Help! Haven't hatched goose eggs before!

Today I picked up goose eggs at the auction. I haven't done goose eggs before, so would appreciate any tips or advice. There are 8 Toulouse and 10 Emden eggs. They have some mud on some of them. Do I wash it off? how? I don't have a turner big enough, so will have to hand turn. Is once/day enough? Should I spray water on the eggs when I turn them?

I am using a Hovabator. Should I use the one with the fan or without?

What temp is best? What days do you candle and lock-down?

Incubator is scrubbed and sprayed with dilute alcohol. Warming up now. Will put them in tomorrow.

Thanks so much.

HI.. just did my first incubation of toulouse eggs - 15 in, 15 hatched.

I did 100 degrees, hand turned, three times a day, and sprayed each time with distilled water.
I did sort of 4 sprays across the whole area (they were in a hovabator_) each time I turned.
Mark one side with an X, and then turn them over.

It's ok to let them cool a bit when you spray.
On day 25 I stopped turning them but sprayed a few times a day.

I didn't candle anything until about day 11 or so.

I would wipe the mud off with something a tiny abrasive, like a plastic pot scrubber, but if they are really muddy, not sure they would be a great idea to hatch.

I know I have seen others on the site always wash the eggs; I haven't ever done that.

I am watching this thread with interest as soon I will be setting goose and duck eggs, I AM SO EXCITED!

I thought geese were 35 days to hatch? Ducks 28.

CathJK, 15 out of 15? You must be thrilled! Awesome hatch!

Good luck to all of us.

Ya, I'm sure the 100 percent hatch rate is a complete fluke. Last year were awful hatches for ducks and chicks. BUT this year I only washed the incubator out with a little soap and water and then rinsed really really well.

My understanding is goose eggs do better with hand turning, cooling a bit, and a little misting of water. I also only used distilled water for misting and for the water tray inthe incubator.

Goose eggs can be anywhere from 28 to 34 days.
Mine started to hatch right on day 28 but they took longer to get out than the ducks or chicks ever do. They seem to poke a bit, then rest, then chip away some more.

But they all did it!

Thank you, Cathy. That's encouraging. I don't know how the fertility will be on these eggs. The containers said 'male present' and 'ready to incubate'. I also don't know how long they were stored. I figured it was worth the risk, since it was $18 for 20 eggs.

I wiped them down with a warm cloth, as there was quite a bit of mud on them. I have put them in my hovabator with fan at 100 degrees (my thermometer seems to be .5 degrees low) marked with x's & o's. I am misting with water that has rubbing alcohol in it. When I washed out the hovabator I used soap & water, then sprayed down with the same dilute alcohol and let dry. If anyone knows if alcohol is a bad idea, please let me know ASAP.

I was planning to candle on day 10 to remove any infertiles before they can cause any damage. I will update as I go. Wish me luck!

I will also be watching with interest. I have two girls on nests right now. I have no idea if they are viable or not, and i forgot to write down the day they started setting. Buff momma is a hate filled hell beast. I will not be checking her eggs. African momma is also spitting fire, however she is not quite as bad as Buff momma, and Buff boy comes runnin as back up if buff momma raises a ruccus. The African boys are not so fast.

They are just out in the barn on straw. I didnt want them laying so soon, defintiely not sitting so soon. I hope they are ok and hatch well, and that the babies are not dhilled with all the cold and snow. I aso hope we have more sets!

I have three toulouse geese sitting on eggs too.. well two have eggs under, the third goose has just started to lay ...all are rather protective as they should be

Normally they are nice and calm!

If they hatch their eggs too, I'm gonna have like 40 babies!!!

Artic I have discovered that goslings are wxtremly hardy little beasts. The seb babies were outside at a two days old eating and drinking with mom and dad. They would graze for a really long time before mom would sit down and they could rest and warm up. They never seemed bothered by the cold and we had a few wet cold and yucky days the 1st few weeks of their life.

oh Cathy! I must have toulouse geese!They are my very favorite. Would it be possible to reserve me 3 or 4?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who forgot to write down when the geese started setting... they were so casual at the start and then suddenly they were committed.... but when was it???

cbrookkelly wrote:oh Cathy! I must have toulouse geese!They are my very favorite. Would it be possible to reserve me 3 or 4?

Well of course you can!!! You can come and pick out what you want!!
I sold two of them to a delightful young women in Canal Flats. She picked them up like 24 hours after they hatched!!!

Pick up geese when you pick up guineas... easy peasy!!!

There are a bunch of eggs under two adult geese, I just don't really know when they started to actually sit on them!!!!

perfect! thank you. Just waiting on a chick order then we can make plans for a visit likely Tuesday next week now orend of this week if there is time. will email

Well, candled the eggs today. If they were chicken eggs I would say NONE of them are fertile! But they are goose eggs, and I haven't ever done goose eggs, so will leave them a little longer and check again before opening one up to have a look. I certainly hope at least some are fertile! I'm not going to be happy if I paid $18 for nothing. I know you take your chances at the auction but...

Re reading my goose book last night (after putting Toulouse goose eggs in the incubator April 30th) I think I won't be able to see much until day 12. How far along are your eggs?

My eggs have been in 11 days today.

So I'd give it a few more days - Even with a bright light I'm hopeless at seeing things until incubation is well along. Don't give up hope yet!

Depends on your expertise in candling. If you are fairly experienced in incubating and have a decent light to work with, you'd know. A goose embryo is fairly large at day 11 and the eggs are white so it's not really that tough. I find waterfowl eggs much easier to candle than chicken eggs every time.

My two goose eggs from Serjay were easy to identify as fertile by day 5.

I would also be very upset if none were fertile. It's one thing to have eggs not hatch. But at least they should start if they are fertilized.

Well, re-candled Sat. night and starting cracking open eggs that didn't look fertile. Only 1 Toulouse egg remains in the bator. None of the others had even a SPECK of blood in them! Argh! Seems a shame to run a bator with only 1 egg in it. This one egg was the dirtiest, too. Didn't see any veining in it, only that it looked darker and fuller than the others. I guess we'll see what happens...

SucellusFarms wrote:Well, re-candled Sat. night and starting cracking open eggs that didn't look fertile. Only 1 Toulouse egg remains in the bator. None of the others had even a SPECK of blood in them! Argh! Seems a shame to run a bator with only 1 egg in it. This one egg was the dirtiest, too. Didn't see any veining in it, only that it looked darker and fuller than the others. I guess we'll see what happens...

Could be rot, be careful when you do crack it open...

Oh that is sooooo disappointing! I know last year I kept putting goose eggs in bator and hoping and praying and thinking I saw growth but my male just wasn't mature enough. This year though he has gone from dud to stud LOL No one should ever sell eggs unless they have hatched and checked fertility because that is so upsetting to end up with nothing even starting! Those goose eggs take up ALOT of valuable space. BTW I only sent eggs to Uno cause she asked so darn nice

My lone remaining goose egg went into lock-down today. Fingers crossed...

*Crossed*

SucellusFarms wrote:My lone remaining goose egg went into lock-down today. Fingers crossed...

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Dang... I have another 16 toulouse babies that hatched last week (they were under the goose and took them away because I wasn't keen on babies getting attacked by our cats).

I'm headed to Kamloops, well Logan Lake, the week of June 23, maybe before that, I could meet you in Hope if you wanted a few goslings.. ok, they wouldn't be that little by then. But still.

Oh, Cathy, that would be awesome, provided this one hatches. It will want company. If it doesn't make it, though, I won't bother with geese this year.