Harvesting Eggs From Wild Geese

[Michael A]

Hi All,

I'm looking to get an opinion if I should build a few nesting boxes for these geese.

Many Canadian Geese have have stopped migrating and live in our NE Florida neighborhood year around. There are between 5 and 20 that graze in our backyard daily. Our chickens free range in our front yard and we don't have any conflicts. I don't mind the geese. So I start thinking, when it's not breeding season why not try to harvest some of their eggs.

I did a bit of research and this is what i learned on their breeding and egg laying habits.

"Females stay with their clutch until they are ready to mate. Males begin mating at three years of age, and females begin mating when they are three or four years old. Breeding season for Canada geese is between February and April, depending on the climate. Geese mate once a year"

I don't know where they are currently Thoughts would the geese lay in a box if i built them?

 

[imnukensc]

Thoughts:
Wild geese don't lay eggs throughout the year. They're only going to lay during the breeding season.
They won't go into any boxes you may build.
Taking eggs from wild geese is a federal offense.
If you could get close enough to a goose nest to take the eggs, the geese would beat you silly.

 

[Michael A]

"Thoughts:
Wild geese don't lay eggs throughout the year. They're only going to lay during the breeding season.
They won't go into any boxes you may build.
Taking eggs from wild geese is a federal offense.
If you could get close enough to a goose nest to take the eggs, the geese would beat you silly."

LOL. Thanks for the quick reply. That makes sense why i have not seen any eggs around my back yard. An article i read it made it sound like geese lay every 2-3 days year around. I must have misunderstood.

 

[DiYMama540]

Lol I second everything @imnukensc
Aside from it being illegal, messing with Mama goose's nest could prove hazardous to your health! I do not advise it

 

[R2elk]

Hi All,

I'm looking to get an opinion if I should build a few nesting boxes for these geese.

Many Canadian Geese have have stopped migrating and live in our NE Florida neighborhood year around. There are between 5 and 20 that graze in our backyard daily. Our chickens free range in our front yard and we don't have any conflicts. I don't mind the geese. So I start thinking, when it's not breeding season why not try to harvest some of their eggs.

I did a bit of research and this is what i learned on their breeding and egg laying habits.

"Females stay with their clutch until they are ready to mate. Males begin mating at three years of age, and females begin mating when they are three or four years old. Breeding season for Canada geese is between February and April, depending on the climate. Geese mate once a year"

I don't know where they are currently Thoughts would the geese lay in a box if i built them?

As already pointed out, Federal law prohibits the collecting of eggs from migratory waterfowl.

 

[Gray Farms]

Lol I second everything @imnukensc
Aside from it being illegal, messing with Mama goose's nest could prove hazardous to your health! I do not advise it

As already pointed out, Federal law prohibits the collecting of eggs from migratory waterfowl.

Agreed, I don't advise messing with them.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Yep to everything said above. They only lay during their breeding season, its very illegal to take their eggs, they won't lay in a box if you made it, and good luck trying to get eggs away from mom or dad. If you weren't arrested you'd be black and blue from getting pinched and beaten about by their wings, which can in fact break a man's nose.

 

[wamtazlady]

Mama geese can be awfully protective. My neighbor knows. Tried to get a gosling from one of their domestic geese. She flew up, grabbed his bottom lip in her beak and proceeded to beat him with her wings. He doesn't mess with geese now.

 

[R2elk]

Mama geese can be awfully protective. My neighbor knows. Tried to get a gosling from one of their domestic geese. She flew up, grabbed his bottom lip in her beak and proceeded to beat him with her wings. He doesn't mess with geese now.

I would have loved to seen that. I had an African goose laying in a nest. I noticed the number of goose eggs decreasing and was curious until I saw the culprit get cured. My Airedale was stealing eggs from the nest until she couldn't wait for the goose to get off of the nest. She stuck her nose under the goose to get an egg. Momma goose took exception. She grabbed the dog by the side of her lip and held on tight as she twisted her beak back and forth. The dog came busting out of there dragging the goose for 50' before the goose finally let go. At least it cured the dog of stealing eggs.

 

[ColtHandorf]

That's slightly terrifying. lol Golly my American Buff gander is very protective of Georgia the hen, but she's not nearly so aggressive. With me she'll talk softly, but I can reach under her if I need to and can gently caress her.

She lost her whole clutch last year to Black Rat Snakes that were over 6 feet in length. I guess it's harder to drive something away like that. She broke eggs trying to drive them off and finally abandoned the nest with only two eggs left. I wasn't able to salvage any eggs.

This year I plan on making sure she's set up in a better area where hopefully she won't have any issues. Keeping the grass mowed short way back to the pasture seems to help with the snakes not traveling up. I've only had a couple of run-ins with them compared to the dozens I had to deal with in a couple of months, sometimes multiples in one day.