Sebastapol laying random egg, abandoned

[Ashara]

Hello.
I have a mated pair of Sebastopol geese that are just under a year old, these are our first geese. They are raised together with our chicken flock and they let 2 small bantam roosters overnight with them in their goose house. During the day they shadow our very large copper maran rooster and seem very attached to him as they were hatched/raised alongside him before we purchased them all together. They started mating about 2 weeks ago and have built up a large nest in their house. However we found a randomly laid goose egg in the middle of the yard near the chicken house. It was uncovered and ice cold when we found it. We decided to close off access between to two houses so the geese would be undisturbed by the chickens and maybe feel more comfortable with their nest. This seemed to cause more distress as they paced the fence line all day wanting to reunite with the chickens. They are all back together again, about 5 days, but they have not laid anymore eggs and the chickens occasionally steal their nest for their own eggs. Possibly the weather may have a hand in this? We had one last cold snap with a couple days of snow and temps down to single digits just after the first egg was layed. Any suggestions on how to encourage laying?

 

[Goosebaby]

Hello.
I have a mated pair of Sebastopol geese that are just under a year old, these are our first geese. They are raised together with our chicken flock and they let 2 small bantam roosters overnight with them in their goose house. During the day they shadow our very large copper maran rooster and seem very attached to him as they were hatched/raised alongside him before we purchased them all together. They started mating about 2 weeks ago and have built up a large nest in their house. However we found a randomly laid goose egg in the middle of the yard near the chicken house. It was uncovered and ice cold when we found it. We decided to close off access between to two houses so the geese would be undisturbed by the chickens and maybe feel more comfortable with their nest. This seemed to cause more distress as they paced the fence line all day wanting to reunite with the chickens. They are all back together again, about 5 days, but they have not laid anymore eggs and the chickens occasionally steal their nest for their own eggs. Possibly the weather may have a hand in this? We had one last cold snap with a couple days of snow and temps down to single digits just after the first egg was layed. Any suggestions on how to encourage laying?

It will happen when it happens.

Make sure they have access to egg shells or oyster shell and a decent feed, something around 20% protein, other than that there isn’t much you can do. They could be done for the year or they might start laying again in a week, or a month. First year laying is a weird time for geese.

 

[Goosey Girl]

The key is that you said they are just under a year old. Geese are not considered adults until around 2 years old. I love these comments from Dave Holderread:

This is a great reminder/lesson for goose owners. I encourage my geese to lay eggs in a nesting box. Some do; others have their own ideas on where to leave eggs.