Goslings of 2014 Hatch-a-long

[andreacroyle]

Muscovy's are actually better at getting snakes... I have 2 drakes 4 ducks that I am wanting to find good homes for.

Lydia, Where in NC do you live ?

 

[andreacroyle]

Well it sure sounds like they´re broody! you could let them, but the chances are not very good of their raising goslings. If you wait til next spring, you have a better chance of them raising goslings for you, although they´ll still be young and silly. I´d be surprised if any eggs laid now would come to anything. My yearlings are laying silly-sized eggs. Next year they´ll be worth bothering with.
Also, goose and duck together lowers the slight chances of success even more. I´ve left one of my silly yearlings on one egg. she´s happy. I doubt she´ll hatch anything.

Geese dont make good mother's? or certain breeds? or just young geese? how do you know what a "silly sized" eggs is? is it misshapen? why does it lower the chances of the eggs? do ducks hurt the eggs? what if you were to take the eggs and put them in an incubator? would they hatch?

 

[livininbrazil]

Some of the goose eggs are duck sized, but some are the size of my fist. If they get bigger than that I really feel bad for those goose bums! I had hoped my flock would be too young to be interested in brooding until next year.

I'd prefer to wait till next spring to be honest, and even then I was going to use purchased eggs in a Bator and then see if anyone felt like adopting. But I guess I can let them have a couple eggs and see what happens.

Well, you either have small hands, or they´re huge eggs! I agree, poor geese!

Yes, see what happens. I just discovered an egg that had rolled out of a nest due to 2 year-old geese squabbling over it during the night. A small dead embryo was inside, so, you never know.....but yours are just so young!

 

[livininbrazil]

Geese dont make good mother's? or certain breeds? or just young geese? how do you know what a "silly sized" eggs is? is it misshapen? why does it lower the chances of the eggs? do ducks hurt the eggs? what if you were to take the eggs and put them in an incubator? would they hatch?

Most geese are good mothers, Chinese have a reputation fior not being too reliable, Pils have a reputation for being excellent mothers. Silly egg is twice the size of a duck egg. A goose egg would normally be 3 - 4 times the size of a good duck egg. Lowers the chances, as they sqabble over the space. Goose eggs are generally harder to hatch in an incubator than other eggs. The birds usually do it better.

 

[Starfire669]

Geese dont make good mother's? or certain breeds? or just young geese?  how do you know what a "silly sized" eggs is? is it misshapen? why does it lower the chances of the eggs? do ducks hurt the eggs? what if you were to take the eggs and put them in an incubator? would they hatch?   

I'm a newbie with all first year birds, so I don't know if my goose eggs are "silly sized" or not. My chicken eggs are small and medium sized, my RIRs, BRs, and SLW are the oldest of my chickens (I think they where hatched in March) and are laying the medium sized eggs, the BOs, and BAs are younger chickens and are giving me small eggs. I even got an egg that was the size of the last joint of my pinky! Lol. It was perfectly formed, but so tiny. As they mature and their egg laying machinery starts working better, the eggs will get larger.
My crested ducks I got already at point of lay, their eggs are just a bit too large to fit in the chicken eggs cartons. My Cayuga ducks are just starting to lay and are giving me chicken sized eggs. The geese are giving me eggs of 2 sizes. I am getting some duck sized goose eggs, and some huge goose eggs. The large goose eggs measure 3 inches long by 2 inches wide (used a ruler). I don't know if that is silly sized or not, to me it seems huge.

My chickens are all brown eggs layers, the duck and goose eggs are white. But goose eggs have a very distinctive shell that lets me tell them apart from the duck eggs, even if they are the same size. The shells on goose eggs are also very, very thick. You really have to crack them hard to open them, my youngest son won't eat chicken eggs anymore, only goose eggs, and complains about how hard they are to crack, lol.

Young animals never make great parents. Even an older animal will make mistakes on their first try at parenthood. My geese are not even a year old, they just hatched this past spring, so I don't think they will be good parents yet. My geese should not even be laying right now, it's out of season and they are really young. The goose eggs are delicious, but I do worry about the risk to my young geese health.

When you do decide to hatch, you want larger eggs. Large eggs give more room for developing embryo to grow and helps to ensure a healthy chick, duckling, or gosling emerges. An incubator can be used to hatch a goose, but geese are the hardest to hatch in bators. They need heat and humidity at specific levels for a successful hatch. The best way to hatch is to let mom do the incubating, if you have a reliable broody.

Hope that helps.

 

[Starfire669]

Well, you either have small hands, or they´re huge eggs!  I agree, poor geese!      Yes, see what happens.  I just discovered an egg that had rolled out of a nest due to 2 year-old geese squabbling over it during the night.  A small dead embryo was inside, so, you never know.....but yours are just so young!  

I measured one of the larger goose eggs, 3 inches long by 2 inches wide. My hands are a bit small, but not tiny, and I have long fingers (I have more finger than anything else on my hands) lol.

I think my geese just want to give me grey hairs, they are doing everything their little minds can think of to make me worry. They started breeding young, are laying young and out of season. Peaches loves playing dead on her nest every night. Who knew geese were such comedians?

Peaches and the other geese are refusing to move to the nest I made her in their coop. If she won't move to the other nest site, I won't let them brood, it's too risky. I want them safely locked up at night.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Lydia, Where in NC do you live ?

Western part north east of Asheville

 

[andreacroyle]

Western part north east of Asheville

Thanks for answering the questions guys!

 

[ChickyChickens]

So...I have another broody goose! I don't know how many eggs though as she is very fierce!

 

[livininbrazil]

I measured one of the larger goose eggs, 3 inches long by 2 inches wide. My hands are a bit small, but not tiny, and I have long fingers (I have more finger than anything else on my hands) lol.

I think my geese just want to give me grey hairs, they are doing everything their little minds can think of to make me worry. They started breeding young, are laying young and out of season. Peaches loves playing dead on her nest every night. Who knew geese were such comedians?

Peaches and the other geese are refusing to move to the nest I made her in their coop. If she won't move to the other nest site, I won't let them brood, it's too risky. I want them safely locked up at night.

Wow, they´re good-sized eggs for young geese. Will make some good omelettes! Then enjoy them more in the spring. Geese are renowned for choosing their own spot.