there is a goose in my area that has been sitting on her nest...yet no baby chicks are hatching :( all of the other geese families have been running around w/ their chicks for at least a couple of weeks and i just feel so bad for this gal sitting there with nothing happening. I bid on some mallard eggs on ebay...thinking they were fertilized and just need to be sat on...they're listed as "Ready to incubate!". Obviously I have no idea what i'm doing. She does wander off about 2x a day to eat (i know where she goes), and I think this poor lady's husband was hit by a car not too long ago, because there was a killed one close by (though there are a bunch of them that hang out in the area), but I haven't seen her with a mate in a while. Since i know where and when she goes to eat, I thought i might be able to sneek over to her nest and get some of these ebay eggs into it....will they hatch if she accepts them? and what do i need to do to get her to accept them?
can I put duck eggs under a goose and get them to hatch?
She may not set them long enough as she has already been sitting on the others for a while. She won't nessisarily know that they are diffrent eggs and start the process all over. It sounds like her eggs were either unfertalized to begin with or they may have gotten too wet or chilled. She will give up soon. Your best bet is to use the incubator,
i say do it but just a couple not all of your ebay eggs so she get get some chicks:)
thank you fo ryour responses! I hope that she will continue to sit on them, I'm getting the eggs as we speak, so I will see if i can get them in her nest. She's still sitting on them, so hopefully she won't give up once i get some good ones in there
I wouldn't do it because geese normally work together to raise their young. Giving her eggs that may hatch means the poor thing will have to struggle to get it raised and she may hurt her own health in the process. Best let her be and when she gets past her mourning she may accept a new mate and raise another family.
MollyD
but there is no proof that her mate is actualy gone id say let her do it on her own but im used to chickens who do it fine on there own so i would not know but i would want her to have babys as well so it is up to u. mollyd she wouldnt realy harm herself would she i mean chickens and ducks do it ok and the guy up the road have geese but i never see two adults with the chicks although the other one colud be hiding anyway as i said it is up to u
Lucky when I see geese here with babies both adults are working together. A few days ago we saw a family with 8 chicks. One parent was at the front and the other at the rear. They were taking them from a pond to wherever they were sleeping (It was dusk). I've never seen baby geese without both parents being there. We're talking about wild ones. It may be different for domesticated geese. So yes I think she could wear herself out or not get enough to eat tending to babies by herself. It's never a good idea to interfere with wild animals. Especially in this case where the animal's life is not in the balance. JMHO.
MollyD
when our geese hatched out their first, all FOUR were working togheter. i was really sad when they lost both goslings... and the momma was already in such poor health from nesting. then they shut her away for a time like it was her fault. geese are very interesting, and certainly different than anything i have ever seen...
well u guys would know a lot more about geese then i do just chickens for me :)
Had fun tonight with my geese and ducks. I've been putting them in an enclosure outside for them to eat grass, etc. I did this yesterday and had a doosy of a time getting them out of it. Tonight as I was trying to coax them out Paul drove up so I got him to stand on the opposite side from me and as soon as they saw him they all made a beeline for me. I ran to the coop and they followed me into it! Once they were inside all I had to do was get them into their own area. Less than 5 mins of work compared to half an hour last night.
The look on Paul's face was priceless. Last thing he expected to be doing when he got home! LOL
MollyD
glad you put him to work!
we hatcehd two baby ducks in our incubator, the eggs were under the broody hens. i took them out to the setting duck, and she took them gladly. they are doing great today. i torn fresh lettuce, parsely, and grass and put it all around her. somebody ate it LOL. and today she has a water dish nearby. i really have no clue when her eggs are due. should have marked that on the calendar.
i hope that if need be, the males will raise those two while she sets the rest, but keeping the incubator warm just in case.
maggiemagoo, how is she doing?
tf
hope this works out well for you! here is what you might see under your goose...
I put them under her a few days ago and I think she took to them ok, seems to be sitting on them. there is a stream nearby where she gets plenty of fresh water and lots of grass i see her eating all the time, so i'm hoping she's not weak. i think she is very stubborn and would've sat on the bad eggs all summer anyway. I hope these hatch. we'll see in a few weeks
well hope it goes well and if you see her struggling help her and give us updates as it gets closer to hatch date
she abandoned the nest :(
oh well can you get the your eggs back??
;-(
If you start setting a hen as soon as she goes broody, or any other poultry, they will set (sit) on any eggs and hatch them. Just don't put so many under her that she can't cover them!
Audrey