Nesting geese

[rosawoodsii]

We have four geese, only one of which is a gander. He's starting to get rather hissy, so I assume nesting season is approaching rapidly. I'm in Maine, so I'm hoping it's not THAT soon, but regardless, I want to be prepared.

When do geese start to lay?
Do they immediately start to make a clutch, or do they lay randomly for a while and then go broody with a clutch?
A neighbor wants to exchange eggs for genetic diversity. What's the best way to do that?
And finally, do we need to make nest boxes for the geese, or do they just lay wherever they want? If we do need nest boxes, how big should they be?

A final note. We have horses, goats, geese, and chickens, but unfortunately, there are no dogs on the farm, so predators can and sometimes do come close.

 

[2dancingrats]

Our geese and ducks have a pile of wood chips they sleep on. Once my goose decided to sit on her eggs, the others kind of gave the spot over to her.
My geese are under a year old and I'm told the gander probably isn't fertile yet. We have been taking two eggs away each time she reaches four hoping she wouldn't sit on them yet, but she is doing it anyway.
I hope you keep everyone updated on how its going. This is my first time too.

 

[goosedragon]

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[annette'spets]

Goosedragon cleared up some questions I had on that same line,my 4 Roman Tufted,which were nice, started hissing and one bite me and flapped the wings on me so hard I have a black and blue mark on my leg! I worried about where they will nest because they come in their own stall at night- they have a hay bed. The pasture would not be safe at night. I wanted to sell them but no offers came that were better than the situation we have now. Don't want more geese tho. maybe I can take the eggs but am a little reluctant- maybe they are too young yet. Anyone use the eggs for anything?

 

[rosawoodsii]

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I wasn't too concerned about predators in the barn. I'm more concerned about goslings out in the pasture. It does seem pretty early to see anyone nesting yet, though the gander is getting more aggressive.

Will the geese pick separate places for each nest (I hope)? How many do they usually lay in a clutch?


annette'spets, you can use goose eggs the same way you use chicken eggs. They're a lot bigger (and a lot tougher to break), but very good. When I was a kid, my grandmother used goose and duck eggs right along with chicken eggs, just adjusted recipes accordingly. And seeing a fried goose egg on your plate is really something.

 

[goosedragon]

annette'spets :

Goosedragon cleared up some questions I had on that same line,my 4 Roman Tufted,which were nice, started hissing and one bite me and flapped the wings on me so hard I have a black and blue mark on my leg! I worried about where they will nest because they come in their own stall at night- they have a hay bed. The pasture would not be safe at night. I wanted to sell them but no offers came that were better than the situation we have now. Don't want more geese tho. maybe I can take the eggs but am a little reluctant- maybe they are too young yet. Anyone use the eggs for anything?

You can usually steal eggs safely BEFORE THEY GO BROODY. mine would cover the nest with a little hay and then join the rest of the flock for normal activities like feeding bathing and "other pool sports" I would wait until they were out of sight, nip in the stall and steal what I wanted. I always left at least one egg in the nest, otherwise they tend to move to a new location and hide a new nest, WARNING if they catch you messing with their nest they may attack. I don't recommend trying to removing eggs from under a broody unless you like to be nipped and wing wipped.
I have used the eggs for baking but you really need a good pair of scales to follow recipes Since a large chicken egg (called for in most recipes) is 2 oz and many of my goose eggs were more like 5 oz. since goose eggs are richer I usuall subed 3 chcken eggs with 1 goose + an oz of water. I sold many of the eggs to crafters both locally and on line. A good white goose egg takes dye and paint nicely. On line most of the sales were of "blown" shells with the contents removed through either one or two holes. This make shipping easier and allowed me to store the empty shells for a longer time. If you are interested, post and I will explain how blowing is done.​

 

[rosawoodsii]

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3 to 1 is what I remember, too. Blowing eggs is a great idea, and you get to use the eggs while you sell the shells! What kind of price do you ask for blown goose eggs?

 

[bargain]

Please detail how you clean and blow eggs out...
Thanks!

 

[rosawoodsii]

http://www.emuszine.com/eggs/egg_blowing_instructions.htm

 

[goosedragon]

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Yes these were the methods I used. Mostly Method two which results in one small hole rather than the 2 holes produced by method one. I did not use the 50% bleach solution mentioned because I then had access to a biology lab that had enzymes to break down and disolve egg albumin and other proteins. They were sterilized Inturnally by biocides because is if you don't get all the bleach drained out of the egg it can be a hazard and ruin any die or color that might be applied by a crafter. Price was dependent on egg sizes since the larger ones are hard to come by. Shape and shell color also might effect the price to a lesser degree.