2 broody Embden Geese on shared nest - 2 more in pen-hatching soon!

[promisedland]

We have 4 Embdens (two pairs) who have been in a breeding pen for a couple of months. This is our first year raising them so we are new to the breed and still learning. They are around two years old. When they started laying eggs we didn't touch them in hopes that the geese would go broody and hatch them. At the last count there were over 20 eggs in the nest. Then one goose went broody and has been sitting for a few weeks. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the date when she started, but I do know it was shortly after 3/13/10.

About a week ago, a second goose went broody. and is now sitting on the same nest. The nest is in a huge homemade dog house, so there is a large area for this joint nest. It seems plenty big for the two of them. The two non-broodies have been seen sleeping on the outside of the dog house as though they are guarding the entrance, although I've never peeked at them in the middle of the night to see where they are.

Now that the hatch date is surely almost here I have some concerns. I've read that if more than one goose is on the nest they might crack the eggs because of their weight. I've also read that I might need to separate the goslings from the adults to avoid them getting killed. I was hoping to let them do it all on their own without my interference.

I'm wondering if I should remove the non-broodies from the pen?

Also, I've thought of candling the eggs, but I think I waited too long. The geese are not very welcoming when we come near, so I'm not even sure I could safely do it without causing them a lot of stress.

I'm afraid that if I change anything I will disrupt the broodiness.

I actually don't even know for sure if the geese are the broody ones or if the ganders are! I've heard that ganders can be good "mothers."

In retrospect, I suppose we should have collected the eggs, put golf balls in the nest and waited for them to go broody and return the eggs to the nest so they would all be the same stage of development. Maybe next time.

So, any advice for our goose hatching adventure? I welcome your advice.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Well you have a fine mess on your hands but I hope you manage to learn from the experence. The ones setting on the nest are the females, the ganders will sometimes 'keep the nest warm' while their mates take a break to eat drink and poop. And there a few accounts of ganders finishing up a hatch when the mother is killed etc. The fun will start with the first hatch when all the birds may claim the goslings (The hatch normally takes about 2 days and once a gosling is dried off is often passed off to the the gander to care for while the mother is busy hatching) the gander does not usually have the mothering skills to know when the gosling is hungry, cold, or tired so I usually confine the whole mess in a smaller pen so that the gander doesn't 'walk the goslings to death' In your case the hatch is almost bound to be extended because the second goose to go broody was laying her eggs in the nest before she went broody herself. The difference between broody dates is the number of days the hatch will be extended. Like I said the first hatched is likely to be claimed by any or all of the birds. sometimes they are just claimed, other times they are fought over which can be deadly for the gosling. I suggest you be ready to brood any gosling that is being fought over to protect it from the parents. Be carefull when collecting any such gosling because if gives any distress cry you may have four angry geese on your tail for messing with THEIR BABY (been there and had the bruises to show for it) If at all possible let the flock raise the babies. At some point the first broody will come off the nest to care for her young. If there are still any unhatched eggs let the second broody try to hatch them, she needs the experienceto put her into mother goose mode. usually at this point I will try to gently Herd the first mother, goslings, and her mate away from the nest area to let the second mother and her mate brood in peace. usually If I had taken any of the goslings away I will let the first mother try to claim them. If they are not accepted I try again with the second pair. I really would rather that the goslings were raised by a goose family rather than my trying to raise them. Do you get the idea of what you may be facing? On the other hand sometimes everything just seems to work itself out while you sit back and worry. Good Luck and keep a sharp eye on your gaggle.

 

[promisedland]

Thank you for the great information!

This group of four have lived all together, so I'm not sure who belongs with who. Before I penned them up, they would wander around the property together as a group rather than in pairs. I wouldn't know which gander to pair up with the first goose, unless he acted more loyal to her and the goslings than the other one.

Currently, the pen is pretty large (I think it's 10' or 12'x16'). Here's a picture:


(The dog house on the right side of the pen is actually on the outside of the goose pen, unoccupied.) I had considered removing a panel from each side of the pen to make it smaller or dividing it. If I did this, I'm not sure who to move. Do the ganders need to be with the geese to help or would it be safer to move them out and let the geese work together?

Here's a picture of the two non-broodies. If you look carefully, you can see the two broodies inside the dog house:


The one at the back (outside) looks like it actually might be a goose and not a gander because it's smaller. Maybe the gander is inside taking her place?

This is definitely a neat experience and hopefully they will continue to all get along and raise the goslings together. But, I will keep a close eye on them and be prepared to intervene if the goslings appear to be at risk.

 

[Goosehaven]

Don't worry about your geese "sharing" the sitting responsibility. I had three sisters make one gigantic community nest. Out of approximately 20 eggs to begin with I'd say around 4 were broken during the process but all but one that were broken were dud eggs. Out of the remainder only four actually hatched successfully. Our goslings are now around 6 weeks old. It sounds like from your timeframe that yours should be hatching very soon. I chose not to leave the goslings with the mothers because they are young and inexperienced and the weather was still very cold at the time of the hatch. I had one hatch last fall and left it with the mother and she did not keep him warm and he died so I didn't want to chance it this time around. I wouldn't worry about your other geese bothering the babies because I kept all three mothers, plus two ganders and another female all in the same pen at night and never had a problem. Good luck with your hatch!