When will she start sitting?

[EllieDoodle]

My African goose has laid 7 eggs, about every other day, in her nest. She has not laid for several days now and is not sitting on the nest. She does, on occasion, turn the eggs, though I hardly ever see her on the nest. Is there a period of time between when she stops laying and starts sitting?

 

[larkflying]

Geese have funny ideas about nests -- they like lots of eggs, and they aren't in a major hurry to have them. Mine took about 3 to 4 weeks to have a nest full enough to trigger the broody instinct, but they spent time "playing" with the eggs, building the nest. I've heard they sleep on the eggs if it is cold out, but I haven't seen that myself. I have a goose with about 7 eggs now . . . but so far mine don't seem to want to sit until they have at least 12. I have two sitting on large clutches of 15 or so eggs each, but I know not all of them will hatch -- I'd be happy with just two actually : )

Just keep track of your goose -- she might be taking a bit longer break between eggs. Mine is a yearling, so I'm not sure if she'll actually have hatching success, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! You'll know she's brooding them when she's gone for the entire day sitting on them. One of my yearlings we had to drag off her nest and force her to eat and drink . . . she was in the zone and not taking care of herself.

 

[EllieDoodle]

Thank you for responding. I've been needing some reassurance! She now has nine eggs. It is chilly tonight and she is sitting on the nest....probably laying again. Last year, after a series of racoon egg-raiding nightmares, she sat for 30 days on ONE remaining egg.......which was not successful. This year she is with a young gander, so I'm not sure the eggs are fertile either. I just want her to not have to sit for another month without any results. I'm soft hearted! I only have one gander, "Mr. Knob" and one goose, "Mrs. Door" (The Doorknobs) so I'm overly protective and hopeful. Thanks again for your kind and helpful words!

 

[larkflying]

Oh, I love the names . . . I can just picture them together

.

Poor goosy, sitting for 30 days . . . they are so devoted . . .

I may have a similar situation with one of mine - she's 2 this year, but her mate died unexpectedly just before she started to lay. I'm not sure that she's going to have any luck. Did you take the eggs away - or did your goose just give up? I wasn't great about noticing when she started sitting, so I'm not exactly sure when they should hatch, but if she makes it to mid April I'm going to have to do something . . .

I think, if she doesn't end up hatching something, that I'll keep my eye out for some local goslings for her to mother around that time . . . even if they aren't the same breed . . . possibly even ducklings might do . . .

But I figure with at least 3 separate geese nesting, I should get ONE gosling out of one of the nests . . .

 

[EllieDoodle]

Last year, after 30 days, we finally took her ONE egg away.....it was not fertile and rotten. We also took away the nest. She seemed sad for a couple of days and looked for the nest, but she then moved on quickly. We thought about getting replacement goslings but didn't. We might do that this year if unsuccesssful again.

If your gander was successful in "kissing" her prior to his death, you might hatch some goslings. The sperm rests in a "sperm nest" within the reproductive system of the goose. I've have not found a specific time-line for how long the sperm is viable, but I've read anywhere from a week to a month in some of my sources. You can always try candling the eggs after she has been incubating for a while. That should confirm for you if they are fertile eggs or not. I hope you are successful!!!!! With three nests, you will certainly get some. Goslings are just the best!

Mrs. Lola Door's nest now has 10 eggs. Mr. Knob continues to strut around with an "I'm the man" attitude. Good grief.

The adventure continues! Best of luck to you.

 

[larkflying]

Thanks for the luck! They are all still very devoted, even though the weather has turned to a constant rain. Sigh. Guess our water supplies will be good this summer.

It was early in the breeding season when the ganders were still working out the pecking order . . . .didn't actually observe them mating, but I saw the others shortly after he was gone, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I knew that there was a possibility of her eggs still being fertile, IF they had mated, but . . . I just don't know. I did put some eggs from another pair under her as well, and in what will possibly become not one of my better ideas - I bought some fertile eggs of a third breed . . . like I need another enclosure of geese next year. Sigh.

And her nest is in an igloo dog house, which requires me to crawl in to grab the eggs . . . being new at the whole candling thing, I visualize being stuck in the house trying to figure it out, with her attacking my lower half, and the obstinate gander deciding that he really IS the boss, and attacking with her. With my luck, I'd get stuck like Pooh in the opening . . .

If it goes another week though, and the weather gets a bit warmer, I might grab an egg or two while my 9 year old stands guard -- he's recently discovered that he can boss the ganders around, and so anything that takes him into the goose yard makes him happy . . .

Although, with my luck, he'll bring his video camera and video the whole thing . . .

