Toulouse Geese Thread

[RURU]

You do not see it until she has an egg in it then you will see the egg sack holding the egg.

 

[gryeyes]

Ah, the lobes. Umm, those don't hold eggs. Those are flaps of fat.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think that is what she means the Lobes.

 

[clmschke]

I must have the term wrong sorry about that. The thing hanging off the bottom of the goose goose in the picture below

We call it her keel. In the case of my African girls, I notice the start of a keel on them last week. They were born the first week of April.

Kinda hard to see with them laying down. Once they start mating and laying, it gets more pronounced.

 

[kukupecpec]

We call it her keel. In the case of my African girls, I notice the start of a keel on them last week. They were born the first week of April.


Kinda hard to see with them laying down. Once they start mating and laying, it gets more pronounced.

I love when they all snuggle up!!!
Will they snuggle with their flock (not just sit next to but actually weave their heads in the others feathers etc) their whole life? OR is that only when they are babies?

 

[clmschke]

I love when they all snuggle up!!! 
Will they snuggle with their flock (not just sit next to but actually weave their heads in the others feathers etc) their whole life? OR is that only when they are babies? 

Depends on the weather and mating. I've got 6 gals geese who snuggle with 3 ducks because they were raised together. One duck likes to rest his head on the butt of a goose.

 

[HughesFowlFarm]

When it comes to hatching geese. Is it best if you incubate them, or if you let the broody moms do their work, which has the best results?

 

[clmschke]

Molly was a first-time Mom and sat on 11 eggs through the month of June. She hatched out the 5 babies fine. If you have the area available where your gal can set on her nest safely for all 30 days, I'd say let her do it. It's much less hassle on you. With Molly being a latecomer, and ostracized from the big group, I think she enjoys the company of her babies. I hear her constantly chatting to them as they walk around grazing.

I just had another thought: With Sissy, our African goose, she set 18 eggs. Now this girl is not big enough to brood that many, so I took 5 inside and incubated them. Three showed viability and 2 made it to hatching. They hatched two days before Sissy's babies did. After about three days of watching Sissy to see how she'd handle her 3 babies, I added the two from inside. They were adopted immediately.

Today, we had a storm go through and then the sun popped out. I ran outside with the camera expecting a rainbow, but nope. What I did catch was Molly's babies lounging in the sun.
Notice the color change in the front goslings' beak? It's showing more of a Toulouse coloration than an African one. I'm excited!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Molly was a first-time Mom and sat on 11 eggs through the month of June. She hatched out the 5 babies fine. If you have the area available where your gal can set on her nest safely for all 30 days, I'd say let her do it. It's much less hassle on you. With Molly being a latecomer, and ostracized from the big group, I think she enjoys the company of her babies. I hear her constantly chatting to them as they walk around grazing.

I just had another thought: With Sissy, our African goose, she set 18 eggs. Now this girl is not big enough to brood that many, so I took 5 inside and incubated them. Three showed viability and 2 made it to hatching. They hatched two days before Sissy's babies did. After about three days of watching Sissy to see how she'd handle her 3 babies, I added the two from inside. They were adopted immediately.

Today, we had a storm go through and then the sun popped out. I ran outside with the camera expecting a rainbow, but nope. What I did catch was Molly's babies lounging in the sun.
Notice the color change in the front goslings' beak? It's showing more of a Toulouse coloration than an African one. I'm excited!!

They are precious, I hope to have Toulouse/ Embden goslings next year.

 

[Cheep Chic]

You are so lucky. I just got an email back from Celtic Oaks Farm (where I was trying to buy goslings from) I' completely out of luck. Nothing doing until next year ! Does anyone know where I might buy two female goslings from? They would be raised on a 3 acre mini farm and loved dearly.