I am an accidental poultry enthusiast. I 'inherited' my geese & chickens from my landlord who got divorced & his wife wanted NOTHING to do with them. I have looked through this site & if I have overlooked a thread I apologize in advance. I decided to let my geese sit this time after laying eggs. It was brutally cold & some of her eggs froze. I did not remove them, but left them with her other eggs. Monday I went out to give her food & water & her eggs were scattered EVERYWHERE. I put them all back in the area of where she had built her nest. The last two days when I've gone out to check on her one egg each day was missing. I believe she is cannibalizing her eggs. My question is, Is this a dangerous habit for her? She was getting really beat up by the chickens (Their previous owner had them all in the same coop.) and I believe she may have gotten off of her nest in self preservation. I want to allow her to try again in the Spring, but don't want to allow bad habits. Do I need to remove her eggs?
I'm confused, is she still cooped with the chickens? If yes, and if they're bullying her, you should find a better place for her. Also, don't let her sit on frozen or broken eggs. They'll rot and smell and attract predators/eggeaters like rats, crows, and weasels. It's highly unusual for a goose to eat eggs. And as only one egg is missing each day, it seems much more likely that another (smaller) animal is eating them, tricking them away from the goose. Another likely explanation is that she's throwing out the bad eggs so they won't contaminate her nest. There's no reason to let her sit if it's too cold for her to keep the eggs warm. She'll just waste energy and stamina for no good reason - sitting is hard on geese; they don't eat and drink much and don't take much time preening, which is necessary to keep their plumage in good condition so they can keep themselves warm. Take these eggs away from her, break up the nest and let her try again come spring. Let her build a nest in a safe, peaceful, protected area with no chickens.
Thank you! We used to let our geese & chickens free range (during the day & confine @ night)over 8/10 acres. A few days before Christmas, a predator took 2 of my geese & 1 chicken over a 24 hour period (in the middle of the day within 10 ft. of my front door). We found the evidence about 50 yards from the coop. The chickens & geese are now confined to a small run area. The run area is a small building that has an approx 1 inch ledge @ the door that is not moveable. This opens up to a fenced in area that we open during the day. To my knowledge, the only animals in the coop are my chickens and geese. There are no other chickens or geese missing & no loose feathers to indicate a physical struggle. The birds all share the coop. We will begin construction for something more protective for the spring. Thank you for your advice!
Here, we get very large lizards that do eat or steal the eggs, usually duck eggs, but at times goose. eggs. However, I think what happened is that when the goose eggs froze and split, staying frozen wasn´t a big problem, but as she sat on them, they would have started to defrost. That will attract the chickens. Once chickens start they go frantic. They probably weren´t really attacking the goose, but were crazy for the eggs. Now, normally they can´t break a goose egg, but if it´s already cracked....banquet!! They´ll also go for anything that has a bit of egg yolk onit...like other eggs in the nest. My chickens don´t tend to break eggs on purpose, but if one gets broken....it´s like a rugby game!! Poor goose trying to protect her remaining eggs would appear to be the target, but most likely it´s just the other eggs they want. If any eggs get broken again, (and I know some don´t recommend this), wash the yolk off to avoid a continuing rugby scrum.
Red, quite often keeping geese and chickens together in the breeding season doesn´t work too well. Mine are all together, but they free-range, and I still get a few problems to sort out. If possible, when your goose starts to nest again,( and I don´t think for one moment that it´s the goose eating her eggs) try to keep her fenced off from the chickens, so she can sit in peace.
