No internal pip day 29

[Lduvet]

Hi everyone, I am currently incubating three sebastopol eggs. They are currently on day 29 and there is no sign of internal pipping (I very very quickly candled them as I had to fill one of the water wells). There does appear to be some drawdown of the air cell sp I am hoping there is still time. What timescales have people experienced with sebastopols? I have only ever incubated chicken eggs so this has been a bit of a learning curve. Also, what humidity are people generally keeping the eggs at during lockdown?

 

[Pyxis]

Geese eggs have a bit of a window of time when they might hatch. 28 days is not guaranteed. They can easily go as long as 32 days, and some people have them take as long as 35.

Lockdown humidity should be around 65%.

 

[Lduvet]

Two of them have pipped internally this morning, any indications that I would need to assist? I dont want to if I can avoid it but just want to know what timescales are normal for internal pip to external pip and hatching

 

[Pyxis]

Goslings, like ducklings, take a very long time to hatch. But I usually put safety holes in them whether I think they need it or not, because I don't like to take the chance of them blocking their air off when zipping, which I've had happen in higher instances with them than other poultry. That is a personal preference and is not something you need to do. I highly recommend checking out Pete's excellent guide to incubating geese and other waterfowl here, as it also details how he uses safety holes and a method of assisted hatching called capping. There are many excellent illustrations, too.

 

[Lduvet]

Goslings, like ducklings, take a very long time to hatch. But I usually put safety holes in them whether I think they need it or not, because I don't like to take the chance of them blocking their air off when zipping, which I've had happen in higher instances with them than other poultry. That is a personal preference and is not something you need to do. I highly recommend checking out Pete's excellent guide to incubating geese and other waterfowl here, as it also details how he uses safety holes and a method of assisted hatching called capping. There are many excellent illustrations, too.

I tried putting safety holes in with a sterile drill bit but the shells are so thick and I didn't want to handle them for too long. How long until the air cell runs out of air?

 

[Pyxis]

They have at least 24 hours' worth of air in there.

 

[Lduvet]

I made a safety hole and can see that one is still alive, sadly the other one was dead with a swollen head (not sure if it was malpositioned?)