half blind lone goose hatched a gosling, but mum wont leave the nest??

[spish]

my big old white girl (whos never been with a guy) decided to get broody and made herself a big ol' nest, taking over the whole of one of my hen houses (much to the disgrace of the chickens.) i destroyed her nest twice and removed her but she'd go and sit on chickens eggs and break them all with her weight, so i decided to let her sit it out. i let her keep three eggs under her and took the rest, hoping after the given time she'd realise the eggs were no good and get off the nest. i was so wrong.
she'd been sitting for a few days when i was given a small flock of geese (2male and 2female) i kept them all seperate as Blinky (she only has one working eye) has been alone all her life and i didnt know how she'd react with other geese (thse geese have done their quarantine time first

) they are seperated with sheep wire.

fast forward to yesterday, getting very worried that she'd been sitting for 35 days i go to remove all her 3 eggs in the hope she'll go outside. i didnt even get to open the house, she started hissing, honking spitting stamping and flapping at me. she actually chased me which she'd never done before! but i was smart, i let her chase me through the gate then locked her out of the pen while i jumped back in for the eggs. ha fooled you goosey!

i opened the house and there in the midst of 7 eggs was a little yellow ball of fuzz. all fluffed up and squeaking for 'mum'. she'd hatched a gosling

) no wonder she was so angry and wanted back in!


i quickly checked the other eggs and saw no sign of pips/cracks, but i think a few are bad cause you can smell that dreaded rotten egg smell in the house.


so i know have the question.......do i let her carry on sitting? it seems one of the fertile females have somehow managed to get through the fence and lay in another gooses nest at some point in the broody period....ones hatched..but i dont know when (or if) the others will hatch?
will mum carry on sitting until something happens? what about the lone gosling...wont it be hungry/thirsty???????? ive let mum back in their of cause but she's seems more bothered with the nest than getting that little one some grub.


what do i do?

 

[animaladdictions]

First off CONGRATS on your lil baby goose! Ok, down to business!

I'm not a goose expert by any means as I'm just hatching geese for the second time but I've had ducks, chickens, and other fowl most my life. Here's what I would do.... I would go out to the barn at night, trick her into leaving the nest again, and candle the remaining eggs. Id throw out any bad or infertile eggs and if there's any good eggs left, and as long as they look like they're far enough along in the incubation period (ie-pipped internally), Id let her finish the job. It generally takes around 30 days for a goose egg to hatch and the goslings will be fine without food for a couple days as the yolk they absorb right before hatching will sustain them for that long.

Did you pick up any of the eggs while you were in there and listen for peeps or anything? You said you could smell bad eggs...you'll need to get those out asap because if one bursts it wont be good for the other eggs or, I imagine, the gosling either. At the very least mom and baby will be VERY STINKY! PEEEE-YEWWW

I would think if no other eggs hatch in the next day or two, mom will get up and take baby out to eat. If not, you may have to take it from her or break up the nest? I don't know, hopefully someone with more goose experience will come along soon and give you a better idea of what to do. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Keep me posted on how things turn out.

Hope it all works out for ya! Good luck!

 

[JROOSTER]

I bet mom knows what to do you might just have to help a little bit, with egg removal.

 

[goosedragon]

I suspect she has reason to think that at least one egg in her nest is still alive and she is trying to hatch it They usually know by temperature of egg, movement or sound. (of course she may be mistaken if she has never hatched before) It is not that unusual for one or more eggs to be late hatchers in a normal clutch. Usually no more than two days late. When this happens they are torn between trying to hatch and careing for the ones already hatched. Often the gander will take over the care of the live ones, make sure they get food and water, while she hatches the late ones. As I see it you have two choices, tske over the goslings' care or break up her nest. Good luck!

 

[spish]

thats the problem, an extra 4 eggs somehow got into the nest, possibly all four could be fertile...but seeing as i didnt get the fertile geese until nearly a week after she started sitting on the eggs...these eggs could take another 5 days or so to hatch? the gosling will die wont it if i dont get her off the nest? could i take the eggs and put them in my incubator?

 

[animaladdictions]

I once had a hen setting on a nest right outside my back door. Well, something got her sometme in the night and I didn't find the abandoned nest till the next day. It was extremely cold outside that night and I had no idea how long the eggs had been exposed to such cold temps (they felt like they had been in the freezer for a day), but I went ahead and put them in the bator anyway in hopes that there might be a slight chance of some of them hatching. About ten days later, I had 6 or 7 little chicks out of 12 ice eggs set! I was amazed to say the least. If those eggs could hatch under such extreme conditions, I'm sure yours would be ok if you moved them to the bator.

 

[spish]

is it the same as hatching chicken eggs? im guessing i shouldnt turn them at this stage....do i need to mist them?

 

[pete55]

Hi

I would put them in an incubator at 37.5 and also candle them to see whats developing. Misting daily wont do any harm. If you hold the blunt end to your ear you may hear a gosling inside. In any cases where the egg is very near hatching then leave them with mum.

Good luck with your new baby

 

[spish]

while attemptiing to candle the remaining eggs i dropped one

inside was a gosling, nealry fully formed, had its down and all perfect limbs, but a lot of fluid in the egg...also the yolk was still huge and lots of red veins. any ide what day that would mean these other eggs might be on? seemsto me at least 4 or 5 days from hatching? little already hatched gosling isnt gonna last so long without water/food is he?
i went outside today and he'd wondered out the nest and was being trampled by the turkeys, i scooped him up and put him back in the nest...mum tucked him under her wing. i took out chick crumbs/crushed corn/grains and water and put it in the house. mum gobbeled it up without even showing the gosling how to eat/drink. do i need to remove the little fella? can i introduce it back later when (if) any other eggs hatch???

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
This is just my opinion (you may read others) Unless you have tons of experience incubating goose eggs, I would grab the gosling and Brood it yourself until the hatch is over and she has left the nest. That one was not hers but the first one of the new eggs put in her nest by the other geese, more are on the way! All you have to do for the gosling is keep it warm (90F should do, hotter if it shivers, less if it pants like a dog) give it chick crumb and maybe some rolled oats (like breakfast oatmeal only not cooked) Water shove her bill in it to give her a ideal once she starts to drink give her one good drink and take the water away for a half hour. She is likely to be dehyderated after all this time and she needs to be rehydrated slowly( I have seen dehydrated waterfowl drink themselves to death)
As for the other eggs you should have at least one hatch 2 days after the first (they lay every other day), check the nest daily and let her keep a gosling for 24 hours to help urge her to leave the nest. When she is out of eggs or leaves the nest then you can worry about returning 'her' goslings to her. If she has one with her it should be a simple matter of bringing the older ones to her one at a time. and waching to be sure she accepts them. Thats one of reasons for leaving a gosling with her for 24 hours they have a chance to bond, and does not harm the gosling. Good Luck and let us know how you make out.
BTW that 37.5 temp mentioned by pete 55 is *C (he is a Brit) use your normal temp if you are going to try to hatch them yourself. IMHO it is much better to let the goose hatch the eggs and you do the easier brooding if needed,