I SAW IT!! I SAW IT!! Piping?

[echix]

Clyde has been sitting by her side on the ground for 24 hours - she is getting on and off the nest getting wet about 4 times a day in the last 2 days.

Now Nanna was standing up and I peaked in there this morning and two eggs had a chip of shell missing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is that it?????????????

I am soooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!

Now I'm worried what do I do when they hatch? She's in a pen on grass one end enclosed to protect nest from weather. Nest is hay. It's 4x8 and has a door I open in mornings and close at night to keep critters out.

Do I lock her and them in there when they hatch and put the chick waterer / chick feeders and her waterer and feeder in there or do I just let her bring them out into their own type pen area which opens to the main yard and just keep them in there with water/feed? Do I let the ganders in with them? They have been waiting and helping all along.

I don't want her to run down to the pond with them, want her to keep them up here in a pen for a while. I have Mazzuri chick starter and little chick waterers along with QUIK-CHIK to put in the water to help them get good start.....

Is this the next step??

 

[Goosehaven]

It's best to keep them confined to a smaller area for a few days to let the goslings get strong and you can keep an eye out that mom is caring for them properly. My ganders do fine around goslings because they are used to them now but when they were younger I had to watch a couple of them closely becasue they would go after them. Make sure that your Mazuri chick starter doesn't have medication in it. The medicated chick starters are not good for geese. A feed crumble that is around 20 percent protein to start is a good first option. Mine do great on that for the first 3 weeks, then you can change feed to drop the protein level to around 14-17 percent, depending on the brand of feed you choose to use. Good luck with your geese