine regular times to turn them so you are less likely to forget. Occasionally forgetting is not an automatic death sentence, but it is better to remember.

It is generally recommended to turn an odd number of times each day. This supposedly keeps you from leaving them in the same position overnight each night, but you really need to look at your schedule to determine how often and when. What you want to do is try to get about the same amount of time in each position. It's quite possible your long time may be while you are at work, not when you are sleeping.

You adjust your humidity by surface area. If you want ot raise it, you add more water reservoirs or use paper towels or sponges to wick it out and create more area for it to evaporate from. To lower humidity, reduce the surface area. Either do not fill as many reservoirs or maybe cover part of a reservoir with aluminum foil or put something in it to reduce the surface area. Maybe float a block of plastic or something that will not absorb the water.

When I candle, I take the top off the incubator and leave it off while I candle. The temperature inside the core of the egg will not change this quickly. That immediate loss of humidity is not a big deal, but this is probably a good time to mist goose eggs when you put them back in.

Hopefully this will help some and a good goose incubator person will see this and aswer you better. Good luck!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Pete's guide answers most of your questions just asked. Go through it slowly again.


1- turning: an odd number of times a day (3 or 5)

2- hatching: still airs are good for hatching. You can put rubber drawer liner on the wire to give traction to the goslings legs when they hatch.

3- humidity: this is based on your location. Here in FL I have to run under 30% until lockdown or we don't have enough weight loss for a good hatch. Once they start internally pipping I raise it to 70% or higher.

4- high humidity: remove water until it is at the level you want. Remove vent plugs is also an option.

5- cooling: you have a styro bator so all you have to do is remove the lid, lightly spray each egg, set the timer and come back and set the lid back in place.

6- wobbly aircells: lay them at a 45* angle, anything can be used to prop an egg (pointy end down, fat end (aircell end) up). Edge of the bator, cut up egg carton, anything that allows the angle. They should stay at this angle until the air cell stabalizes, usually by day 14-17 they can lay flat. So,etimes they spend the entire time propped.

7- candling: ours are in a cabinet so they come out and are held upright in an egg rack. Marked and returned to their sides in the racks for the cabinet. Do NOT candle all of the time, the more you mess the more likely to drop or reduce possible hatchlings.

8- do remember goose eggs take longer than chicken eggs (mentioning since you mentioned day 18)

 

[Iain Utah]

I have been scouring this forum and another one, but still have a few questions I am not clear on.

Is there such a thing as TOO much turning? Read that turning is reallllly important in the first 2/3 time.......how often do you hand turn?

I do not touch for the 1st 24 hours, then I turn 3x per day. It is important to turn so heat reaches both sides of egg (especially with LG still air) and embryo does not get stuck to side of shell. You will see that the embryo with rise to the heat, so will always sit on top side of egg.

I have an LG still air.....do I just let the eggs hatch in there?? Right on the wire?

I add a hand towel/cheese cloth to the bottom for hatching. Other people swear by rubber kitchen shelf liner.

When do you worry about humidity? Not till day 18? Or right when I get the eggs in? How much humidity do I have and when does it change? I have read 45% and I have read 20-25%? I understand everyone does things differently, but I am so confused on this one!

It all comes down to weight loss. Your egg needs to lose between 14-16% of the moisture from the egg between setting and day 28. Start at 40% for 1st week, weigh eggs, then adjust according to needs.

What happens if humidity is too HIGH? How do you fix your humidity. I know if it is too low to ADD something wet, be it a paper towel, a dishrag, a sponge, water in the reservoirs. But...if it is too high, how do you make it lower?

Simply opening lid will rapidly kill humidity, as our air has less than 16% humidity right now.

Daily cooling and misting.....do you take the lid off the bator, spray (is this a light misting or a heavy watering) the eggs and then set your timer to put the lid back on?

I remove lid, wet my hands, and flick my fingers to mist. Light misting. I do not set timer. I just find things to do in bathroom for a few minutes, then close it when I leave.

When candling....do you take the eggs out of the bator or do you leave them laying where they are IN the bator?

I remove eggs to candle. Candling is best done fat end up.

If I have weird air cells because they are being shipped.....I need to prop the blunt end up, right, and not lay them on their side??? What do I use? Do I keep them like this the ENTIRE incubation?

You can use anything that you can set the pointy end in. I use cardboard egg carton pieces. Some people use cut up jiffy cups. Just depends on what you have laying around your house. I lay down once air cell stabilizes. Sometimes it can be as fast as day 14, but others will stay upright until day 21-25. Remember to place in your corners at a very slight angle, then rotate those eggs 180 degrees 3x daily. They tend to get stuck to shell fairly easily.


I am sure these have been answered SOMEWHERE, but I have been reading for days and am a bit overwhelmed....been trying to take notes, but......you know how it is.

Thanks in advance for any help.....like I said, my American Buff eggs should be here today (I am HOPING!)! I am way excited.

Shoot me a message when you get them.

they are packaged fat end up and not wrapped too tight.

 

[bayyjayy]

I have printed out a TON of Pete's postings from another forum. I have been making notes, and have gone back and reread it numerous times....and I am sure I will continue. Thanks for that tip..... that man is very knowledgeable, isn't he?

I mentioned day 18 because of something I read somewhere.....and it is for goose hatching. Said to IGNORE humidity until day 18. Then other things I read said other things....I am sure this is a difference between dry incubating....but was confused on how much humidity for the very beginning. Thank you for all the replies on this.

Didn't think about putting either rubber or towels down for hatching....but I guess I should have figured that out myself.

Wobby air cells...does this mean when you move the egg, you can see the air cell edges move? So, once I don't see it moving when I move the egg, it is okay to lay down? Again, all I have read is about wonky air cells, so just thought it meant it would be in a weird shape, didn't know it would move.

Thanks for the tips on humidity and how to drop and lower it. Since Iain is in Utah, I am glad that you answered. Just removing lid is sufficent.

ONE more question about humidity.....what are the chances of having, say 8 eggs in the bator, and half of them not losing enough weight, and the other half losing it perfectly. Do you guys have two bators running so that you can move eggs that aren't running smoothly on schedule to a different bator? Or is this not usually a problem if you put the same kind of eggs in at the same time?

Appreciate the help....I am feeling more confident now. And, I am printing out all your responses to add to my growing pile.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Bayyjayy we run a cabinet that holds over 300 eggs, plus three hatchers so my hatching is different from others in that I have new eggs locking down every 3-4 days Feb-May.

 

[bayyjayy]

I would SO love to come visit you. SOOOOOOOOOO love it!

And that is why I have heard great things about your advice.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Whoa girl! You never messaged back lau) ive been wait a whole day for a message!

When I incubated my goose eggs, I turned 3 times a day (8 am, 2 pm, 8pm) humidity was 40 - 50% through incubation, and 70 - 80% on lockdown. I didn't have wonky air cells with mine, so I dont know how to help you there. I have had weird air cells with duck eggs, but I use a turner for them.

But seriously, send me a massage! I hope to get one when your eggies get here

 

[Iain Utah]

Got a store bought chicken egg in your fridge? If so, candle that as 99% of the time it has a good air cell. That pocket of air on fat end of egg should stay fixed in place. Then compare your new goose eggs to that egg. If the bubble of air moves around, then it is detached and those fix themselves pretty easy with propping. If the bubble of air disappears into the fluid, then it is scrambled. They too can be fixed, but often they have problems positioning for hatch.