Will a goose hide her goslings?

[LisabethBrooke]

I have two ganders and 5 females. I had to separate the ganders early in the season because they started to fight like crazy. And the not dominant gander had a female that paired up with him and didn't want the other. So they were easy to separate off. And then after awhile the second gander stopped breeding with the other 3 females and just stays very close and protective of the one he chose to be with. I was told and read that a gander will comfortably breed 3 females but I think he has abandoned the others and just stays very faithful to the one. Its kind of cute actually. He doesn't really protect the other nests, unless the females make a big commotion about something and then the others (the two free ranging) come running and squawking. But if I go any where near his nest it is a no no and he makes sure I know it.

So I don't think I would have to worry too much about the gander. But I'll make sure to put him and the extra goose into a pen for the time being as I harass my momma goose. Should I do it at night or during the day, or does it really not matter?

What do I do with her after I've removed her from the nest?

 

[holm25]

DO NOT TAKE BABIES AWAY FROM MOMMAS. If u take her goslings u will put lots of stress on her as she will spend the next few weeks calling for them and looking. Speckledhen that's on byc had this happen to her with a hen and she said it lost lots of weiggt and she will never do that again. Its better to just let mom take care of them for u.

 

[Miss Lydia]

DO NOT TAKE BABIES AWAY FROM MOMMAS. If u take her goslings u will put lots of stress on her as she will spend the next few weeks calling for them and looking. Speckledhen that's on byc had this happen to her with a hen and she said it lost lots of weiggt and she will never do that again. Its better to just let mom take care of them for u.

I agree and i could not do it either.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have two ganders and 5 females. I had to separate the ganders early in the season because they started to fight like crazy. And the not dominant gander had a female that paired up with him and didn't want the other. So they were easy to separate off. And then after awhile the second gander stopped breeding with the other 3 females and just stays very close and protective of the one he chose to be with. I was told and read that a gander will comfortably breed 3 females but I think he has abandoned the others and just stays very faithful to the one. Its kind of cute actually. He doesn't really protect the other nests, unless the females make a big commotion about something and then the others (the two free ranging) come running and squawking. But if I go any where near his nest it is a no no and he makes sure I know it.

So I don't think I would have to worry too much about the gander. But I'll make sure to put him and the extra goose into a pen for the time being as I harass my momma goose. Should I do it at night or during the day, or does it really not matter?

What do I do with her after I've removed her from the nest?

I think it probably won't matter when you do it because geese don't sleep like chickens they usually sleep with one eye open anyway. and during day light your going to be able to see better what is going on.
I hope there are some live goslings under her. i am also worried about her. Do you have an extra pen you can put her in till you have gotten everything looked at and cleaned up? Take a good look at her too how she weighs and if she can stand and walk okay.

Ganders will mate with 2 geese but usually have a special one they really partner with, but all of the flock will protect and care for goslings.

 

[LisabethBrooke]

I was going to sell the goslings, as long as I didn't become too attached to any. I hate the idea of distressing her. She's been such a good goose and to be honest one of my favorites. Minus maybe eating the eggs she has been wonderful at caring for her nest. And before I separated her from the others she took care of their nests too.

If she is okay do I just let her have a little time her self. And if she can't walk does she need to be seen by a vet or just kind of pampered for a bit. A little bit ago I had a different goose get egg bound and just pampered her with a warm Epson salt bath and some food and some pedialite (I read they needed the electrolytes) And pop out come the egg and she acted way better. Should I do that with my goose in this situation too?

With the eggs, if they have been in the same nest as exploding eggs, can I wash them? Or would that push the bacteria into the egg and hurt that gosling too? And if I candle the eggs how do I know if they are good eggs and not full of bacteria?

 

[holm25]

You'll have to wait for Lydia on the walking question. She doesn't have to go through the stuff your egg bound goose did. And its a good rule to always get rid of an egg that has had egg yoke or white on it. I always get rid of them at least. Have u checked for babies yet??

