My Goslings are Hatching!!!

My first gosling hatch, day 31! I am so ecksited! So are they like ducks? Does it take them sometimes a couple days to completely break free? Tell me quick so I know to keep my hands off of them!

I can't imagine how wonderful they will be! Are they really squishy?

OH NO!!! They grow into geese you know!!!!!!

I'm not sure exactly how long they take to hatch, the ones I hatched were ignored when they were hatching as I was out of town, but my dad apparently helped one out after it was 'stuck' for about 18 hrs. I can't speak to how stuck it was or wasn't, but my dad wholeheartedly felt he saved it's life Our incubator has a hard time keeping humidity up for hatching so its possible.

They are so delightfully snuggly and squishy, I'm so jealous. I was hatching the goose eggs for a friend last year, so they hatched and moved out soon after.. sigh..

I'm no help at all sorry. I'm so very jealous of you though!

Soft, squishy, beautiful little goslings, lucky you!! Have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

BriarwoodPoultry wrote:OH NO!!! They grow into geese you know!!!!!!

Oh no they won't! They are going to be housepets! At least the ducks were until they became just too messy.

I am looking forward to seeing if they imprint. The idea of a flock of squishy, snuggly little goslings really appeals to me!

Sue geese can take an incredibly long time from pip to hatch, DO NOT HELP!, HANDS OFF!, LOL
I would say my geese take anywhere from 24-36 hours from pip to hatch at the longest, sometimes they pip and hatch within a couple hours, but I did try to help when I was new to geese and it was not good. They pip then absorb their yolks so do not open the eggs prematurely.

.

GEESE SCARE ME!

I have no interest, pets, not pets.
What Tara just posted tells me my instincts are correct.

GEESE SCARE ME!

Never fear Tara, I want the goslings to fit in with the rest of their flock. I am joking about geese housepets. Can you imagine the stink?

Thank-you, Hidden! That is just the encouragement I need. Hands off shall be my motto.

Coopie, they are only hissy when they are breeding (at least mine are.) Sometimes I will pretend I am scared of them and run away crying crocodile tears. They take a lot of satisfaction in driving me away. Most of the time they are sweeties. However there WAS the time they trapped Doug in the barn and took turns biting him.....

Schipperkesue wrote: However there WAS the time they trapped Doug in the barn and took turns biting him.....

My pilgrims are great geese, they do "hiss" but never bite or chase. The chinese are a bit different, the brown chinese we have respect us and for the most part just hiss and drop their heads, but occasionally would give chase in breeding season to the kids. But we keep them locked away now during breeding season so they can just be themselves.
The white chinese my father in law has have no respect at all, they will "goose you" whenever they can, give chase, and man oh man you do not want to be anywhere near them when they have a baby...

I figured I would have to sell them after that little episode and even had a buyer all set up. But when I told Doug I was selling them he had a fit and insisted I keep them.

Don't you all wish you had a hubbie like mine? What a guy!

Ooooh! Two of the three have little holes through the shell and are breathing and peeping!

I have a rather imperious brown chinese gander. He goose steps about, his chin lifted so high that he is bracticly on his tippy toes! I love the way he oogles people with one distainful eye. He hisses but also comes up to damand his treats. I like him because if I bring in goslings he dashes over and rounds them up, claiming them as his own.

Well, that was last night, now what about this morning? Out? Why on earth don't you get a new computer, smiling that big smile. You are driving me nuts with your spelling mistakes, now fear that thought!! This is a cool thing to hear about the squishy baby babies!! Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

what breed of geese are they Sue?
And do tell us how they are hatching, we love to know!

Morning Report:

They are Toulouse. All 3 are started. the initial 2 have little holes to breathe and the last one has a pip but no hole yet.

I turn them again this afternoon around 3. I will have another look. What if they haven't made progress? Those shells are really tough!

Why are you turning them still Sue?

Pictures! We want pictures once they've hatched!

coopslave wrote:

Schipperkesue wrote: However there WAS the time they trapped Doug in the barn and took turns biting him.....

I am laughing hard
All alone here at my desk.
Now I want some geese.

Hidden River wrote:Why are you turning them still Sue?

Oops, sorry, not so clear! I have 3 different stages of goose hatch in that incubator. I open 3 times a day to turn the younger eggs, then give the bator a good misting and close it back up.

I have 3 breathing holes now. The goslings have made no attempt to break any more shell. The shell is really hard. I want to help just a little! They first ppped 24 hours ago. I am scared to lose them! Tell me to keep my hands off... or not!

Well it is a whole different game when you start opening the bator during hatching. If the holes look sunk in and dry then you might want to look at helping, but I would still wait if it was me.

Yeah, they look a little dry. I will have another look tonight. See if there is any headway.

I'd quit turning the other eggs for the couple days you need to hatch these ones because if geese are anything like ducks they need lots of humidity and opening the lid is going to shrink wrap those babies in. It nearly killed me to watch and not help my ducks last year but when I did open the door to help I doomed the other eggs and I learned my lesson. Do not open but if you do spray water then be careful not to get water around the opening or the water in their nostrils can drown them

Sadly, the first two hatched and I put them in the brooder but I suspect I had a temperature spike and it killed them. Perhaps not. They were pretty weak but looked OK ar first.

The remaining one hatched after and I will keep it in the incubator overnight.

I sure hate the hard lessons in raising poultry but at least I am having better luck than the geese did last year.