Hatching Eggs

[ldaziens]

I just ordered my incubator, a Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance EX, and I am hoping to find a few goose eggs to put in it. I currently have 4 brown chinese, 4 LARGE tufted and 2 almost as large non-tufted goslings that I got from Murray McMurray -- the Fancy Geese Package -- so, I THINK that there are 4 tufted buff and 2 pilgrim, but not 100% sure. I am looking for a source of eggs from HIGH QUALITY stock, so I am trying to figure out the best sources. Any recommendations???

 

[ChickFila]

check BYC auction site often, I bought 4 jumbo dewlap toulouse eggs a month ago and 2 of them hatched 2 days ago

If you buy eggs from breeders (not from hatchery), they will be better quality.

 

[JROOSTER]

I would look at Holderreads web site they have really good stock.

Not sure if they sell eggs.

 

[ldaziens]

Yup, I learned the whole hatchery lesson the hard way. Although my goslings are fine, and I LOVE them, I had awful experiences with the chicks and turkey poults that I ordered from Murray McMurray, and lost 2 of my ducklings from them as well. Lesson -- hatcheries are for large, commercial enterprises who are looking for a commodity, not a pet. It's a volume business, and if a person is fine with getting a "box o'death" and getting a full refund, it works out. Me, I'd rather get live, high quality, healthy birds.

Of course the exceptions to the hatchery rule would be Holderreads, which doesn't sell any eggs as far as I can see, and Metzers Farms, which gets lots and lots of positive feedback here. And, even more impressive to me, John Metzer himself is a member of the Pasture Poultry Yahoo group, and I thought it was so cool to see a message from him - taking the time to advise someone with an incubating question. The other cool thing about Metzer Farms is that you can find a TON of helpful information on the website:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/FAQ.cfm?CustID=49937 plus multiple articles via the "Care & Management" tab.

That said, neither Holderreads nor Metzer Farms sell hatching eggs

From Metzer Farms:
"We do not sell goose hatching eggs as they are difficult to ship and do not hatch as well as duck eggs."

So, I am hoping to find a breeder w/ high quality goose eggs...

Leah

 

[Puddle Foot Farm]

Sorry to say, but most people with "high quality stock" (breeders, I'm guessing), don't have geese laying right now. Since goose laying season is typically in the spring only, basically only hatchery birds are laying right now because they're bred for production. I expect my hatchery chinese to be laying until almost August since I did get them in mid-August, but I would not expect that out of breeder birds unless they had a naturally late breeding season. The same thing happens with chickens, I'm pretty sure.. The closer to show quality you get, the less production is emphasized and therefore the birds produce less. I believe most breeder's birds have been done laying for about three weeks.

Besides that, I hear geese are very hard to hatch. You might want to go with less expensive (I'm assuming high quality = more expensive) eggs first to fine tune your hatching skills for geese if you haven't tried before. Next week, I'm doing the same.. I'm putting 10-15 chinese/toulouse eggs in my Brinsea 20 eco. You might be better off trying to find any eggs at this point, trying to hatch them, and then trying earlier in the season next year for high quality eggs. You could even get some high quality goslings for this year, and then use your incubator to extend their laying season next year and get more goslings.

Anyways, no matter what you decide, good luck and have fun with your babies!

Chelsea

 

[ChickFila]

I used R-Com suro for my dewlap toulouse eggs, it is very similar to OP's new brinsea advance EX.
I set humidity on 50%, and temp was 99.9F. Those 4 eggs were shipped from California to Maryland, but all 4 of them were growing well until day 12, and then one egg had blood ring, so I removed it, and 3 made to lockdown. On day 26, I locked them in my hatching bator, and 2 goslings were born on day 30.
I hatched chicken eggs and quail eggs, but hatching goose eggs was not more difficult at all. Just cool them for 15 minutes each day and spray room temp. water on eggs.
If you find quality, healthy, fertile eggs from a breeder, you will hatch well with your new brinsea advance EX.
Eggbid.com has some goose eggs now.

 

[Puddle Foot Farm]

Quote:

Hi neighbor! I'm from MD too.

I've never tried to hatch goose eggs before, and all I've heard is disappointment and how hard they are to hatch. Out of the 15 eggs I am planning to put in my Brinsea 20 eco, I'm only expecting 5 or so to hatch.. Maybe I've underestimated them? I'll see in about a month. It's nice to hear a pleasant incubating story about geese, though!

 

[ChickFila]

Hi Chelsea!
I've heard that hatching goose eggs is very hard also, and especially dewlap toulouse eggs, because they have thicker egg shell (harder to break). However, it was quite easy to hatch for me. Just cool them 15 minutes each day and spray room temp. water on them. When you lockdown eggs, be cautious for humidity. Goose eggs need higher humidity than chicken eggs. I set up mine for around 75% - 80%. When humidity was dropping, I sprayed water through the vent hole, so didn't need to open the top.
Good luck for your hatching, I would love to hatch more dewlap toulouse eggs because I wanted "trio", but have hard time to find eggs. Maybe I will try again next year spring.