 

[Miss Lydia]

I was going to sell the goslings, as long as I didn't become too attached to any. I hate the idea of distressing her. She's been such a good goose and to be honest one of my favorites. Minus maybe eating the eggs she has been wonderful at caring for her nest. And before I separated her from the others she took care of their nests too.

If she is okay do I just let her have a little time her self. And if she can't walk does she need to be seen by a vet or just kind of pampered for a bit. A little bit ago I had a different goose get egg bound and just pampered her with a warm Epson salt bath and some food and some pedialite (I read they needed the electrolytes) And pop out come the egg and she acted way better. Should I do that with my goose in this situation too?

With the eggs, if they have been in the same nest as exploding eggs, can I wash them? Or would that push the bacteria into the egg and hurt that gosling too? And if I candle the eggs how do I know if they are good eggs and not full of bacteria?

If she is at a good weight, she may have lost some because of brooding but I'm talking very noticeable weight loss. not able to stand or walk, then you may have to get a vet involved or if you think you can get her back to health them you try but if you don't notice her perking up and getting stronger in a few days i wouldn't wait to get help if you can, good feed and vitamins in her drinking water. I'd keep her separate from the rest until till is doing much better all depends again on how she is once you get her off the nest. If you have eggs that have exploded then your going to have a mess and it;'s not a good idea to wash eggs it does take what ever is on the outside inside. so if you see any that are viable best you can do if you want to try and save them is wipe them off best you can with paper towels. Handle any remaining eggs very gently you said there is a smell so no telling what you may find under her so be prepared and smell each egg look at it closely if dark on the inside and you can see it with out candling set those aside. any remaining egg look them over real good for pips and listen to them too because if you have any internally pipped you'll hear peeping. I'll find you a pic of what you should see at end of incubation so you can decide if any are viable. If you have any that are dark you can see it from outside they may be your rotten ones so to keep from exploding handle all the eggs very gently.




Go hear first page and scroll down Pete gives pic and description of what you should be seeing if you have any goslings ready to hatch.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/491013/goose-incubation-hatching-guide-completed

 

[LisabethBrooke]

It was a sad day. And a disgusting one. Good news was momma goose was still healthy and VERY feisty. She lost some weight, but still looks good. Once I got her off the nest (it was a battle.) she took of and walked around just fine. I put her into a different cage and she jumped right into the tub and bathed and ate and wondered around. She didn't act like she was too distressed about me with her nest.

The nest was a mess. There was some dead goslings, mostly hatched and dead. I don't know how they died or is she killed them while they were trying to hatch, I have no idea. It was disgusting and sad. I wanted to both vomit and cry. I brought the eggs in and whipped them off with paper towels and then candled them. Some were still clear like eggs that hadn't developed into anything or been incubated yet. There was one egg that was kind of sloshy when you moved it around. It looked like it was mostly developed into something on the inside but when you move it it sloshes around in the air cell. And a few of them have nice air cells and are just dark, so I'm hoping they're still good. I can't hear anything or I don't see any movement, but I need something good for today so I'm keeping them warm under a heating pad with a wet washcloth. There was one egg with a blood ring so I pitched it.

 

[holm25]

That's to bad!!

 

[LisabethBrooke]

This is one that when I candled it its clear. But I don't think they should be clear at this point. So I'm assuming it would be safe to discard this one? Or should I incubate it?


this clear one has this spot on the inside... I have no idea what that is





then theres this dark one. I assume its dark because that's a chick in there. And OMG I SWEAR as I type this I can now here a very faint peeping sound!!!! I feel soo excited now. And greatly relieved.







theres this dark one but the top of It was clearer than the top of the others so I duno about this one.... maybe just less developed...? no idea.

















this is the one with the blood ring. I'm pretty positive that it was a blood ring. It went up this side and down the other and followed along the dark circle (which I assume is the yolk) and there was some darker spots on the yolk



This one is so dark it was hard to take a picture of.