Help for goose egg that isn't progressing-- Baby is OUT!

[Sunny Side Up]

Today is Day 29 for 2 goose eggs I set under a broody bantam hen. Two nights ago I candled them and saw one that looked clear, the other was nice & dark with a big air cell. Last night I held the dark one up to my ear and could hear the gosling scraping against the shell. But as of this evening it still hasn't pipped.

I wondered if extra humidity could help, so I misted it with water from a spray bottle 2-3 times today, putting it back under the little hen.

Should I intervene? If so, when & how? I normally do not like to step in, but I'm wondering if this gosling needs extra help because it's being hatched under the little hen. I have had goslings successfully hatch under chickens with no extra help at all. I did have to help one gosling that a tiny Dutch Bantam hatched last year, but that baby had at least made its own pip hole in the end. After 24 hours I just had to enlarge the hole only a little bit and the gosling pushed herself out on her own.

I plan to go look tonight after dark, to see if I can tell where this gosling is trying to begin to crack out of its shell. Should I help begin its pip hole? With what tool would I do that?

Thank you for your help!

 

[CorinneP]

Boy I Wouldn't .. I think maybe the hen will if it needs it .. Just my oppinion

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I've never known the hen to do a thing to help an egg under her hatch, besides the weeks of devoted incubation of course. I myself usually won't do much to intervene either, because if a chick doesn't have What It Takes to get itself out of the shell -- under normal circumstances -- it usually isn't strong enough to thrive.

When I have chicken eggs hatching under a hen I usually don't intervene at all. When they're hatching in an incubator I'll watch and if one has been trying for an extra long time I may give it a boost. Sometimes in the incubator the fault isn't the chick's but conditions in the incubator.

The same thing goes when there are duck or goose eggs hatching under a chicken. I try to leave them alone to work themselves out on their own, but watch more closely because the conditions aren't as natural as they'd be under a mama duck or goose.

So, does anyone have advice as to how I could assist this gosling?

 

[cmfarm]

A few weeks ago I had 2 goose eggs that were ready to hatch. I could hear them both tapping and chirping. One pipped and made it out on it's own easily. The other never did externaly pip and died. It looked perfect and had nearly all it's yolk absored but just couldn't seem to crack the shell. I asked about it on the goose section and someone told me that when they know there eggs have internaly pip that they make a little hole where the beak is. I don't know all that much about goose eggs because this was the first time I have incubated them, but this what someone else does, maybe you could give it a try.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

When I candled tonight I could see a beak poking into the air pocket. I could hear the gosling peeping too! I don't know if misting it with water is doing anything to help, but I did it again anyway. And my little boy & I prayed for the gosling to break through.

If it hasn't pipped by morning I'm going to break a little hole in the egg on that end. Goose egg shells are really hard, I don't know what I'll use to make the hole. I need to find something that will make a small hole without cracking the entire shell.

 

[nurse_turtle]

It can take a gosling many hours to externally pip. There's a large air cell to supply it for some time. If it has pipped internally, chances are he's on his way. To make a tiny hole, I use a very sharp knife and tap, tap, tap until the tiniest hole is made to allow air inside.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

So this morning I see a tiny pip hole in the egg. I in my infinite idiocy take a pair of scissors and make a littlelittle snip on either side to enlarge it, to help & encourage the baby. I cut on one side and everything is fine, the membrane was a bit dry so I figure it may have been working there for a while. Then I snip on the other side and it starts to bleed from the membrane. AAAAAAA!!!! I ran into the house and put a tiny pinch of flour on the edge of the pip hole to staunch the bleeding. The baby is peeping away inside, but seemingly not in distress. I sure am, though! Lord Jesus, I pray that I didn't harm this baby, help it to hatch out fine!

I have to leave for several hours now, maybe that's for the best, I'll be checking as soon as I get home. This whole business is so nerve-wracking, you always second-guess yourself wondering should you help, should you sit on your hands...

Please pray for this gosling, thank you!

 

[jenlynn4]

Be sure to let us know how it goes. I hope the little one will hatch out just fine!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I didn't get home until late this afternoon, checked on the gosling and it's still alive! Still chirping, seems to have enlarged its hole a little. There was some drying membrane covering it so I gently nudged it aside, trying to encourage the baby to start pushing. I spritzed the open hole with a fine mist and put it back under mama hen. It's been an hour & a half, going back out to check again. Please, Lord, let this baby hatch and thrive!

 

[cici_p]

Goslings can take *forever* to hatch if you are used to chicken eggs. I just hatched out ducks and one took two days from pip to hatch, the other one only 24 hrs. Geese can easily take two days. . .the important thing is to make sure it is progressing. If it isn't progressing, at least slowly, that's when I would help.