Update on my little gander and a question...

[Gyburc]

Hi all,

I posted a few weeks ago about my little Toulouse gander, Lembit (hatched with a twisted beak), and his habit of sitting on the girls' nests... now I know why he does it!

On Sunday morning when I let them all out, Lembit looked really poorly, staggering around, very uncomfortable. We decided to keep an eye on him and to try not to worry unless he got worse. By mid-morning, he was greatly improved. And then we found the egg in the garden. ????

Yes, little Lembit is actually a girl.

Lembit is now laying eggs at a rate of about 1 per day. Lembit is also going seriously broody, and unfortunately she has picked the ducks' shed to nest in. She adopted four duck eggs to sit on together with her most recent egg. This would be fine, except that she won't allow the ducks in there with her.

Last night, after trying to coax her out so the ducks could go to bed, I had to pick her up bodily and put her in the goose shed. She did not appreciate this. I've taken to closing up the duck shed during the day so she can't get back in there, and I've also put her egg and some ducks' eggs in the goose shed for her to find.

Do you think there is any chance that she'll sit on them in there, or have I spoiled things completely by moving her?

Thanks!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Hmm its possible. It might have been more likely if you had moved the eggs first and then put her on top. Of course that would have been much easier said than done.

 

[Oregon Blues]

My Saddleback Pomeranian just had her nest moved to a different pen and she stayed with it. She's out there right now, sitting on her eggs.

Now, her nest was already in a dog crate because I knew I was going to have to move her. So everything is the same, except for the location. I didn't handle or move the eggs, just picked up the dog crate and moved the whole thing. She happened to be inside the crate with the eggs when the nest got moved, because she refused to come out.

 

[Gyburc]

Thanks to you both! Lembit isn't actually sitting permanently yet, but is showing much more interest in the eggs than either of the other girls did. When I got back from work yesterday, I saw that she had covered the eggs in the goose-shed with a layer of straw, so she has obviously found them and is looking after them.

She isn't even a year old yet, so I suppose it's unlikely that she will sit properly this year. But I felt such a heel moving her out of the duck-shed...