 

[EllieDoodle]

LOL! What a visual! If you get that video, make sure to post it so you can be the next viral sensation. Haaaaaa

I'll be eager to hear what becomes of your adventures. Mother Nature (or is it Mother Goose) will likely take charge and it will unfold as it is supposed to unfold.

Lola now has ELEVEN eggs in her nest. She is getting crankier (or was the dog was too close to the pen?) today. Mr. Knob, who typically sits quietly on my lap (all 30+ pounds of him), gave my arm little love nibble this afternoon.....PUT ME DOWN! I don't think he is getting any "quality time" with her in the pool anymore. He is cranky too! And after all the waiting for her to sit already, I might be a little on the cranky side as well. Maybe we qualify for family therapy........tee hee hee.

I'm in a similar situation with the candling idea. Though I don't have to crawl into a dog-loo, I would have to get the eggs from under her with my butt in a full "please goose me" position for Mr. Knob. I'll probably just decide to wait-out the 30 days and see what happens. I may get no goslings, but with your purchased fertile eggs, you will get some for sure. Good choice.

Send some rain this way please, we are DRY!

 

[larkflying]

Yes, the thought of the video makes me laugh -- my son would be so totally thrilled . . . it would go down in family history with the time that my husband squirted his grandma with the hose when he was 9 . .

Not that I am going to get myself stuck in the igloo on purpose just for a video . . .

My latest thought is that I can take our stethescope out and listen to the eggs . . . this would only work if the goose didn't know I was messing with them though. I doubt I could hear much through the honking if she knew. It seems easier than trying to fuss with a flashlight and cone in the dark . . . but we'll see. By next weekend I will really be anxious, so I might try the egg candling thing.

My goose doesn't know that those purchased eggs might be her only chance of babies -- they may be the ones on the edge of the nest that won't develop. Sigh. Ah, well, we'll see what happens. If nothing else, I've learned a lot for next year! It makes a lot of sense to take away her nest -- since it is the dogloo one, I can take it away. Wonder if she'll pester the other goose that is sitting, or if she will gladly go back to a normal goosey life of eating grass and more grass . ..

Mr. Knob weighs 30 lbs? I haven't weighed mine, but now I am curious. I thought they were in the 20lb range but some of them are awfully heavy to lug around. My neighbors already think we are crazy . . . so if I lugged our bathroom scale out there and weighed myself and the goose, it would just confirm their theory . . . I'm so glad that they mostly find the geese interesting, instead of annoying . . .

 

[EllieDoodle]

Good morning. I'll be curious to hear if the stethoscope method works. I know you can hear them peeping inside the shells a few days before hatching. We used to incubate eggs......I remember that. But prior to then during incubation, I'm not sure. Let me know.

I think you are going to have more goslings than you expect! Are you going to keep the babies? Do you have an optimal flock number in mind?

Lola now has TWELVE in the nest. Every time I think she is in there for good, she comes out and there is just another egg. I think she has enough already, but apparently my thoughts don't matter. She is, however, getting a little sassy and Mr. Knob is changing too. Ahhhh, they are growing up!

Mr. Knob is a HUGE Embden gander. Sources say that Embden females can be 20 pounds, but ganders can get to 30. He is big and tall, and yes, probably a little fat too. I used to weigh them regularly, but it got really difficult using the bathroom scale. I couldn't see the numbers when I stood him on the scale and his feet were too big and he didn't like it. And I also couldn't see over him if I held him and tried to see the numbers. My boyfriend......who is NOT a goose fan.....held him once on the scale so I could see the numbers, but I'm quite sure THAT won't happen again. I don't play in his "man cave" and he isn't interested in my "goose village" either. So for the sake of happiness, I have to just guess. At this point I'm certain that Mr. Knob is about 30 or over......but I don't really know for sure. Sigh....... Then again, the DMV doesn't really know my weight either.....life goes on

 

[larkflying]

Wow -- that is a big gander . . . although I wouldn't be surprised if my biggest gander is close to 30. We called him Goliath for a good reason . . . Not going to try to weigh him though. Mine are American Buff and are still light enough to fly in heavy winds. Do yours do that? We had Embedens growing up, and I remember catching them . . . and they did successfully hatch out a batch of babies.

Athena the grey Toulouse and Minnow the smallest American Buff are still sitting. One of my other girls, I think it is Whiffle, is laying and spending time with her eggs. I expect that she will start sitting also. I still have two girls who haven't made nests or have started laying, so if they both do then I'm going to have a lot of potential goslings. I wish I'd gotten fewer geese last year, and then I'd feel like I could keep more goslings. I have 8 adult geese now -- somehow I don't think my husband is going to let me keep very many more . . . although he does like watching them.

I'll let you know if the stethescope works . . . .