How many years will they lay eggs?

[littlechick1005]

I have 2 female geese, one emden x (4 or 5 yrs old?) and a pilgrim x (3ish years old?) ....my emeden lays eggs each spring, she already started laying last monday and in the previous year she laid them til June or July. I got maybe 100 eggs out of her ....Ive yet to see an egg from my pilgrim but then again I read they are more of a meat bird et....so anywho...hens usually lay eggs for their first couple of years...how many years will geese lay? I know there is no way to give an exact answer, I know it depends on many factors, but any appropriate estimate would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[Jen C]

I have an African goose that turns 19 years old this year. She stopped laying eggs the year she turned 16. The last couple of years it was only a few eggs a year though.

 

[Going Bhonkers]

I have an African goose that turns 19 years old this year. She stopped laying eggs the year she turned 16. The last couple of years it was only a few eggs a year though.

19 years?! Very cool!

 

[Jen C]

19 years?! Very cool!

She was my very first goose and I paid $2.50 for her at a poultry auction

Physically she is far from the best African goose I own but she got me hooked on the breed.

 

[littlechick1005]

WOWZA! I hope I get that many years too! I love her eggs!

 

[The goose girl]

A guy I met last year had a goose that was half greylag, half domestic breed. She died shortly before her 40th birthday, having survived four ganders due to her ability to fly. He said she stopped laying around her 25th year.

 

[Iain Utah]

That's really cool to know..... how long are ganders able to fertilize eggs? My original pair of ganders are in their mid-teens (we think), but they sure act like studs breeding with their yearling mates. Do you think their mates' eggs will be fertile?

 

[learycow]

I don't know the answers to these questions but I would assume it would be like chickens or ducks.
The older they are, the fewer eggs per year they will lay, and the less likely it will be that they are fertile.
Same with the ganders. The older they are, the less fertile they get. Just because they still mate and act active doesn't mean that the eggs from the females will be hatchable.