Chinese Geese Incubation- pipping on day 28

[Finnie]

I’m just making this as a journal for my goose hatches this year. I can never find a definitive answer on how long Chinese geese need to incubate and what day they should be locked down on.

The standard answer is from 28-35 days to hatch. I’ve not really seen a good answer on when to lock down. Since a few of the threads I looked up said their goslings hatched on day 30 or 31, I decided to try locking down on day 28, and then hope they start pipping within 2-4 days.

In prior years, I timed them just like the ducks and turkeys (28 days until due, lock down on day 25) and it seemed like they were in lock down forever. But then, I also had very terrible hatch rates, so doesn’t matter how long they are on lock down if they aren’t even alive.

This year I am trying to follow the goose hatching article more closely. I never did cooling and misting before. I guess I will see if it makes all the difference. So far it seems to be. There are several other variables.

So today is day 28 of this year’s first setting. I was going to do LD after dark, but I happened to notice a pip at about 4:30 pm! There are actually 2 pips and upon candling, several internal pips. I am going to put some stats in the next post.

 

[Finnie]

First hatch- Genesis 1588 incubator with Incuturn side-laying turner.


3-5-23 Set 15 Chinese goose eggs.

3-12-23 (14 fertile) 1 blood ring and 1 clear, 13 eggs left.

3-15-23 Begin cooling and misting, and also turning eggs from O side to X side (or vice versa) since Incuturn doesn’t seem to roll them all the way over.

4-2-23 5 Dead in Shell/early death, 8 in lockdown (2 look dead, but leaving them just in case)

Looking at probably 6 viable eggs in lockdown from 14 fertile eggs.

Lock down is in Incuview incubator.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

When my geese eggs hatched last year they pipped two days before actually hatching. Mine were under broody bantams, so it may be different. Wishing you luck for a good hatch.

 

[Finnie]

When my geese eggs hatched last year they pipped two days before actually hatching. Mine were under broody bantams, so it may be different. Wishing you luck for a good hatch.

Thank you. I will post when zipping commences, and also when they hatch.

I also plan to log the next two hatches and see if I get any consistency.

 

[Finnie]

Using different incubators. I should go back and edit my stats post to include that.

 

[Finnie]

Genesis 1588 goose hatch

Day 29

2 more pips overnight and another later in the day. (5 total so far)

First gosling out! (One of the overnight pips)

Yesterday’s 2 pips are making progress. One is 98% zipped and should be out soon. The other one has longer cracks in its pip hole, but not zipping yet. This one pipped on the underside of the egg instead of in the air sac. I had worried it had pipped and drowned, but then it began to wiggle.

First gosling is brown. Second zipper appears to be white.

 

[Finnie]

Day 29

2nd gosling is out. White Chinese

And, all 6 of the viable looking eggs have pipped.

First one is dry.

 

[Finnie]

Day 30

Two more hatched overnight (either day 29 or 30) and two more hatched mid day (day 30)

I did assist the last one because it seemed to stall out after zipping ~2/3 of the way around. And yes, it was glued in place. Navel closed and poop in shell, so I definitely didn’t go in too early.

Of the 2 “dead” looking eggs, one never “improved” but the other one does look more developed now, and I could see it pulsing, so it’s still alive. I put that one back in the Genesis 1588. (With the turner on, because there are now turkey eggs incubating in there.)

I will move it back to the hatcher after the last 2 goslings dry off and move to the brooder. I don’t know how much longer the straggler needs to keep developing, and I don’t want it to get kicked around/pooped on. I also don’t want it to have too much humidity, because maybe it wasn’t old enough for lockdown yet.

I put in my notes the dates that the hatched eggs were laid on. As expected, none of the first-laid eggs hatched. I began finding eggs on 2-22-23, and I was finding 2-3 eggs every day. (2 geese laying and 1 “spinster” goose that has never laid an egg in her 4 years of life.)

At first I had hoped that the spinster was laying finally. But then I realized that whatever goose had started laying first, must have buried several eggs in the bedding of the bottom of one chicken coop. And I didn’t find them until there was quite a stash. But I only found 1 or 2 at a time. I surmise that the chickens were scratching them and unearthing them, but not all at once. That was confirmed when I found a “new” goose egg one morning in the locked up chicken coop where no goose had been since I checked for eggs and locked up the night before.

Soooo, of the first group of eggs that I was finding for the first week, several of them were much older than I had realized. And those probably got frozen multiple times over as we had cold nights and above freezing days. Not to mention they were “pullet” eggs. However all but one had at least some development, so maybe being buried deep in the bedding insulated them.

There was only 1 clear, and only 1 blood ring. Then later there were 5 quitters. Oh, and I forgot the one I cracked open to check for fertility. That one had a small ambiguous looking disk, but I assume was probably fertile. I certainly didn’t crack any more open to check!

6 hatched from 14 fertile eggs equals 43% hatch rate. I will update if/when no.7 hatches.

 

[Finnie]

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Nothing more adorable than baby geese.