Goose Incubation & Hatching Guide - Completed!!!!

[genalducks]

"Zoomies" are normal for goslings, but what you describe sounds a bit more like seizure behavior. Could anything be triggering the episodes, like bright lights coming on or going off, loud sounds, etc.? A video may help.

Offering a vitamin supplement may help if the unusual behavior is related to a deficiency of some kind.

Thanks for the reply, another gosling sufered from the same ailment and they both died. After research I suspected the problem was a niacin deficiency, so added 150mg to 5 litres of water for the next batch of Goslings and they are all growing healthily with no issues.

 

[Linita]

I have some questions about this:

1. What can I do in this situation to help the eggs hatch when the air sac is so small? Give them security holes after internal pipping?


2.About shrink wrapping. Does it happen for openning the incubator just a moment? Or do you need to let it open for a longer time? Humidity going down to 50%-60% after opening for a few minutes can produce shrink wrapping? Or I shouldn't worry too much about it? Also, can it happen before external pipping or just after?

3. How bad is for the eggs to take them out to monitor them right now every day? It's impossible to know when internal pipping has happened without taking them out and candling/listening to them.

4. How much time is it normal to pass between these stages: internal pipping - external pipping - unzipping - hatching, for quail eggs? When do I know the chick is taking too long and I can intervene to help?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Iain Utah

 

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/quail.48/

 

[Finnie]

Cool them starting for five minutes a day and slowly increase until you are cooling for 15 minutes a day. I take them out to mist and cool since I often have other eggs going at the same time that don't need misting or cooling.

i let them cool for 15 minutes a day after day 10, i mist before putting the lid back on, the umidity won't be impacted for more than a couple hours, after which i turn my humidity regulator's pump back again, my bator's instruction have "do not mist eggs before they have cooled down" in bold, couldn't find any reason as to why, but i still follow the instructions to be sure lol

I know these are old posts, but you two are still active on the forum and I have questions about misting that I can’t seem to find the answers to.

It seems like I have the option to remove the goose eggs from the bator to some safe surface for cooling and misting, OR to leave them in the bator but with the lid off, and cool and mist them without moving the eggs.

If I had other eggs in the bator with them, then removing them seems like the only option. But I have 15 goose eggs in there with no other eggs. So NOT moving them all seems better to me (in this case).

Does cooling the whole incubator for 15 minutes cause any problems with it regulating itself back to temperature once you put the lid back on? Do you set the lid somewhere with it running for the 15 minutes? Or do you unplug it and then plug it back in? I am hesitant to do so much on and off with my unit, but at the same time, I am loath to let it run just sitting on the table, or worse, upside down!

Also, how wet do you mist them? Spritz a little and call it good, or spritz until you see moisture on the eggs? A tiny film, or quite wet?

Sorry for overthinking it, but I am an overthinker. I can’t help it.

 

[Pyxis]

I know these are old posts, but you two are still active on the forum and I have questions about misting that I can’t seem to find the answers to.

It seems like I have the option to remove the goose eggs from the bator to some safe surface for cooling and misting, OR to leave them in the bator but with the lid off, and cool and mist them without moving the eggs.

If I had other eggs in the bator with them, then removing them seems like the only option. But I have 15 goose eggs in there with no other eggs. So NOT moving them all seems better to me (in this case).

Does cooling the whole incubator for 15 minutes cause any problems with it regulating itself back to temperature once you put the lid back on? Do you set the lid somewhere with it running for the 15 minutes? Or do you unplug it and then plug it back in? I am hesitant to do so much on and off with my unit, but at the same time, I am loath to let it run just sitting on the table, or worse, upside down!

I do it both ways. If I'm incubating them in my GQF, which is basically always with other eggs, I take the tray out for 15 minutes. When I was doing them in my Brinsea with just the goose eggs, I'd take the lid off and just set the lid to the side, running, for 15 minutes.

The eggs themselves act as a heat sink so once you put the lid back on it gets back up to temp pretty quickly. You can also add a couple water bottles for the purpose of heat sinks to help with that.

Also, how wet do you mist them? Spritz a little and call it good, or spritz until you see moisture on the eggs? A tiny film, or quite wet?

I spray until there is a small layer of water over the eggs. Basically think of a mother goose coming back wet from her swim on her 30 minute break from the eggs each day, that's what you're trying to mimic.

 

[Finnie]

I do it both ways. If I'm incubating them in my GQF, which is basically always with other eggs, I take the tray out for 15 minutes. When I was doing them in my Brinsea with just the goose eggs, I'd take the lid off and just set the lid to the side, running, for 15 minutes.

The eggs themselves act as a heat sink so once you put the lid back on it gets back up to temp pretty quickly. You can also add a couple water bottles for the purpose of heat sinks to help with that.



I spray until there is a small layer of water over the eggs. Basically think of a mother goose coming back wet from her swim on her 30 minute break from the eggs each day, that's what you're trying to mimic.

Thank you very much! Now I feel much more confident that I will be doing it right.

 

[Berd Man]

I would just like to say thanks to Pete! Without this guide I may not have had as good of success. I followed this method with regard to temperature, humidity, cooling, misting and had a 100% hatch rate with Tolouse x African eggs. Seven goslings out of seven eggs in a brinsea maxi 24 (One egg was infertile). I didn’t candle as often or weigh the eggs, but maybe in the future I can get more scientific .

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

@Goose Smith, congratulations on your hatch! They are adorable.

 

[Rere201]

Hi, I've had my geese for a year or 2. I bought them when they were about a year old. So far the female goose has set on eggs, 3 and this will make the 4th time. No viable eggs yet (not sure about this time). I'm not educated on this breed. When do they start mating, and why would their be no baby's hatched yet?