Incubation Period for Roman Tufted Goslings ...

[Ms_B]

Hello all,

This is my first time posting, though I've read these forums for many years. I'm a kindergarten teacher. I've been hatching in my classroom every spring for the last 14 years. I started with chicks and then moved onto ducklings, which I fell in love with. So much so that I kept some of my hatch from 2021 and one from last year.

This year, for the first time, I am attempting to hatch goslings. I was given some Roman Tufted goose eggs, along with some call duck eggs (I have hatched call ducks before). When I started my incubation, I thought that all geese took 30 days to incubate. I've since learned that this can actually range from 28-30 days. I started my goose eggs two days before my call duck eggs. I am hoping that someone on these forums knows the incubation period for Roman Tufted geese. I have a backup incubator so I could move my call duck eggs if the goose embryos need to go into lockdown before them.

Thank you for any information you can provide. My goose eggs are just starting day 19. The call duck eggs just started day 17.

 

[Goosebaby]

My Classic Roman’s baby was about 28 days, smaller geese have shorter incubations. Goslings can sometimes take awhile to hatch after internally pipping so it can be an extra 48 hours on top of that before they actually hatch.

Can I ask what will become of the goslings once they hatch?

 

[Ms_B]

The goslings will be going back to the person who gave me the eggs. She has a small farm. The ducklings are going back to their original farm, too. I always have homes arranged before I hatch anything.

I guess I'll check the eggs on day 25 and see if they look like they're getting ready to hatch. I'll move the call duck eggs to the other incubator if needed.

Thank you.

 

[sue4rescue]

Curious if these eggs ever hatched and what type of incubator you used? Did you cool them off each day and spray them? I am getting 4 Roman Tufted eggs soon and can’t wait!

 

[Ms_B]

I had a great hatch rate. I was given 10 eggs. One appeared to be unfertilized. One died very early on (the size of the blood ring suggested it was in the first few days). The other 8 made it to lockdown and all hatched. Seven hatched on their own. One pipped at the right end of the egg but on the wrong side (opposite the air cell) and needed some help hatching.

For the first 27 days, I kept them in my Incuview with my call duck eggs (I started them two days earlier than the call ducks). I moved them to a HovaBator Genesis for lockdown and hatching. The Incuview doesn't have a high lid and I was worried they wouldn't be able to stand once out of the egg. I also didn't want the call ducks trampled by the larger goslings. They started pipping on day 29. When I came in on day 30, I had one gosling and several on the way.

Given their size, I didn't think the Incuview's egg turner would turn them fully so I manually turned the eggs 180 degrees once per day in addition to the egg turner. I also moved them around the incubator because I know the incubator has cool and hot spots.

Starting at day 8, I cooled them briefly each day and spritzed them with water. I made it part of my incubator maintenance. I would put the egg tray on a thick towel on a table while I added water to the incubator. I know some guides will say to cool them for up to 15 minutes. My eggs were usually out of the incubator for less than 10 minutes.

I initially had my humidity aimed for 50-52 percent (based on some information I had read about goose eggs and past experience with duck eggs). After incubation had started, I did further research and discovered that my humidity was likely too high for the goose eggs. After that I aimed for 45-49 percent.

I'm probably going to hatch goslings (along with ducklings) again this year, but I'm not going to put them in the same incubator. I'll likely just use the HovaBator for the entire incubation period for the goose eggs. That way I can make conditions as ideal as possible for both sets of eggs.