Goose Eggs - Photos - pg 30

[MissPrissy]

Your goose babies in my incubator are due next weekend. Ready to ride this wave with me again, cockadoodlemom?

 

[texaschickmama]

Ohhhhh, that sounds good. I have never had goose before, but I would be willing to try it.

 

[snowydiamonds]

Good Gosh!!! If they are so helpless after hatching, I may have to open the hen door to put the water and feed in instead of opening the human door to lessen the chances of the Pilgrim pair crushing the babes, if they do hatch out! This morning and yesterday morning, gander did not move off nest! She as usual couldn't wait to get to her water bowl and empty it out, busily, before noon...this summer they should be set up much better for next winter! (They are temporarily set up in chicken coop and I'm hesitating giving them the run for extra room as I don't want the nesting interrupted but suspect once they've hatched, I'll have to give the run area asap...
In Nome and its cold...Cheryl
(we had store bought goose for last Christmas dinner, was great, but these Pilgrims won't be on the menu until the flock is built up)

 

[MissPrissy]

After 5 hours and the outside chore of cutting and pruning all of the shrubs down one side of my house I went up to check to on the gosling that hatched this morning and to see the progress of the other one that had pipped.

As I looked in my poor little gosling looked like it had just hatched and was still wet although the temps were good in the bator.

After a few minutes of confusion my mind filed through all sorts of things like a roladex and stopped on 'sticky chick'.

This little goose has a piece of the membrane and the shell glued across its bill.

This threw me into action. Of the three eggs left in the bator I started whistling and tapping looking for a vibration or a movement. The one that was pipped wiggled and I could hear a faint cheap from another. I kept on and on and the 3rd egg gave me no response at all.

It was the first to pip the inner air cell and had no outer pip. As of last night it was moving around. This morning it had a faint cheep from it when I whistled. All was silent.

I pipped the shell over the air sac.

The inner membrane was wrapped around the baby like celophane wrap. I think it suffocated sometime after 9 am this morning.

I do not advocate interfering in a hatch but I honestly believe my help was needed at this moment.

I took the second egg that had not pipped and could hear the baby inside. I candled it and found it too had pipped the inner air cell.

I pipped the outer shell. The inner membrane was so tough. Much tougher than any chicken egg membrane I have ever had experience with. I use a small scissor to tear into it as I could not puncture it with a pin.

The baby was just gaping at the mouth as it breathed in hard.

I stopped there, wrapped it in warm wet towels and put it back in the bator.

The last egg that had pipped first but showed no sign of hatching was the only one left. I carefully flicked off a tiny piece of shell. Then a little more as the gosling began to peep in ernest. The shell broke off in a big dry clump.

The membrane was dry and had turned brown like a brown paper grocery sack. I picked back some of the shell. The membrane in that area was white and leathery. The membrane would not tear. I used a tiny scissor and cut back the dry membrane just around the goslings beak so it could breath.

I have it wrapped in warm wet toweling and put it back in the bator.

I know it is risky to help. I saw no sign of blood veins in the membrane. As I broke into the inner membrane there was no bleeding at all.

I did what I felt I had to do.

Here's hoping they can find their own way out of that shell. I did what I could togive them air and a fighting chance.

 

[ozark hen]

wow this has turned out to be quite a story from beginning purchase to the end here.

 

[Buster]

YAY!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

During my hatch last year, I found that my ducklings weren't making the progress that I thought they should have. I wasn't 100% sure, but it seemed like the membranes were too dry. I did some reading on this site and decided to help by dropping warm water (just one drop every 20 min or so) on the edge of the broken shell and membrane. Every time I did, it doubled the efforts of the little ones. On it went until the last one hatched. I referred to my involvement as "inducing labor."

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I suspect that because waterfowl need a relatively high hatching humidity that it makes it difficult for them to dry off properly in the hatcher. But I don't have the experience to determine what a sticky chick looks like.

I removed my ducklings shortly after hatching and put them in an empty warm incubator and didn't experience any other problems with them.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

The few chicks I hand hatched, the membrane was so wrapped around them that they could not move to zip the shell.

I had problems keeping my humidity up.

I really hope your goslings get out of their shells!

 

[MissPrissy]

After my last update I went back upstairs to dribble a few drops of water on the membrane again. As soon as a water dribble rolled down the membrane the gosling started pushing and rolling. I again placed a dribble of water on it. All of a sundden it just rolled out.

I have not touched the rest of the shell. If you see in the photo there is a blood spot in that lower part of the egg. There is membrane across the gosling if you look closely. I am just going to watch and see what happens.

The other egg the baby is resting. It is breathing and I am not going to distrub it. I did drip some water on the shell and is started pushing then stopped. I do see a spot of blood on the membrane right now so I am not going to further help this one yet either. I will check them both again in 30 min.