Tilhana
Songster
Hi all.
I have a breeding trio of 1-year-old Pilgrim geese who have just started laying eggs for the first time. Today they started acting kind of broody, making a nest in the leaves, but they're not actually sitting on the eggs full time yet. My goal is to help them hatch out at least one clutch of eggs this spring, but this is my first time breeding geese.
I have an incubator, but I tried hatching fresh goose eggs last year and failed miserably, despite having a great success rate with chicken eggs. I've since read that goose eggs are a lot harder to hatch in an incubator, hence the attempt to do it with real goose mamas this year.
My main concern is the temperatures outside are still pretty cold. We've still got snow on the ground - melting very slowly - and overnight temps still dipping below freezing most of the time. Daytime temps at the moment still averaging between 35 and 50F.
I was thinking of collecting their eggs every evening and storing them inside for now so I can give them the freshest ones whey they do go broody. That way the eggs won't freeze overnight. What is the optimum temperature for storing goose eggs? Temp indoors is usually around 75F. Is that too high? Also, should I rush to bring eggs in as soon as they're laid? How cold is too cold if they're not being sat on during the day? I've already had one egg freeze on me, even though it was laid in the coop.
One other complication: we're going away for about a week in mid April. We'll have a sitter coming once a day to feed and water everyone, but I'd really rather not have eggs hatching before we leave or while we're gone. Can I delay the broodiness by a couple weeks by removing the eggs daily? Or do I risk breaking their broodiness by tampering with the nest after they start trying to sit? And I know this is a highly subjective question, but is it better to encourage them to wait until it's a tiny bit warmer to sit anyway, or should I just let them do their thing?
Would appreciate any tips/suggestions from others with some experience hatching geese.
I have a breeding trio of 1-year-old Pilgrim geese who have just started laying eggs for the first time. Today they started acting kind of broody, making a nest in the leaves, but they're not actually sitting on the eggs full time yet. My goal is to help them hatch out at least one clutch of eggs this spring, but this is my first time breeding geese.
I have an incubator, but I tried hatching fresh goose eggs last year and failed miserably, despite having a great success rate with chicken eggs. I've since read that goose eggs are a lot harder to hatch in an incubator, hence the attempt to do it with real goose mamas this year.
My main concern is the temperatures outside are still pretty cold. We've still got snow on the ground - melting very slowly - and overnight temps still dipping below freezing most of the time. Daytime temps at the moment still averaging between 35 and 50F.
I was thinking of collecting their eggs every evening and storing them inside for now so I can give them the freshest ones whey they do go broody. That way the eggs won't freeze overnight. What is the optimum temperature for storing goose eggs? Temp indoors is usually around 75F. Is that too high? Also, should I rush to bring eggs in as soon as they're laid? How cold is too cold if they're not being sat on during the day? I've already had one egg freeze on me, even though it was laid in the coop.
One other complication: we're going away for about a week in mid April. We'll have a sitter coming once a day to feed and water everyone, but I'd really rather not have eggs hatching before we leave or while we're gone. Can I delay the broodiness by a couple weeks by removing the eggs daily? Or do I risk breaking their broodiness by tampering with the nest after they start trying to sit? And I know this is a highly subjective question, but is it better to encourage them to wait until it's a tiny bit warmer to sit anyway, or should I just let them do their thing?
Would appreciate any tips/suggestions from others with some experience hatching geese.
