Goslings of 2014 Hatch-a-long

[bibkel]

Yes. What most of us do, though is wet a sponge or a washclothe with warm/hot water and slip it in with them once they externally pip. Ive had them pop out like popcorn with doing that, thats not always the case though its more to keep them from sticking which makes it easier for them to get out whenever they decide to.

What if they are under a goose? Mama has not been getting wet that I have seen....we are only a week in. When they start to pip, will she instinctively get in the water, sit, get up and watch....will she act similar to a duck? These are my first geese a-layin.....

 

[bibkel]

Here the grass growth slows in the winter, due to it being the dry season, but it´s fine for them. I just 'top up' their diet with little goodies like lettuce or fruit, etc. Does your grass still produce shoots? still grows a bit? These are my little pilgrims. The female is, of course, the one with the darker fluff and darker bill . I think the sebastopols are a tad prettier than the pilgrims at this age. I don´t have sebs, so can´t show a pic of the cross.

Ash....check my profile, I just got be babies, both have a grey " hat and cape" it seems, the boy is lighter. Last year I got Pilgrims. No mixes yet, and I want to try and keep them breed true....but then si may get lazy.... Ok posted the clearest here. The one with the dog is the male I think pilgrim from last year. He was maybe 3 weeks?

 

[Heidisgran]

I have 6 African goose eggs due date tomorrow 5 out of 6 are internally pipped

I have experience hatching call ducks but never geese

I've had people telling me that the goslings need help hatching?

can someone with experience chime in on that? I'd appreciate you knowledge

 

[ChickDancer]

I am interested in this answer too! I have a pond, pump, and a larger water tob. Nice thing is the tub has a drain, and i saw someone fashioned a sink drain in the bottom of a wading pool....he pulls the plug and rinses it in place, done!
I plan to have mine on the dog side of the fence, which will limit duck/goose access. I also want to make a filter system, like red volcanic rock in a half wine barrel....,creating a three tier waterfall effect. All this will be set up next to my new "art studio" shed we just put in.

Be careful with ponds and poop. You'll have to experiment and be ready to set up an actual filter before it reaches the pump.

I have a half home-made, half store-bought pond type thing inside of a giant 200-gallon terrarium. (757.08 Litres for those across the pond.) The terrarium has turtles, lizards, and frogs. The turtles are known to get in the water to poop, but are otherwise land turtles. However, their poop, and the sphagnum moss I use for bedding in the rest of the terrarium, can EASILY clog the pump. Some of it gets inside the pump and wraps around the propeller piece that moves the water. Other pieces get caught in the slits in the plastic pump housing where water gets drawn in. But it gets clogged up fast between the poop and dirt, and just stops working.

Maybe a much bigger pump would work, because it would have the power to handle the gunk that comes in. I don't know. But I do know one of the first thing waterfowl does when they get in water, is poop. It might also help to have a large enough pond that the poop can't build up as fast. If I took the piece between the pump and "pond" out and let turtles climb on top of the pump itself, their little pond could only hold three turtles at the same time. No more would fit. Period. So maybe if you had a pond large enough to hold all of your geese and then have plenty of extra space, the pump wouldn't run the risk of getting clogged.

But all of this is something you should definitely look into before you build one. Other things worth considering, is how much vegetation you plan to have in the pond, and how much of THAT may occasionally get into the pump, or maybe even exactly where the pump would be situated. A pump drawing from the surface is less likely to get gunk in it, because the extra pieces would sink to the bottom before getting into the pump at all. But if you have the "overflow" type of draining, you have to worry about floating things, like wood, getting down in there.

I do think it's possible. But it's going to take a lot of research, especially into actual filtration systems.

 

[ChickDancer]

What if they are under a goose? Mama has not been getting wet that I have seen....we are only a week in. When they start to pip, will she instinctively get in the water, sit, get up and watch....will she act similar to a duck? These are my first geese a-layin.....

Air under a mother goose doesn't tend to lose humidity as fast or as easily as air inside of an incubator. So those should be fine. Once they start to pip, mother goose will probably sit tight, and it's likely that the moisture from inside of the egg itself will become trapped under her as the gosling hatches, thus raising the humidity under her anyway.

 

[psue]

The first hatch of the year

3 buff and 1 grey Dewlap Toulouse


Heidisgran... the only help these guys got was a little misting on the membrane of one when it started to stick to him. He was taking his sweet time hatching.

 

[Heidisgran]

The first hatch of the year

3 buff and 1 grey Dewlap Toulouse


Heidisgran... the only help these guys got was a little misting on the membrane of one when it started to stick to him. He was taking his sweet time hatching.

it's the same as ducks? they internally pip up to 3 days before they externally pip??

 

[Miss HennyPenny]

Maybe your chickens did teach your geese, here the geese have been coming outside since an earlier age. So my goslings are teaching the chickens about going home! My babies followed me everywhere I went, I couldn't move more than 5 feet away from them without them panicking. So one day I just decided to see if they would follow me back to their home, and they did! And they will also run home if something startles them too much, I had to chase after them once when a loud truck scared them, they went straight to their pen and begged to be let in. Eventually the chickens will get the idea, it's just going to take time and repetition.

Now if only I could train my neighbors game chickens to stay out of my yard. His birds fly up to 10 feet in trees at night, he has tried putting them in a coop for 3 weeks but they always go back to trees so he gave up. They tear up my garden and my fence don't keep them out because they fly. His rooster is eyeing my pullets and there is no way he stealing my egg laying hens. And yesterday one of the game hens made a nest in my yard and bit me when I helped move her and her eggs back home. So while I love my chickens, my neighbor's game chickens are thebane of my exsistance.

I am also sad, 2 of my precious geese will be leaving me this weekend. I always ment to give a pair to my brother-in-law, but now that the day has arrived its a lot harder than I thought. I don't want to lose my babies!

Eek. His chickens sound scary! Lol remind me not to get any!

Aw. They become your babies don't they? I've told myself if this goose egg hatches I won't get anymore. Just the 3 will do! But I don't trust myself as far as I can throw me!

 

[Miss HennyPenny]

I have 12 days left for mine. Then after that 16 days until my broody is due to hatch hers.

16 days left for, "The Egg"! tense times!

 

[flockman]

I think because we´re in the tropics, our geese get going much earlier.  My first goslings were hatched in July, which is like january in the northern hemisphere!  Brrr..can´t imagine it!  
Not gone well?  Sounds good to me.    

I set 14 eggs. Only one is left. I just saw shadows!!!! Once this one hatches I will start a four more.