Goose Sitting on Unfertilized Eggs for Over a Month Now...

[BernieandDaisy]

I have a very similar situation. I thought I had rescued a goose and a gander from a horrible cockfighting place. but now I'm confused if they are both females. It's my first time raising birds. For about two weeks they were showing weird and violent behavior, where one would bite the neck of the other to the point of making her bleed. I did see them, what appeared to me, matting in the water, but, as I said, this is all new to me. The one that I think is the female, laid eggs last week, but then the other one ( which I thought was the male ) made a nest somewhere else in the yard) but I didn't see any eggs in "his" nest. Now they are both sharing the same nest and barely eating or getting in the water. I can tell that the "female", which is smaller, is losing weight and now I'm confused as some labor workers tell me they're both females. How can I tell? I've heard that if the eggs are unfertilized the geese might spend the whole month there and might even die if they do not eat. Please advise. PS. I love my geese, I rescued them around 3 years ago, and not until now have they laid these many eggs and showed this behavior.

 

[Goosebaby]

I have a very similar situation. I thought I had rescued a goose and a gander from a horrible cockfighting place. but now I'm confused if they are both females. It's my first time raising birds. For about two weeks they were showing weird and violent behavior, where one would bite the neck of the other to the point of making her bleed. I did see them, what appeared to me, matting in the water, but, as I said, this is all new to me. The one that I think is the female, laid eggs last week, but then the other one ( which I thought was the male ) made a nest somewhere else in the yard) but I didn't see any eggs in "his" nest. Now they are both sharing the same nest and barely eating or getting in the water. I can tell that the "female", which is smaller, is losing weight and now I'm confused as some labor workers tell me they're both females. How can I tell? I've heard that if the eggs are unfertilized the geese might spend the whole month there and might even die if they do not eat. Please advise. PS. I love my geese, I rescued them around 3 years ago, and not until now have they laid these many eggs and showed this behavior.

What breed are they? Are they large sized birds? What feed are they on?

Ganders can get broody and make nests, I have a few fellows like that, however they aren’t as good at it and aren’t usually willing to sit on a nest longer than a few minutes.

Large breed geese tend to mature later than small or medium sized breeds, typically they only reach maturity at two years and their egg production picks up at two to three years.

You do want to scoot them off their nests once a day to eat and get a little water, they can be stubborn and don’t know what’s best for them but once you do they’ll be grateful for a short break and will return to the nest after a few minutes.

 

[BernieandDaisy]

What breed are they? Are they large sized birds? What feed are they on?

Ganders can get broody and make nests, I have a few fellows like that, however they aren’t as good at it and aren’t usually willing to sit on a nest longer than a few minutes.

Large breed geese tend to mature later than small or medium sized breeds, typically they only reach maturity at two years and their egg production picks up at two to three years.

You do want to scoot them off their nests once a day to eat and get a little water, they can be stubborn and don’t know what’s best for them but once you do they’ll be grateful for a short break and will return to the nest after a few minutes.

Ok thanks I just followed your advised, they looked stressed and panting, they haven't eaten much for a week now. How long should the break for them to stretch and eat be? I took a lantern and I do not see any movement or yolk inside the eggs, could they be infertile?

 

[Goosebaby]

Ok thanks I just followed your advised, they looked stressed and panting, they haven't eaten much for a week now. How long should the break for them to stretch and eat be? I took a lantern and I do not see any movement or yolk inside the eggs, could they be infertile?

They’ll decide how long their break should be, just make sure they’re able to get some food and something to drink before they head back to the nest.

As for if the eggs are fertile, that’s hard to say without candeling them properly.