Goose started to lay in Janurary!!!!!!

[Paganrose]

I have a white Embden goose that started to lay today.

Is this normal for a goose to lay so early in the year????

How do I move her and her nest???? She is nesting right in front of the nesting boxes, and I am worried the chickens wont be able to get into them. I have a small goose house (4' by 4') but the geese have always prefered to sleep in the coop under the nest boxes with the ducks, I figured I would have a few more weeks to encourage her to stay in the goose house.

How many eggs does an average Embden lay before she sits???? I am worried that the eggs will frezze before she stays on the nest. The egg I found today was very cold. She didn't seem upset when I took the egg. I brought it in to warm up and am storing it in our cool basement. Will I be able to slip it in the nest after she has laid a few, like with a broody chicken????

hoping the other goose is really a male and is fertile.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Some of mine started to lay in November, some in December and others are laying now. Who can say why? LOL

 

[The goose girl]

Quote:
Mine too! I guess it's pretty normal judging what the other goose people in this forum say.

 

[Silver Spring Waterfowl]

The first year we had our geese, we read books that told us to expect laying to start "late February- March". They started on Thanksgiving. On Christmas Eve, I thought the Easter Bunny had come! Last year, they waited until New Year's Eve. We just got our first for the season today, too, and I was really hoping they'd wait a bit longer. They've had more stress and upheaval this year, too. We've started showing and confining breeds together and putting specific birds together for breeding. We just got back from a show, too, and want to try to make at least 2 others this spring. I'm in Texas and it's not super cold, but our first year the birds were only 5 and 6 months old. That's kind of young. It doesn't hurt them, but can affect future production and affect the growth they ultimately achieve. If your goose is a pet, it won't really matter. I think it really depends a lot on how well-fed and healthy they are. None of the geese I've sold or given to friends have started laying before March. None of them were ever fed the way I recommended when I sold them, either. Folks will feed them the starter I give them when they take the birds until it runs out, but, after that, it's usually just scratch or chicken feed and whatever's cheap or free. You're doing something right!

I have had geese nesting in front of chicken nest boxes the one year we had chickens. It didn't bother the chickens at all. The chickens did foul the goose eggs and nests, though. And they drove the setting geese nuts. (They were there first.) Don't worry about the egg. You didn't say how old the goose is, but if it's a young bird, the viability of first 6 or 7 may not be good anyway. If you can move the goose, the egg, and her nest now and keep her confined to that area, it may work. We have sucessfully moved birds and nests altogether. It may work better to keep the ducks and geese in the same house. Is she your only goose? If so, she will probably never be comfortable all by herself with a nest away from the other birds. It won't feel as safe.

It might be to your advantage to just take the eggs out of the nest, maintaining only the newest in the nest until you think the weather will support a hatch and want to leave the clutch in place. It helps to date them with a dark crayon. Pencil fades and comes off. The eggs are also superb for eating or baking and can be frozen for future use. Geese normally lay an egg every 2 or 3 days. They don't just lay in the morning, either. They lay throughout the day and night, just depends on how many hours their internal clock is set to lay.

Good luck to you! I know you'll enjoy the goslings!

 

[Paganrose]

I have 2 geese, one who I believe is male, but I dont think he is interested in breeding yet. They are both 8 months old. I could try to move the ducks with the geese but I think a 4foot by 4 foot house would be to small for 2 geese and 4 ducks, plus the ducks are showing signs of nesting.

The nesting boxes are not being used much, since I am only getting a few eggs currently from the hens, But I was getting about 10 eggs a day in the fall and expect a few more from some hens that were not ready to lay this fall. I almost stepped on the goose egg I found this afternoon.

I tried to move both the goose and (hopefully) the gander to the goose house, but when it got dark they honked and protested outside of the chicken coop,

and since it is currenty 19 degrees outside here, I thought it not a good idea to keep them in the cold. I will have to try again tommorow and find some fencing to keep them near the goose house, just need a way to keep the water from frezzing out there since I am broke.

As for feed I mix my own, all the birds eat it, and they get plenty of household scraps, and are allowed to free range, (Although pickings are slim due to everything covered with 6 in to 3 feet of snow), and have plenty of hay available.

The goose did not seem interested in sitting on the egg, and It was cold when i found it, So I am not sure if she will go broody this year, if not in a few weeks if she is still laying I will try to incubate some eggs of hers, If our gander

shows interest in mating. The geese are not so much pets as they are livestock, we original had four geese shipped, but two died within 24hrs of being shipped, we kept these two as a breeding pair, one we knew was female from the start due to her very dark coloring as a chick, the other was light, but not compeltly yellow like the gosling that passed, but has become dominent, more outgoing, a bit taller and stocker, than the female.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

How long are the eggs good for? I am wondering because if they lay in Jan. and she goes broody in March and hatches out in April....it's still pretty cool and wet..so will the eggs be good if they are brought into the house until the goose goes broody?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Yep, mine start laying in December.

 

[Paganrose]

Well I cracked open the egg I found the other day, (it was small for a goose egg, and it wouldn't be good because I want to hold her off on brooding for at least a month) It looked like it was fertile!!! It had a bull's eye!!!!

the egg was almost hard as a rock, the yolk was huge and almost orange and was very thick.

My goose has been hanging out more in the goose house since I have put her in it several times, although this evening I found her back in the coop. I was sort of expecting another egg from her today, but considering it was her first time laying, probly not to strange.

 

[ChickenHwk]

One of my sebastopols just layed an eggs today, but I think I got to it too late. It was really cold...

 

[Paganrose]

My goose has started to hang out in the goose house, with her mate standing guard !!!! So at least I wont have to worry about them attacking the chickens trying to lay. The egg from the other day seemed like it had a bull's eye in it when I cracked it open. But it was faint so I am not completly sure if it was fertile or not but it is a good sign.

I want to try to hold off on her brooding because the end of feburary is still to bitter for chicks.

How long are the eggs good for?

- if they are like chicken eggs they will be the best if they are less 2 weeks old, but since a goose is able to cover a larger clutch (I have heard of a single goose hatching out 12 of her own eggs ) I suspect that they would be good for a week or two longer.​