Goose eggs in winter?

[bravevline]

i know you can use an artificial light to keep a duck or chicken laying eggs in winter but will it work with a goose?

 

[flockman]

Not in the same way. Geese need a lot less light for egg laying.

 

[Alaskan Dragonfly]

i know you can use an artificial light to keep a duck or chicken laying eggs in winter but will it work with a goose?

Geese are seasonal layers. They have a mating season that can stretch out over several months, but it is not all 12 months.

 

[bravevline]

Not in the same way. Geese need a lot less light for egg laying.

exactly how much, and what temperature (if you know)?

 

[flockman]

I think I read that for maximum egg production in geese they need only eleven hours of daylight. 13 plus slows eggs to stop. I read that on a blog of Metzers. It was about maximizing egg production in ducks. There are 2 blogs about it and the little info on goose lighting was there.

 

[flockman]

Geese are unique in how light stimulates them reproductively. No one photo-stimulates geese in North America to maximize egg production - as is typically done with other poultry. The reason is that excessive light (meaning 13+ hour lighted day lengths) depresses egg production in geese. For other poultry you maximize egg production with 16-17 hour days. You can only achieve maximum egg production in geese by providing a maximum of 10-11 hour days! Looking at the light charts from last week's blog, you can see that most of the time our days are longer than 11 hours – and this is too long for maximum egg production for geese. So to maintain egg production as long as possible in geese, you need light tight houses – which means no natural light enters the building. The only light is provided by lights so you can provide them only 10 or 11 hours of light a day - no matter the time of year.


This is the info. I may have had a few numbers wrong.

 

[bravevline]

Geese are unique in how light stimulates them reproductively. No one photo-stimulates geese in North America to maximize egg production - as is typically done with other poultry. The reason is that excessive light (meaning 13+ hour lighted day lengths) depresses egg production in geese. For other poultry you maximize egg production with 16-17 hour days. You can only achieve maximum egg production in geese by providing a maximum of 10-11 hour days! Looking at the light charts from last week's blog, you can see that most of the time our days are longer than 11 hours – and this is too long for maximum egg production for geese. So to maintain egg production as long as possible in geese, you need light tight houses – which means no natural light enters the building. The only light is provided by lights so you can provide them only 10 or 11 hours of light a day - no matter the time of year.


This is the info. I may have had a few numbers wrong.

do you know what the minimum age of the goose needs to be? and if you put them in a dark room after 10-11 hours everyday, they can lay eggs all year?

 

[RURU]

No, geese are only seasonal layers. They will not produce eggs all year long. Sorry to tell you this... They will breed the year after they are born. So if hatched in 2013 they will breed and lay eggs in 2014. Except Dewlaps they have to be two to three years old to breed.

 

[WinstonRiley]

My Embdens were hatched April 2, 2013. They began laying October 5, 2013 and as of today November 29, 2013, they are still laying. There is one male and two females. The girls each lay an egg every 36-48 hours. I also have Toulouse. One male will be 5 yo this spring, 4 females that will be 4 yo, and 4 of this year's goslings who are 3 weeks younger than my Embdens. While they are not actually together, they all share the same house, pens, lighting, etc. Until the Embdens started laying, they were also getting the same foods. Now the Embdens get layer feed mixed in as well as free choice oyster shell and calcium carbonate. Not one of the Toulouse is laying or showing any breeding behavior. The Embdens are breeding. No signs of going broody, but I do collect eggs every day. I wrote the breeder when this began. They said I could cause more harm trying to stop it. I'm hoping they stop soon. I'm in Western WA and as the weather gets colder, I want their energy going to keeping well, not laying eggs. They are perfectly healthy, but this is not normal for geese. I can't even find other instances of this by googling. Anyone here have or had this happen?

 

[bravevline]

i have seen a title on google that reads "how to help a domestic goose that will not stop laying eggs!" or something like that. you could also ask a vet. youd be surprised what they know. in the mean time, if you have to many eggs on hand, i would love to have some goose eggs!