Should I be concerned?

[flockman]

As I put in another post my goose Natasha laid her first egg. The day before she laid her egg she became very quiet and almost in a trance. She had a small amount of fluid that was opaque near her vent. She seemed very swollen in her abdomen. Then she laid her egg. It had almost no shell. I did open it just to see if it is fertile. It was. Her abdomen is not so swollen yesterday or today but she is still rather lethargic. She sits in her nest, walks over gets a small drink. Then she may lightly preen but then go back to her trance state. She is not very vocal. Which is not normal for her.

I called vets in the area and they said they don't do geese.

This is my first year with geese breeding and egg laying. Hopefully I am not overreacting. If there is something I should do please let me know.

Thanks,

 

[Miss Lydia]

I haven't had the experience with my goose yet as far as hardly no shell or acting the way you have described, although I don't go into the house when she is laying so she maybe looking trance like. Like you said chickens can do this and I have seen it in some of mine,usually clears up on it's own, but not sure on geese. hope someone will answer your question,. I'm interested too since this is my first year with a laying goose.

 

[RURU]

Laying an egg that is soft shelled means the goose is not getting enough oyster shell and grit which they need during egg laying season. So put down oyster and grit for the goose to eat when ever she likes.....

I had a female that laided soft shelled eggs and she needed oyster shell and grit. Then the eggs finally became hard shelled. I learned from other breeders about the oyster shell and grit.

There will be others who can help you more on here than I can.

 

[flockman]

Thank you. She already has oyster shell and grit. She has been getting layer feed since January. That is why I was so surprised with the soft egg.

Is the behavior that odd for a first time layer?

Thank you for responding!

 

[RURU]

When we first got our grey sebastopol goose she started laying eggs and she had a lot of soft shelled eggs and she was not even a year old. So this was my experience with her. She was not even a year old at the time. But have only experienced this with our Gloria with the soft shelled eggs. I found a soft shelled egg about two weeks ago and non since.
Since your girl is still young maybe her first eggs will be like this until her system straightens out. There are others on here who can tell you more than I can because I have not experienced this only with Gloria.
I have no idea of who laid the soft shell out there.

 

[flockman]

Thank you so much!

 

[The goose girl]

Do you know if she actually eats the oyster shell?

My late goose didn't care for oyster shell, so I baked some mixed with wheat flour and water and fed them to her as treats. She caught on to that, too, and started scrutinizing each treat before eating it. So I mixed the shell in with her feed - that way I guess she must get some of it inside. I also mixed in some calcium with her feed. But about one in four eggs kept being soft shelled, even in her second year. The vet said there might have been a genetic cause for the frequent soft shelled eggs.

I've read it's not uncommon for young birds to lay a few soft shelled eggs during their first season. Also I read geese don't always want to eat the oyster shell if it's given separately.

Soft shelled eggs are harder to lay for the goose - they are more prone to get stuck under way. They are a common cause of egg binding. It seems like your goose is egg bound to some degree. Hopefully she will lay her next egg soon. Laying is a little like labor, so it's no wonder your goose is quieter and a bit lethargic. My goose acted the same way when an egg took a long time to lay.

If the egg keeps being stuck, there's not much you can do about it. If you can see or feel the egg, you can try to remove it manually, but you have to be very careful the egg doesn't burst - that can cause internal infection. If the egg is stuck further up in the oviduct, surgery is the only solution. Some people try feeding their goose oil to help lubricate the egg, but as the oviduct only connects with the intestine immediately before the cloaca, it has no effect.

I keep my fingers crossed for your goose!

 

[wildpeas]

If your goose won't eat the oyster shell, break up some clean egg shells and offer them to her.

One of my geese has made a nest outside and I have watched her lay a few eggs. Her routine is to fuss with her nest, turning in circles, arranging the straw to her requirements. She lays down and stands up a lot, like she is uncomfortable, and she pants. She lays her egg with a little straining, then she pants for a little longer. Once she is feeling rested she leaves the nest and forgets about her egg. She never sits in a trance or has a lower energy level. So far she has not laid any soft shelled eggs. She is able to graze all day long and eats a mix of flockraiser and layena. Mine don't like to eat the oyster shell out of a dish so I make piles of it in different areas around the yard.

I hope your goose feels better soon.

 

[flockman]

Well I am assuming that my goose is egg bound.

None of the vets in the area want to deal with her. I pulverized with mortar an pestle some calcium into a fine powder, then put it in water and gave it to her orally with a syringe. After that I put her in some very warm water and let her soak. She was in the warm water for about an hour. She did drink some which I have seen her drink just not eat anything. I am not feeling an egg anywhere. Before her first egg you could see/feel it. Now I see nothing. After I got her out of the water she seemed to pant which I had not seen her do and stand with her vent appearing to strain. I thought that she looked like she might try to lay an egg but she did not produce one. She is not interested in eating at all. Not even greens entice her.

The days leading up to her first egg had been nice and sunny. The night before we had a winter storm come through. I don't know if the change of weather had an effect on her or not.
If this continues I may have to look into a humane way to put her down.

My pair of geese are 2 of my favorite birds on the "farm". We will try to help her as much as we can but we won't want her to suffer any more than necessary to possibly pull through. I may have to get a new mate for my gander.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well I am assuming that my goose is egg bound.

None of the vets in the area want to deal with her. I pulverized with mortar an pestle some calcium into a fine powder, then put it in water and gave it to her orally with a syringe. After that I put her in some very warm water and let her soak. She was in the warm water for about an hour. She did drink some which I have seen her drink just not eat anything. I am not feeling an egg anywhere. Before her first egg you could see/feel it. Now I see nothing. After I got her out of the water she seemed to pant which I had not seen her do and stand with her vent appearing to strain. I thought that she looked like she might try to lay an egg but she did not produce one. She is not interested in eating at all. Not even greens entice her.

The days leading up to her first egg had been nice and sunny. The night before we had a winter storm come through. I don't know if the change of weather had an effect on her or not.
If this continues I may have to look into a humane way to put her down.

My pair of geese are 2 of my favorite birds on the "farm". We will try to help her as much as we can but we won't want her to suffer any more than necessary to possibly pull through. I may have to get a new mate for my gander.

Don't give up on just one soak, Haunted had one of her geese go egg bound about a month or so ago, and I'm sure she had to soak her more than once, I'll see if I can find her thread. Also sitting on warm towels out of the dryer may help too.https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738201/goose-what-is-this-how-did-it-happen-what-do-i-do-about-it