Let's have a gosling hatchalong!

[RURU]

Gosh sorry to hear that you guys are having trouble with hatching goslings. You just never know from yeear to year or hatch to hatch what will happen???
Last year was my awful year. So who knows what next year will bring for us here???

But hugs to all of you who have lost your gosling(s) either out of shell or in shell.

 

[jen85]

Day 10 should have pretty strong veining, and a little baby wiggling around, but its hard to say toss it or not.

My baby that hatched covered in yolk didn't make it. Lived two days, ate, drank,.... I don't know. Think I will stick to ducks, chicks, guineas and quail after this batch hatches. I have 9 Sebastopol eggs in right now. One due in a couple days, and the rest have three weeks to go.

 

[mominoz]

Well, just set some of my first Shetland Geese eggs from my Holderead birds, my 3 girls are not quite a year old, and one gander is almost 2 and the other (survivor of 3) is not quite a year. My incubator with the 4 goose eggs (One Super African fromHoldrreads, from my less than a yr. old pair). and One Shetland egg may still be developing. I moved myincubator and th wafer fell off after I found it at 109 after being stable for almost 2 weeks, aaargh

(Hovabator 1602N) I had my first Silky duck eggs in there, and a few Dutch Hookbills (nothing I swear can kill them)...I had some infertile silkies, (less than a yr. old....not quite sure what to do I guess) to toss, but at the spike I found 7 sikies dead (eggtopsies). Wasn't sure , so I stayed up till 2 am to stabilize incubator. last night. This evening I candled and found movement!!! in all but one! I am amazed. I set the other bator up last night too, and decided to move the two goose eggs into their own bator with fellow goose eggs,and go ahead and put the duck eggs I was planning on putting in, in a duck only bator....duc-a-bator

. I think I have 13 or is it 16 goose eggs? not sure , tired and not going to recount now

.Don't expect full fertility, but want to try as they are rare here.

 

[tia]

Can any of you people that hatch geese tell me how you turn the eggs. Do you lay them flat and hand turn them or can you use a turner and keep them upright? Please any help that I can get will be appreciated. I put 4 in the incubator day before yesterday and have been hand turning for now. I have an incubator that rolls them on their side too... will that work.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I was out picking eggs yesterday and I saw one of my girls standing over her eggs cooling them, so I ran inside the house to get my phone to take a pic. Well, the cooling turned into this. She was ready to rip my head off. I left her alone. Scary!!!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Can any of you people that hatch geese tell me how you turn the eggs. Do you lay them flat and hand turn them or can you use a turner and keep them upright? Please any help that I can get will be appreciated. I put 4 in the incubator day before yesterday and have been hand turning for now. I have an incubator that rolls them on their side too... will that work.

Most everyone usues this guide when hatching goose eggs. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...on-hatching-guide-completed/180#post_10811513

 

[pete55]

Hi Tia

If you're hand turning then always turn them an odd number of turns daily (eg 3 or 5) which allow a different side to be uppermost on the longer night period.

An incubator which rolls them is fine too and most will do that hourly although we programme ours for 3 hourly turns. Turning in the first half of incubation encourages an even growth of blood vessels around the inner surface of the egg and helps distribution of nutrients, gases etc.

There is some research that supports hand turning for geese eggs as this allow for short periods of cooling which replicates the brooding parent and promotes adequate water loss from the egg.

Pete

 

[Iain Utah]

Pete!

Welcome back! We have missed you! How's your hatching season going this year?

 

[psue]

Pete!

Welcome back! We have missed you! How's your hatching season going this year?

x2
and on Easter! I could make a joke about that but choose not to

 

[pete55]

Hi there - nice to drop in and catch up over the Easter Holidays. Had a lot of health issues with my 2 year old son recently so just had to prioritise family and we're recently back from a long holiday in the USA

Our season's well behind and we've had the coldest March for 50 years. All the plants and wildlife are acting as though its early February. The geese have only just started and we've got 3 laying so far. We set some eggs last weekend and I was pleased to see we had fertile eggs from our best Buff Female paired to our best Split for Buff Gander. He's a yearling so at least he's proven but its early days yet as the eggs are only on day 8.

Hope everyone else is having a more productive season