Why are my goose eggs not fertile?

[violette26]

I'm a goose and duck breeder from USA, and I need advice about their eggs. I've got a pair of geese that have been mating for 2 years, and they don't seem to go very well. Last year, only 1 out of 8 eggs have hatched! And sadly, the gosling died on their first day...

And I'm afraid it's going to happen this year too.

After that first year of her nesting, I decided to take 5/9 of her eggs and incubate them, and candled them on the 7th day and they were perfectly okay!
On the 26th day, I decided to candle them again, just to make sure that the goslings would hatch safely. But when I tried to find the flashlights (for candling), I couldn't find them, but then I found out that my son "borrowed" them for their sleepover at their friends birthday(without my permission) and told me later that they lost ALL OF THEM. I really just panicked and tried to find the best substitute for my flashlight... but it showed me perfectly nothing in the egg, and I started to think that it might be unfertile OR it's because the substitute flashlight wasn't strong enough. After that, I went to the nearest place and decided to buy a new flashlight, and they...were... out of stock. It was really dark now and my daughter (yes, I have a son AND daughter) would probably be really hungry, and because she wasn't big enough to open the refrigerator yet I decided to go back home.
After that I didn't have enough time to candle them again, since it was lockdown and I'm scared it might harm them.

Today is the 36th day, no hatching, nothing. I don't even know why I waited, it already passed the 35th day and there's no chance they would ever hatch.

These pairs are the hardest experience I've been with my geese, and I don't know why but I just feel so sad for them and really wanted to help. At least they still have 3 more eggs (which probably aren't fertile).

Can somebody tell me what's wrong? Should I buy them a gosling and let them accept it as a child? Will it work though? Any advice is accepted. Thanks.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

What breed are they

 

[Gray Farms]

Adult geese will almost always except goslings and protect them as their own.

 

[learycow]

What breed and where are you located?

Its unusual for most breeds to lay this time of the year. And if they do, chances of eggs being fertile are slim as spring is the breeding time for most goose breeds.

Otherwise, it could be one of many factors. Health and nutrition. This plays a huge role in viability of the adult breeding geese as well as survivability of the goslings in the eggs and hatched. Low nutrition can result in infertile eggs, babies that die in the egg, or deformed or sickly babies that hatch and don't thrive.

Also, goose eggs can be very tough to incubate! (took me years to perfect it and 3 different incubators I tested it with, lol). Their eggs are easy to candle if clean as they are white. If it's clear (sometimes you can see the yolk as a dark blob) by day 12, then they are no good. They should have nice veining by day 5 but it can be hard to see especially if you are new to it. If close to day 30, the egg should be dark. Only the air cell at the fat end visible. Can sometimes see the baby moving too