What happened to the gosling?

[Goslingmama]

I rescued some baby gosling eggs a couple weeks ago, and had one hatch Sunday night. After about 12 hrs of no progress but still breathing I decided to go ahead and help assist it. I removed the top portion and they were able to get out on their own, yolk sac absorbed. We named this one Meadow.

Now, my question is for the 2nd one baby. Nugget had externally pipped yesterday around 4:30pm and I could see it's bill on the outside of the egg around 11:30pm but at 5 am, it died inside the egg. I opened it up and everything looked fine except the baby probably died before finishing to absorb the yolk. My question is, why did it die?? Should I have assisted it?? What can I do differently the next time around?? I didn't want to intervene but I'm feeling regret that I didn't when I saw it slowing down around 2:30am.

It’s my first time hatching eggs ever. My humidity was at 75% and temp was at 99.5 during lockdown. My incubator was a homemade DIY one where I used a styrofoam ice cooler and a heating lamp my husband had left over from when we were raising reptiles. Here is a picture of the baby last night at 9pm. Unfortunately I did not take a picture at 11:30 when the bill was out. And here is a picture of the deceased baby

 

[Goosebaby]

I’m not experienced with incubating but goslings can take a few days to hatch after pipping so it isn’t necessarily a good idea to assist a hatch, usually the yolk hasn’t been absorbed and a premature assist can lead to death.

As for the second, it’s hard to say because I don’t really know but sometimes congenital defects can be to blame, particularly with the heart.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I hatch quite a few goslings each season. Unfortunately (and frustratingly), you can't really know with certainty why a gosling externally pips but dies in shell.

The size of the yolk tells me that the gosling wasn't ready to hatch yet - it probably needed a couple more days to fully absorb it. It's not unusual for goslings to externally pip a couple of days before they hatch, but it's very important that they be given that time to finish up the internal processes and not be assisted prematurely. Even if the gosling had survived assisted hatching with a yolk that size, the outcome ultimately may not have been good.

You mentioned that you have a DIY incubator - have you verified that the temps, especially, were stable throughout incubation? Temperature fluctuations can definitely impact hatches. If you haven't already, I'd verify - with an independent thermometer and hygrometer - that the incubator is consistently holding temps and humidity.

As @Goosebaby already mentioned, there could have been factors that are not visible to us, like congenital defects. Sadly, not all goslings, even if they make it to lockdown, will finish the grueling task of hatching.

Congratulations on your gosling that did hatch - hopefully, you'll have a gosling friend for it.

 

[Goslingmama]

I hatch quite a few goslings each season. Unfortunately (and frustratingly), you can't really know with certainty why a gosling externally pips but dies in shell.

The size of the yolk tells me that the gosling wasn't ready to hatch yet - it probably needed a couple more days to fully absorb it. It's not unusual for goslings to externally pip a couple of days before they hatch, but it's very important that they be given that time to finish up the internal processes and not be assisted prematurely. Even if the gosling had survived assisted hatching with a yolk that size, the outcome ultimately may not have been good.

You mentioned that you have a DIY incubator - have you verified that the temps, especially, were stable throughout incubation? Temperature fluctuations can definitely impact hatches. If you haven't already, I'd verify - with an independent thermometer and hygrometer - that the incubator is consistently holding temps and humidity.

As @Goosebaby already mentioned, there could have been factors that are not visible to us, like congenital defects. Sadly, not all goslings, even if they make it to lockdown, will finish the grueling task of hatching.

Congratulations on your gosling that did hatch - hopefully, you'll have a gosling friend for it.

Yes, I was able to verify stable temps and humidity throughout incubation with a thermometer and hygrometer. Luckily I didn’t have much trouble with temp and humidity fluctuating since it was pretty stable. I did a lot of research and read a bunch of advices in this forum that helped me while they were still incubating as embryos.

It just sucks because I feel like I did everything right and couldn’t just come to terms with why it didn’t make it. When I assisted the first one, I mainly peeled back the shell where it externally pipped. A few hours later it hatched on its own. So I just felt that maybe I should’ve done the same with the other one but I also didn’t want to assist too early. But thank you both for your opinions. I truly appreciate it!

 

[Goosebaby]

Yes, I was able to verify stable temps and humidity throughout incubation with a thermometer and hygrometer. Luckily I didn’t have much trouble with temp and humidity fluctuating since it was pretty stable. I did a lot of research and read a bunch of advices in this forum that helped me while they were still incubating as embryos.

It just sucks because I feel like I did everything right and couldn’t just come to terms with why it didn’t make it. When I assisted the first one, I mainly peeled back the shell where it externally pipped. A few hours later it hatched on its own. So I just felt that maybe I should’ve done the same with the other one but I also didn’t want to assist too early. But thank you both for your opinions. I truly appreciate it!

I’m sorry you lost one, it really does suck but in this case it doesn’t look like you could have done anything to change the outcome.