When will she start sitting?

[EllieDoodle]

Wow! You have quite the flock. It must be great fun to watch their similarities and differences. At least you get perspective. I'm sure, with the various breeds, that your flock is also colorful in its diversity. Good for you! Fascinating.

Lola is still only sporadically in her nest of 13 eggs. Tonight a 4-year-old visited. I was able to retrieve an egg to compare to the chicken egg he held in his tiny little hand. It was great to see his little-boy eyes sparkle at the difference. I quickly returned the goose egg to the nest because the Doorknobs were getting antsy and louder. I picked up Mr. Knob so the boy could touch his feathers. Mr. Knob promptly extended his neck over the gate and "kissed" the little boy on the top of his head. At least that's what we told him. He didn't realize he was gently bitten......no damage done. Note to self.....keep small children away from broody geese!

I like your goose names....very creative. Friends tell me that all farm animals should be named things like "pork chop" and "T-bone" etc. so it is clear that they will one day grace the table. Since these geese are NEVER going to be lunch, they deserve better names.

Embden geese are really big and aren't able to fly. With a sloped hill and a big run, they can do short lift-offs and land quickly. I keep thinking I should get a yard sign that says, "Too fat to fly." Yet they can jump pretty high while flapping their wings. And despite his flipper-feet, Mr. Knob can climb on top of a bale. He likes to be as high in the yard as he can get. They have a ramp up to the top of a cow-size water tank. When not swimming, he sits at the top of the ramp like he is king of the hill. Gander Heaven I suppose.

It is going to be around 30 degrees tonight. I hope Lola stays on the eggs. We'll see! Cross your fingers

 

[larkflying]

Well, I think Athena has decided that her eggs aren't going to hatch. She's been off the nest more than on lately -- once when I felt the eggs they felt pretty cold, except for one further toward the back. There could have been one or two buried in the shavings that was still warm though, so until she spends a whole day off I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Minnow started sitting about a week or so after she did, and she has been extremely dedicated, plus I noticed breeding going on. So, I'm pretty sure she's going to hatch out some goslings. If/when she does, then I'll take Athena's nest away. Poor goosey . . . I did check and no one around here had any goslings yet. So, I'm going to wait and see. I imagine that she'll be happy to help Minnow raise hers. Athena is the only Toulouse I have, the rest are all Buff. Not sure that I need a third breed . . . or even another Toulouse.

Wiffle the goose has spent a lot of time arranging her nest lately -- it is in an old, open sided chicken tractor -- we stacked hay bales in a square and she was busy pulling out straws and arranging them in her nest. Going to take out some more shavings and dump them in there so she can have fun with those. There was a nest of duck eggs in there too -- I'm leaving them there in hopes that one of my ducks gets a clue and starts sitting! With Wiffle, I'm going to be sure to write the date down on the calendar.

My daughter named most of the geese. My daughter was very upset with her 9 yr old brother, who begged to name the last unnamed goose, pointing out that he hadn't named ANY. He called the last goose Big Foot, which annoyed my daughter immensely. She thought it was so unimaginative, but you have to admit it was truthful. I wonder when he will out grown that naming tendency . . . a few years ago, when we had Boer goats, he wanted to name one Brown Head . . .

 

[EllieDoodle]

I think your goose names are great! I USED to see a man who named his deer head "Bucky", his dog "Brandy" and everything else was Whitey, Blacky etc. Your kids are far more creative than that. I especially like Minnow! I'm thinking that she will be your star mother this year, although you never know.

I still have 13 eggs in the nest, but Lola is NOT sitting on them. She mostly just wanders around. Occasionally she rotates them, but she just isn't sitting. I witnessed really bad sex again yesterday. I think that is the problem. Mr. Knob just can't seem to line-up the target....not even close. I suspect that Lola knows that the eggs are not viable. If she isn't sitting in another week, I may take the eggs away and hope that she starts over.

In the meantime, Mr. Knob needs some sex-ed classes or something! He at least now "wants" to do something and starts things. Before this time she would always have to initiate. Maybe next year he will have more testosterone and better aim! Good grief!

And you can tell your son that I actually think "Big Foot" is a good name. We had a fawn we bottle fed for a few months. She grew tall before she grew any other direction......it was dramatic. We named her "Legs" because that was mostly what she was then. "Big Foot" works for me.

 

[larkflying]

Hope your goose has finally started sitting. Mine are still sitting and sitting, and I have one more who just started, and another who is making a nest. So far there's only one female that hasn't laid an egg . . . I'm surprised. I thought they'd wait till next year. On the other hand, I have 0 goslings, so it may not amount to much. Next year I'll be able to do things better I think. Still have my fingers crossed for Minnow . . . I think in a week or so we'd see goslings if she's going to have any. Tomorrows my daughters birthday, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. She'd be so excited!

I've witnessed the geese breeding and it doesn't seem intuitive for them. Maybe because they are so much bigger? My drake and my rooster don't have their problems . . . sigh. Minnow was very popular before she started brooding, so I'm thinking that her eggs have a good chance of fertility. My ganders are very willing, but they are pretty clumsy at times.

I named Minnow because she was by far the smallest gosling, and we weren't sure if she was a girl or boy. It is a good thing that she was a girl though, as now that I am more familiar with ganders, Minnow just doesn't work as well for a boy. My son is very proud of Big Foot, especially since she is now making a nest and has 4 or 5 eggs in it.