Hatchlings Keep Dying

[GoslingHelpNeeded]

Hi there,

I’m quite new to hatching geese. I was gifted about ten eggs. Six were rotten on the inside and four were fertile. Sadly, as two of the four hatched, they passed away. The first one made a large hole in the side of the egg instead of zipping. We tried helping by picking at loose shell as she did injure her beak on a sharp part of the shell. When she passed; we took her out of the egg to see she still hadn’t adsorbed her yolk. I felt guilty so I decided not to assist the next egg. The other egg just passed an hour ago. It made a breathing hole and slowly broke some shell around it but didn’t progress any farther. I didn’t want the gosling to feel rushed to come out so I let her work. Today would’ve been the third day of hatching. I‘ve read that it’s only suppose to be one to two days for a gosling. She seemed so have a lot of liquid still in the egg. Whenever she cracked the shell, a brown liquid would form around the crack. I’m not sure what’s going wrong. The other two eggs are very close to hatching and I don’t want them to pass away. The humidity is definitely not high enough as both eggs had very dry membranes. I tried to raise the humidity by placing a small bowl of water in the incubator but it didn’t raise it enough. Only about two percent. I really need some help. Terribly sorry if this is the wrong thread!

Thank you for reading.

 

[Tacswa3]

How big was the air sac when it was time to lockdown? If not much of an air sac come hatch time, then can drown when they pip. They end up pipping below the air sac. The brown liquid you saw when they pipped is an indication they drowned from too much liquid still in the egg.

 

[GoslingHelpNeeded]

How big was the air sac when it was time to lockdown? If not much of an air sac come hatch time, then can drown when they pip. They end up pipping below the air sac. The brown liquid you saw when they pipped is an indication they drowned from too much liquid still in the egg.

The air sac was quite large. I didn’t take pictures of it but both had about the same size. I drew a rough diagram but I’m not sure how to upload it. The sac was nearly to the top of the egg. Is there a way I could prevent drowning in the other eggs?

 

[Tacswa3]

What end of the egg was the air sac "nearly to the top of the egg"? pointy or fat end?

 

[GoslingHelpNeeded]

What end of the egg was the air sac "nearly to the top of the egg"? pointy or fat end?

It started at the fat end then ended a little before the pointed end. I’m sorry if I’m a bit confusing. I hope that made more sense!

 

[GoslingHelpNeeded]

What end of the egg was the air sac "nearly to the top of the egg"? pointy or fat end?

Here’s a diagram! https://ibb.co/0DTfxWx

 

[ColtHandorf]

Lord I'm confused. @Pyxis is the resident goose hatching connoisseur, perhaps she can pop in. To clarify, the air cell is the empty part of the egg where the gosling first pips before externally pipping (breaking) through the shell. The large (fat/round) end of the egg is where the air cell is. The pointy end is where the gosling is.

This thread may help you see what you're looking at better and thus be able to describe it to us better.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...me-all-pics-in-first-post-easy-to-see.658057/

Details on your incubator? Brand, temp, humidity?

 

[Kiki]

Hi there,

I’m quite new to hatching geese. I was gifted about ten eggs. Six were rotten on the inside and four were fertile. Sadly, as two of the four hatched, they passed away. The first one made a large hole in the side of the egg instead of zipping. We tried helping by picking at loose shell as she did injure her beak on a sharp part of the shell. When she passed; we took her out of the egg to see she still hadn’t adsorbed her yolk. I felt guilty so I decided not to assist the next egg. The other egg just passed an hour ago. It made a breathing hole and slowly broke some shell around it but didn’t progress any farther. I didn’t want the gosling to feel rushed to come out so I let her work. Today would’ve been the third day of hatching. I‘ve read that it’s only suppose to be one to two days for a gosling. She seemed so have a lot of liquid still in the egg. Whenever she cracked the shell, a brown liquid would form around the crack. I’m not sure what’s going wrong. The other two eggs are very close to hatching and I don’t want them to pass away. The humidity is definitely not high enough as both eggs had very dry membranes. I tried to raise the humidity by placing a small bowl of water in the incubator but it didn’t raise it enough. Only about two percent. I really need some help. Terribly sorry if this is the wrong thread!

Thank you for reading.

Was your humidity gauge salt tested?

What was your humidity running at throughout the incubation and at hatch time?

 

[Pyxis]

Here’s a diagram! https://ibb.co/0DTfxWx

That didn't come through

From the sounds of the eggs leaking liquid, I do wonder if this was a case of the eggs not losing enough moisture. The size of the air cell can indicate this. Did you find liquid inside the first egg too after you opened it, after the gosling passed away?

The air cell is at the fat end of the egg, and starts off small and then develops and gets larger over incubation. If the humidity is too high, it doesn't grow enough because not enough moisture is lost. This can particularly be an issue with goose eggs, due to how thick their shells are. Misting during incubation helps facilitate moisture loss as well, and mimics the conditions of a mother goose coming back to her nest after her daily period off the eggs - they take a swim and come back with wet feathers. Did you mist?

Air cells can also be weird if the eggs were shipped, which can cause them to be misshapen. And, during draw down, the air cell shifts as the baby gets into the final hatching position. At this time the air cell 'draws down' the side of the egg, so maybe that's what you were seeing.

 

[GoslingHelpNeeded]

That didn't come through

From the sounds of the eggs leaking liquid, I do wonder if this was a case of the eggs not losing enough moisture. The size of the air cell can indicate this. Did you find liquid inside the first egg too after you opened it, after the gosling passed away?

The air cell is at the fat end of the egg, and starts off small and then develops and gets larger over incubation. If the humidity is too high, it doesn't grow enough because not enough moisture is lost. This can particularly be an issue with goose eggs, due to how thick their shells are. Misting during incubation helps facilitate moisture loss as well, and mimics the conditions of a mother goose coming back to her nest after her daily period off the eggs - they take a swim and come back with wet feathers. Did you mist?

Air cells can also be weird if the eggs were shipped, which can cause them to be misshapen. And, during draw down, the air cell shifts as the baby gets into the final hatching position. At this time the air cell 'draws down' the side of the egg, so maybe that's what you were seeing.

I’ve started misting my eggs and the last two I have hatched beautifully. My humidity must have been my issue since these two had no issues. Thank you for your comment!