Nesting Goose ate one of her egg s!?

[Goosygoosygander]

Fleck 1 year old tufted roman/ pilgrim cross has been sitting on 13 eggs for 4 weeks now . yesterday I saw a broken open egg near her nest and she had yolk on her beak no sign of a gosling under her. Do geese eat their eggs ? If so why and how do you stop it.

 

[Squishychicken]

Sometimes chickens will eat the bad or infertile eggs that they're sitting on. I dunno if it's the same with geese but I assume so.

The egg could have been infertile, bad, dead or she could've accidently cracked it and ate what was left. It's hard to know for sure

 

[The goose girl]

It's more likely that a crow or a magpie or some other critter tried to steal the egg and cracked it open. The goose would have chased away the thief and then attempted to roll the egg back in the nest, but she probably gave up when she saw it was broken.

 

[Leader Bee]

I've heard they might do this if they are low on calcium but I couldn't imagine that they would sacrifice a good egg just to get it.

 

[Goosygoosygander]

Thanks guys,
She hasn't eaten any more anyway. I now have 3 geese who have been sitting for over 6weeks should I lift them off & get rid of the eggs ?

 

[EggWalrus]

How long is the gestational period of your birds? I'd let her set maybe an extra week before tossing the eggs, just in case they may be slow developers.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'd candle before tossing.

 

[Goosygoosygander]

How long is the gestational period of your birds? I'd let her set maybe an extra week before tossing the eggs, just in case they may be slow developers.

Yesterday Patch the egg eater had her head covered in yolk so I lifted her up to see how many eggs she had eaten and much to my shock there were heaps of newly hatched goslings so I said sorry and quickly reinstated her. !!!woohoo glad I didn't toss the eggs.

 

[Goosygoosygander]

I'd candle before tossing.

Gabrielle has now been on the nest for 7 and a half weeks her daughter Patch just hatched her first goslings yesterday and she didn't set till 2 weeks after her mum. I think she Gab may have mated with her son and he only turns 1 in october so he could be firing blanks. What do I look for when I candle ? Does a torch work ?

 

[AltonaAcres]

The best way to candle eggs is with a phone light, a headlamp, a flashlight, or a real egg candler. You will need a pretty strong light to see through the goose egg's thick shell. You will probably need to do it when it is dark outside. Look for a large moving shadow if they are far along, or a small red patch surrounded by veins if they are newer.