Gussie wants to nest in hay shed

[Callender Girl]

I was thrilled Saturday when I found my first-ever goose egg. Gussie, my American Buff, laid her egg under a raised chicken coop, right in a pile of melting snow. So much for keeping the bloom on the shell.

Yesterday, I noticed she and her companion, Golly, were spending a lot of time in one of the hay sheds. Yup, she built the most precise and beautiful nest in the back of the shed, hidden behind bales. It sounded like she was "talking" to her egg, and Golly would alternately stand guard or walk completely away from the area, as if to draw me away.

Unfortunately, there is no way to predator-proof the shed, and in the last week alone, I have removed a possum from a chicken coop and stared down a raccoon in one of the other had sheds.

So, I waited until they both left to eat, and I snatched the egg, which she had totally hidden under loose hay. If I hadn't seen the egg earlier, I would have thought she hadn't laid yet.

I piled some extra straw in the goose house and stuck a Hobby Lobby (much smaller) fake egg in the shoddy nest I'd built. Gussie approached the egg and immediately began rolling it underneath her. She also talked to it.

I'm hoping this means she might consider nesting somewhere safe and secure. Think so?

 

[Miss Lydia]

She just may! Let us know..

 

[Callender Girl]

Apparently, my construction skills didn't measure up. Today, Gussie had thrown the too-small egg out of my haphazard nest and spent most of the day with Golly trying to figure out how to get around the hay bales I thoughtlessly piled in the hay shed.

I didn't find another egg in the shed today, so we will see what she does tomorrow.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Put her egg in where you want her to lay and sit. When my goose was laying I would take a scrap piece of plywood and make a partican so she had some privacy.

 

[Callender Girl]

I'll give it a try. Thanks!

 

[Callender Girl]

Before I had a chance to do anything, Gussie decided to give the goose-house nest site a try and sat there most of the morning. While she and Golly were out living it up in the new pond (that used to be my front yard before the 4-foot snowdrifts began melting), I peeked into the very neat nest. Carefully hidden under a tidy layer of straw was a huge, lovely egg. Although I neither want nor need more geese right now, I am really excited to see if we will have goslings.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That’s awesome. If you have the space can’t go wrong with goslings it’s so much fun watching the mamas papas and aunts uncles taking care of the babies. Let us know what you decide and mark the eggs and take the oldest once she finishes laying she won’t care if she has 8 or 4 as long as she has eggs to sit.

 

[Callender Girl]

Gussie appears to be much more interested in nest building than in egg tending. Her nest is still a thing of beauty. And, it has two lovely eggs in it. However, Gussie would rather wander around the flooded yard with Golly than to hang out with her eggs. She has left them unattended for hours, so I'm guessing I may as well start collecting eggs for breakfast?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Nope don’t they lay every other day and she is building her clutch she may not sit till she has 8 or more eggs in it. Of course you can take them if you want too but I’d wait if I wanted goslings.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just mark them I use permanent marker and put the date on it so I can take out the oldest when she finishes and begins to brood that way I am in control of how many babies they have. She won’t care if you take some eggs if you so desire just don’t take them all.