The African and Chinese goose thread!!

[Chaneys Ranch]

I kind of think Elizabeth is going broody, she is getting less and less inclined to leave the nest, and now when I came out she stayed on. Is there any way to know for sure?

how many eggs does she have?

 

[servpolice]

I kind of think Elizabeth is going broody, she is getting less and less inclined to leave the nest, and now when I came out she stayed on. Is there any way to know for sure?

Yes the biggest give away when a goose goes broody is when you can see her feathers in the nest.
The feathers are not like flight feathers but soft down feathers
Usually after you can see feathers she should brood in the next 2-4 days.

 

[NathanZee]

how many eggs does she have?

7, is that a good amount?

Yes the biggest give away when a goose goes broody is when you can see her feathers in the nest.
The feathers are not like flight feathers but soft down feathers

Usually after you can see feathers she should brood in the next 2-4 days.

I don't think there are any feathers in there yet. I'll watch to see if she puts any in. Will she pluck them from herself, or just gather them? There are a lot of molted feathers in the barn.

 

[servpolice]

She plucks them herself.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: 7 is a good number, but she may lay more. I just took away eggs from my embden hen, the stinker had collected the other girls nest..23 eggs! I candled and took the most advanced eggs, put them in the incubator. Split the rest between the hens.If she does it again I will have to take them. Its too many to brood and some eggs will get cold. There were 4 eggs definitely rotten, none broke fortunately.

 

[NathanZee]

7 is a good number, but she may lay more. I just took away eggs from my embden hen, the stinker had collected the other girls nest..23 eggs! I candled and took the most advanced eggs, put them in the incubator. Split the rest between the hens.If she does it again I will have to take them. Its too many to brood and some eggs will get cold. There were 4 eggs definitely rotten, none broke fortunately.

I guess she has eight, we had to move her nest a couple feet away so she wasn't hurting herself on the wire and found 1 more than I thought we would. Is getting her out twice a day for food, water, a bath, a short flight and maybe some grazing good? Also we are going to weigh her probably tomorrow, then we can check her weight each week to make sure she is doing okay.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
Yes, very good idea. A serious broody wont eat well. One of my embden is horribly thin even with food and water at the nest. I finally took all the eggs, the bigger girl moved them all again. I don't want to risk the goslings dying. She hatched one very early this season and we lost it, I feel the mothers neglected teaching it to eat. We have several chinese set in the bator, some buff and embden. I have 8 goose hens, 3 gander total between the 3 breeds. We moved all the breeds to different pens in hopes to encourage a new start and to keep the goslings safer.

 

[NathanZee]

Yes, very good idea. A serious broody wont eat well. One of my embden is horribly thin even with food and water at the nest. I finally took all the eggs, the bigger girl moved them all again. I don't want to risk the goslings dying. She hatched one very early this season and we lost it, I feel the mothers neglected teaching it to eat. We have several chinese set in the bator, some buff and embden. I have 8 goose hens, 3 gander total between the 3 breeds. We moved all the breeds to different pens in hopes to encourage a new start and to keep the goslings safer.

Sounds good, I hope your embden does okay! How long should we wait to candle the eggs to see if they are doing well?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
Thanks, she should be fine. I put her on the higher protein chick feed for a week, and then I will let her back in with the rest of the flock. I candle at 7 days once the goose is definitely brooding. You will know, she will leave the nest once a day, all a big rush. Eats, broody poops (nasty stuff!) , swims and goes back to the eggs.

 

[atmaclean]

I was so excited to be able to find some goslings for sale about an hour from me. I have called hatcheries all over the US and have tried every local feed/farm supply around, and even tried craigslist with no luck.I purchased 9 fertile goose eggs out of LA and had them shipped to me with all but 1 sole egg being viable. I hope that poor baby makes it. It should hatch in another 8 days and i hat for IT to be alone too. Anyhow, I was planning to go get a few of the gosling tomorrow but they are not sure what breed they are because they are "hatchery choice". I know they are at least a week to 10 days old. Is there any possible way to identify their breed by just looking at them at this young age? I am the person who took in the toulouse goose after her mate was hit and killed on a busy country road a few weeks ago. I've been trying my best to find her some babies or a mate. None of her eggs were fertile She has taken up with our Maremma and tries to follow him around the farm. I'd much rather she hang out with the chickens but she is extremely fond of our huge white LGD!
If anyone has any suggestions on gosling identification , I'd really appreciate it (or a website i could use for reference). I won't be leaving until after work tomorrow (4-20) around 3pm if you care to reply.
BTW, I really enjoy reading all the posts and am learning a lot about these amazing creatures!
Thanks so much!
Angela