Where are my Goslings?!?

[keeperofthehearth]

Soooo, my first year w/Pilgrims and my Lilly is sitting well on about a dozen eggs. She's been very attentive only taking a quick break every day or so. I started the day count until hopeful hatch on the first day she sat FULL time. Today is day 32.....

what is taking them so long? Lilly got off her nest yesterday for a brief break & I had a chance to get a peek at one egg.... the shell does look thinner. Could the cold weather we had back when she first started to set delay the incubation period? I do plan on giving her a few more days but I am def. getting nervous about this. I am bringing her in a few hands full of FRESH growing green grass and placing it next to her each day and she sweetly talks to me and gobbles it up but she doesn't seem interested in the flock raiser. Any suggestion? Similar experience? How many more days should I give her?

 

[Lollipop]

I would be nervous also. I've had terrible luck letting geese hatch eggs, although yours sounds much more attentive than my geese. I doubt if cold weather would hurt the hatch much, but in my case at least, fertility has been an issue. I would give her a few more days. Good luck.........Pop

 

[keeperofthehearth]

TKS, Pop! Hmmmm, I hadn't really thought of the fertility issue since Issac had been breeding her....and the Pekins... and the Rouen.

I did take her first few eggs fm the nest. I broke one and it wasn't fertile but figured it was early on in their breeding. Did you find out why yours weren't fertile?

 

[Lollipop]

Never did. Some of my geese got taken by a predator and the fertility issue never got resolved, sorry........Pop

 

[ccrawf]

Has any one thought of candling the eggs?

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Candling, yes, thought to but Lilly's VERY attentive and I didn't want to disturb the nest early on since it was so cold plus didn't have a good candling light. I know Lilly's first three 'pullet' eggs weren't fertile because I took them out when she first started laying and broke them open. By then she was "demanding" Issac's atten. so figured it wouldn't be a problem. If these don't hatch....

... I'll check them for fertility before ditching them & if need be re-home those hussy Pekins who are taking up Issacs attn.

The one I checked yesterday did look/feel thin shelled compared to early on in her setting. Arrrgg! I really want those goslings to hatch.... at least a FEW of them.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

No goslings yet. I suspect we're not going to get a hatch.

sigh!

 

[larkflying]

I have a two year old goose and a yearling sitting on eggs and I'm waiting too! I'm hoping for one gosling at least, although if even half the eggs in each nest hatch we'll have goslings everywhere . . . I don't have a good estimate though, for when mine started sitting, and one of them spends a lot of time off the nest compared to a chicken -- she's gotten more devoted though as the sitting has progressed. Do you think that your estimate of them starting could be off? Maybe the "due date" is just a week or so later . . .

I should have crawled in the nest earlier and candled them, but she gets very worried if I come close and I didn't. I wonder how you convince them to stop sitting, if you think the eggs are all dead or if they just give up on their own . . .there'd sure be a racket if I stole the eggs while she was out swimming or something . . .

I'm tempted to let one of my broody hens sit on a goose egg -- if only to get a picture of the tiny silkie perched on top of one . . .

Good luck to your babies and I hope you get a hatch or some answers . . . .

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Good luck on your hatch, larkflying! I did wait until I was sure Lilly was sitting all day. She doesn't get off much at all. It was pretty cold even though she was back in a corner of the chicken coop when she started and there were days when I don't think she stirred once fm the nest. She finally started taking a decent break when we had this heat spell the last two weeks. Like your goose, Lilly gets very nervous if I'm hovering around her nest and gets back on though she may have only been off for a minute or two. I have a Scovy hen that has ducklings due btwn now and Monday.... 34 days for Scovy.... and she began sitting right about the same time as Lilly. I've decided that once Ginger's ducklings hatch... it's time to move Lilly off her nest. If that happens, I'll check Lilly's eggs to see if I can determine what happened to the hatch.

 

[larkflying]

Oh, I hope you have goslings before you have to take away the eggs -- are you going to candle them? I don't know if I'd be able to break the eggs -- rotten eggs are nasty things . . . blech.

I don't think my goose is really due yet for babies -- but I wish I'd noted when she seemed like she was really focused . That was a good idea.

I'm thinking my older goose is not really going to be due till the first week of April, but I guess I'll give her till the middle of the month. I figure that with two sitting, I should maybe get at least one?! gosling. That might be better than 15 to 30 actually, as it will be hard to take them away from their parents but I will have to sell some . . . the 8 geese we have already seems like a lot, but my daughter will not put up with not keeping ANY . . .

However, I'll be happy with one gosling to console the moms that didn't get their eggs to hatch . . . keeping my fingers crossed!

Good luck!