Let's have a gosling hatchalong!

[kuntrygirl]

I waxed it. Hope it saves it.

 

[8GeeseALaying]

I'll know in 14 days if it hatches. I only put 9 in the bator if it doesnt help that leaves me with 8 :-(

 

[paul tennant]

Our latest update, out of the original 4 Embdens which hatched, two naturally and two assisted,the runt, finally gave up his/her great battle to keep up with the others, we tried everything we could but sadly we couldn't do enough. Sadly the wife is truly upset, but I hope we will learn from this and be more fortunate with the next three due in the next ten days. The other challenge is that I have been given 8 mallard eggs the nest was inadvertently destroyed when a boat was being moved, I've got them sharing the same incubator as the geese, any suggestions on heat settings and HR appreciated. Lord knows what the next week or so has in lined up for us.

I can highly recommend hanging fresh leaves/grass from string, the youngsters find it very entertaining. Our other observation one of the little ones has a slightly disfigured foot, curls in but seems to be improving each day. This photo was taken yesterday, eldest was 3 days old youngest a day. They are currently housed in the conservatory, too cold for outside buildings, in a child's play pen, covered in an old sheet with straw on top and a 250W lamp suspended above. The pen floor space is currently half the size, blocked off by small bales of straw, to make sure they stay warm, they seem to enjoy trying to jump up to onto the bales of straw in order to get a better view. We put sand in the tray that keeps the drinks and water, to prevent spillage, as the goslings were sliding about just standing in the tray. Wood shaving to be added onto the straw tomorrow.

 

[Iain Utah]

Paul, very sorry to hear about the one that didn't make it, but congrats on the other three. They are adorable! Duck eggs incubate the same as goose eggs and they do well set together. As for bedding, I do not use anything that can be ingested and choked on. Goslings are known for nibbling everything and many have choked to death on shavings. Lots of people like to use wood sawdust pellets. I like old towels/baby blankets, but it adds the maintenance of daily laundry to cleaning routine.

 

[DaisyMeadow]

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.

We had problems with temp spikes, too. Found that it was due to voltage fluctuations on our very rural lines. Hooked everything up to a Universal power supply with battery, stabilized it right away. No more staying up all night to check the temp every 20 minutes. Best of luck with the rest of your eggs!

 

[DaisyMeadow]

Our other observation one of the little ones has a slightly disfigured foot, curls in but seems to be improving each day.

Have you tried taping a "sandal" to the foot? I have seen it done (and done it myself with chicks). You cut a piece of cardboard the size of the gosling's foot, then spread the foot out flat and tape it to the cardboard when you have it straight. Leave it on for a few days to set the toes so that they don't start developing in the curved fashion and the gosling gets used to walking with the foot flat. You'll want to do this within the week or so of hatching so that it doesn't distress the gosling too much.

I tried it with a duck and had limited success as the ducklings were too communally helpful and all of them took turns chewing on the sandal until the foot was freed. It seems that ducks care more for each other than chicks do. Also, with ducks and geese, they're more likely to get their sandals all wet, which requires more attention and follow up on your part than with a chick.

Perhaps someone else has some experience with this in geese?

 

[DaisyMeadow]

Kuntrygirl,

I love that someone else's barn is also littered with cat litter buckets!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Kuntrygirl,

I love that someone else's barn is also littered with cat litter buckets!

Tee hee hee. Yes, I use them for many things. I store cat food and chicken feed. I also use them for nesting boxes. I use them to collect eggs. I use them as cleaning buckets when I clean my chicken coops. Sooooooooooo many things you can use the cat litter buckets for. I have a co-worker that has about 15 cats and she brings me all of her cat litter buckets. I think I will start planting my veggies in them next. If you have any other ideas on what I can use them for, PLEASE let me know. I'm always wanting to learn how to continue to recycle things.

A barn is just not a barn without a bunch of cat litter buckets hanging around.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I set 7 more goose eggs in the bator last night. I will also collect more eggs today and tomorrow and put those in as well. I will have a staggered hatch again.

 

[zooweemama]

Our latest update, out of the original 4 Embdens which hatched, two naturally and two assisted,the runt, finally gave up his/her great battle to keep up with the others, we tried everything we could but sadly we couldn't do enough. Sadly the wife is truly upset, but I hope we will learn from this and be more fortunate with the next three due in the next ten days. The other challenge is that I have been given 8 mallard eggs the nest was inadvertently destroyed when a boat was being moved, I've got them sharing the same incubator as the geese, any suggestions on heat settings and HR appreciated. Lord knows what the next week or so has in lined up for us. I can highly recommend hanging fresh leaves/grass from string, the youngsters find it very entertaining. Our other observation one of the little ones has a slightly disfigured foot, curls in but seems to be improving each day. This photo was taken yesterday, eldest was 3 days old youngest a day. They are currently housed in the conservatory, too cold for outside buildings, in a child's play pen, covered in an old sheet with straw on top and a 250W lamp suspended above. The pen floor space is currently half the size, blocked off by small bales of straw, to make sure they stay warm, they seem to enjoy trying to jump up to onto the bales of straw in order to get a better view. We put sand in the tray that keeps the drinks and water, to prevent spillage, as the goslings were sliding about just standing in the tray. Wood shaving to be added onto the straw tomorrow.

I'm so sorry for the one you lost. I'm quickly learning that geese are trickier to incubate and hatch than many other bird types. And I had to choose that bird to incubate as my first time incubating? Smack my head. I hope the rest thrive!!