Hatching questions

[crj]

Hi all,

I hope someone can answer a few of my questions. Many seem very knowledgeable about geese. I am new to geese and don't know the broodiness of geese. No, she is not mean. She will let me in the coop with her to check on her eggs.

I have an Afrcian goose that is laying eggs right now. She is almost 7 months old. The daddy is a Sebastopol who is 9 months old. Daffy, the African goose has laid about 7 eggs so far. How long before she decides to sit on the eggs and try to hatch them? Is there an average of eggs that they lay when they decide to sit? Do you think the eggs are fertile at such a young age? I don't have the heart to break one open to check.

If and when the eggs do hatch I'm curious to know what to expect with a cross like this. Has anyone ever had a Sebastopol, African cross? Is it like cats and dogs where 1/2 will look like Mom and the other 1/2 look like Dad?....... LOL. Of course one may look like both?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

 

[crj]

I want to add that my Sebastopol gander has started mating with my 7 month old American Buff. I'm sure she will start laying eggs soon. I do know she is looking for a place to nest.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I want to add that my Sebastopol gander has started mating with my 7 month old American Buff. I'm sure she will start laying eggs soon. I do know she is looking for a place to nest.

 

[littledear]

My geese are Troulouse and African mixed, half look like Troulouse and half like African. One of my females started laying at seven months and some of her eggs were fertile. I was a little surprized as my gander was also seven months. I hope this helps you.

Littledear

 

[pete55]

Hi, they may well be fertile as being a smaller breed, Sebastopols do usually mature earlier than larger breeds and will generally fertilise eggs at one year old. Your potential youngsters may end up mid-way in size between the parents but the neck stripe often prevails from the African parent and although not as marked often have a raised area above the upper beak where the 'knob' is located on pure Africans.

If the Sebastopol parent is fully curled then you can expect all the youngsters to have some elongation of feathers on the backs and wing coverts. Almost resembling a smooth breasted Sebastopol.

Pete

 

[crj]

Thanks Littledear and Pete55. The African goose is from Metzer but it's known as a Super African. I don't know if a Super African is the same as an African goose just a different name. I got the Super African and an American Buff from a guy who could keep them and they were only 1 1/2 months old. I have a male and female Sebastopol and they are curly. These geese are the bomb.......... lol....... for lack of a better word. I really hope for a good hatch.

Since geese seem to be seasonal layers I'm guessing no eggs in the spring at this point. Unless of course each goose lays at a different time. Is there an average amount of eggs a goose will lay before they sit to hatch? It's all very exciting.

 

[littledear]

One of my geese is currently laying and has laid about 29 eggs so far. I have read that they can lay from 20 to 50 eggs in the spring of the year. I currently have 9 eggs in my incubator as her first bunch of eggs were partially frozen when I found her nest. So far mine hasn't gone broody and is still laying an egg a day. Before I started feeding her layers feed she was only laying an egg every other day. I hope this helps give you an idea of what to expect from your geese. I am pretty new at this myself and I am hoping my other two females start laying and that one will actually go broody and take care of the eggs herself.

Littledear

 

[crj]

Hi Littledear,
I'm not sure how many eggs my goose is up too at this point. I do feed her layer pellets and she is laying an egg every other day. My friend has put 4 goose eggs in her incubator last Wed. To my surprise my bantam went broody so I stuck 4 eggs under her on Thurs. I am hoping some will hatch. We have had some really nice weather so I don't think any have frozen. As a matter of fact she is in her coop tonight laying an egg. Gee, come to think of it she was in there yesterday afternoon too. She's definitely not broody yet and not defensive about her eggs with me either.

I have built another goose nesting coop. That's what I'm calling it these days. My male Sebbie has found the American Buff attractive and is now mating with her. No sign of any eggs but they are shopping for the right place. I hope she will want to lay eggs in this new set up. She has an interest in it so far. My African that is laying eggs checked out the new digs today while I was painting. Would you believe she had to taste the paint!!! OMG..... I grabbed her face and tried to get the paint out of her mouth. It wasn't bad but I didn't have a rag or anything. So I picked her up and went in the house to get a rag. Poor goose had no idea why she was going into the house. I managed to wipe her beak/bill and she was good to go. I think I scared her a little bit.... hahaha. Well, she gave me a little scare. Geeez, silly goose.

 

[littledear]

Oh my gosh geese are very silly sometimes. I now have two of my geese laying and neither of them have gone broody. I have 16 eggs in the incubator and three sitting that were layed yesterday and this morning. From what I have read the fowl go broody because of a change in th hormones. I have also read that the length of the day affects when they start to lay as well as the temps. I just keep reading and reading to learn as much as I can. Pete seems very knowledgeable about poultry and because I am an educator learining is what I do for a living. I have to wonder what kind of education Pete has because of his knowledge base lol. Good luck with your eggs.