2016 Gosling Hatch-a-long

[8GeeseALaying]

Only 10 days left until Ethel hatches her eggs. Hopefully. I haven't been able to candle them because the new gander is an @$$ (his attitude has him on a Christmas dinner menu) as for the other nest I have hoped and hoped that one would go broody on it but they didnt so they missed their deadline and I will destroy the nest this evening. I have never liked a June hatch for goslings. Humidity is too much here even for natural hatches in June.

 

[72elizabeth]

Thank you. Will I be able to put the goslings into a brooder? I'm hopeing to sell them.

 

[servpolice]

Thank you. Will I be able to put the goslings into a brooder? I'm hopeing to sell them.

Yes of course you can put them in the brooder if they hatch.
A mother goose can get sad if she hatches goslings and they are all taken.
So what I do is leave one gosling with the mother take the rest

 

[72elizabeth]

Yes of course you can put them in the brooder if they hatch.
A mother goose can get sad if she hatches goslings and they are all taken.
So what I do is leave one gosling with the mother take the rest

 

[72elizabeth]

. I hate this smart phone, its dumb!!!! Thank you. They will chew me up and spit me out when I try to take the babies.

 

[72elizabeth]

I've never seen a fertile egg from a 1yo dewlap Toulouse. 

it surprised me too.

 

[KuroKitsune]

will be getting 9 toulouse soon and keeping 6(other 3 are going to my uncle)...in the 9 ae 3 boys and 6 girls....is 2 girls per boy good or should i only keep one boy and the 4 girls?

 

[Jimwie]

bob, it really depends on what breeds you like and whether you want to raise them up from babies. Each gender has its pros and cons. Best to get a pair, then they won't need to integrate as much with your chickens.

Jimwie, it does not sound good. You are describing a failure to thrive baby. They usually pass between days 6-8. Very sorry.

Lain, You were correct. 8 days. She died today. This morning she developed some sort of respiratory noise and that was it. I'm bummed, kids and even a neighbor was crying.

 

[Iain Utah]

Jimwie, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Iain Utah]

No white babies here yet.

I had terrible luck with my first pair of eggs. One baby turned itself around backwards and couldn't pip. Then the remaining one finally quit after trying to internally pip into day 31. Clearly my bator temps were still on the low side. The joys of using a new bator in a new home.

I had increased temp midway through incubation of my 2nd set so hoping I have better luck this weekend with the 3 whites/2 dewlaps going into lockdown. If these don't hatch then it will be up to my trusted broody to hatch the pair of white eggs I set under her two weeks ago. I also set a group of dewlap eggs 2 days ago as a hail mary pass, but since they are end of season eggs from an older gander, I would not be surprised if none develop. My last buff girl also went broody a couple of days ago and just in case her eggs were not viable, I slipped another dewlap egg under her that should be good, so fingers crossed for her success.

In other news, one of the chicks we got from the feed store passed away as I had expected, so we picked up two more. I am super pleased that the trio are doing great and are stinking adorable! Finally, I turned the family with the surprise 4-pack of goslings loose yesterday and they took their first trip to the stream. Hubby was so worried they would get swept away, but they did great and their transition into free ranging with the group went seamlessly.

That's the latest update from Utah.