Raising Goslings (Baby Geese)
by C. Snape
Welcome to my personal experiences with raising Geese.
Having raised a few different types (or breeds) I can say one thing
for certain: They all hatch the same way.
The first thing you will need is patience. Without
patience, you are going to loose too many babies.
The second thing you will need is a warm dry place to set
the incubator. A cold, damp, chilly area is not where you want to be
standing, watching them hatch. They should also be inside, away from
sunlight, drafts, (hot or cold) and pets. Your dog or cat has no idea
that these little fragile babes need to be left alone.
Next: You need an incubator. We recently bought an egg
turner/incubator. A Brower TH120. Give them a call to order yours at
319-469-4141. To quote some one else from TV Commercials..."just set
it, and forget it"......
We had tried a small styrofoam unit. This was too drafty
and too small for Geese. We sold it to someone who will use it for
Quail. Possibly we did not give the small unit a fair chance, for it
was outside in a bunny hutch. We turned the eggs by hand, but
obviously, not enough times. If you are going to turn Geese eggs by
hand, turn them about 3-4 times a day. See why I bought one that
turns them by itself?
Make sure you read the directions! While you are reading
the directions, have the fertile eggs on the counter, warming up to
room temperature. If you put cold eggs in the incubator, they might
sweat. This will reduce the hatch rate. Handle the eggs with clean
hands! No hand lotions! The egg is like a skin, that needs to breath.
Do not wash the eggs...just gently wipe with sandpaper if you really
need to clean that clump of do-do off. Date every egg you put in the
incubator. I use a red pencil, and I write small, and gently.
Now, is your incubator set to 99.5 degrees? Is there
water in the bottom of it?? If you add water after it is set, you
will spend 2 days adjusting the incubator, every 2 hours. The same
thing happens when you add more eggs to the batch that has already
been started. If you must add more eggs, say a week or so later, the
incubator will find it hard to adjust to the new eggs. The eggs would
all be giving off different temperatures. To stabilize the incubator,
take ALL the eggs out, and put them in a box with a heating
pad....you'll need to try and keep the box lightly covered, still,
warm, and away from drafts. This is only temporary. Now adjust the
incubator to 99.5. Make sure it stays there for an hour. This could
take a whole day, depending on your patience. Put the eggs back in.
Leave them alone now.
The Brower TH120 says it will hold 16 goose eggs. Well,
Pomeranian Geese have some BIG eggs, and we could only get 8 in there
so that they would roll well.
3-4 days before the due date, stop the turning! Follow
instructions on the incubator for how to do this. If you have 2
batches (hatches) working at the same time...you will have to turn
the remaining eggs by hand until the first hatch is over. If this is
your first hatch, you'll be there enough times to turn the other
eggs...
Make sure there is enough humidity! I used a sponge
filled with water, and placed it in the incubator when the egg first
pipped. I also used room temperature (or a little warmer) water in a
clean mist bottle, and misted right into the holes in the clear top.
There is a meter to let you know if you have the right humidity. I
honestly did not get one. But, I am home all day, and had plenty of
free time.
Geese take a long time to hatch. From first pip to final
leap into the new world, it may take 2 days. The inner layer is
rubbery, it is supposed to be.
The next layer has veins in it. This may stick to the
feathers if it is not humid enough. Using room temperature water, and
an eye dropper, you can wet the membrane to let the wee one have an
easier time. Don't make it too easy, the gosling may pop out slightly
undeveloped. I did have one gosling slide out with a navel cord still
attached. After tying it off with clean hands, and clean thread and
snipping it, the baby goose (named Artemis) is doing fine. The belly
button has healed up, and is feathered over as I write. This was
written 2 days after. Our local Agway said over the phone, that the
gosling would not survive. www.dblrsupply.com said "It sounds more
like a humidity problem. To answer your question (about the mortality
rate of births like this), some will make it, some won't. A little
moist water and TLC by you will help remove it (excess navel cord).
From then on out it is up to Mother Nature." To be honest, I snipped
it within a 1/2" if the belly with scissors on the second goslin.
Named Athena, she is basking in the warmth of the lamp at this
moment, gently peeping. But I think I had better get a hygrometer....
Leave the gosling(s) in the incubator until it starts to
fluff out, and is quite dry. (about 2 hours) A chill could give the
gosling(s) pneumonia, and then it could die.
Geese are too big to stay in the Brower TH120 incubator
for too long. They bash into the light, (hot) get their beaks caught
on the wire bottom, (ouch) and are not really having a fun party.
Closely watch them, keeping them from harms way, (yes, you can touch
them), until they are dry. As soon as possible, take them to the
brooder...it is set at 99-95, yes?
The Brooder
OK: About 31-33 days from the time you start incubating
your eggs, you are going to need a brooder. A brooder is an area to
warm up and get acclimated. You can use a large cardboard box, a clip
on lamp with a 60 watt light bulb, a small bowl for feed, a watering
tray, and a thermometer. The babes also need a towel to walk, flop,
grip, chew, and mess on. Keep the geese at 99-95 on day one, 90-85
day 2, 85-80 day three, 80 day four. The temps might fluctuate in the
brooder. This may be from the goslings body temperatures, the heat in
your house changing, or power failure. If they start to breathe real
fast, and are laying as flat as possible, it is too hot. Shut off the
light, and watch the thermometer, move goslings to another box
(temporarily). Turn light back on, moving it about 1/2 inch per 5
degrees from 95, away from the box. Return goslings to the brooder
when it reaches 98-95. For instance: if the temperature was 100, move
the lamp about 1 inch away from the box to bring it to 95.
If they are shivering and peeping like crazy, they are
cold. Adjust temperature 5-10 degrees, by moving lamp 1-1.5" closer
to the box. You can hold the baby goslings while the brooder warms
up. Your hands are most likely 98.9 degrees. They will cuddle under
your chin, peck at your shirt, and murmur sweet nothings to you. If
you loose power while the goslings are brooding, remember: They
usually do not evacuate for 1-2 days, so you can put them in your
sweater on your chest. Geese are very resiliant, and if you loose
power on day 2 or after, just keep an eye on them, and hold them if
they start acting up from cold. I guess you can tell I have only done
small batches, and have gone through many boxes.
Food and Water
On day 1, feed the goslings room temperature water from
an eye dropper, or dolls bottle, ONE DROP AT A TIME. They will drink
if they are thirsty. Place a water bowl or tray in the brooder.
Gently and quickly stick just the end of the nose in and out of the
water. They will eventually play and splash this around. Keep
goslings from getting completely into the water on their first day.
Yes, they are weak, their heads may seem a little heavy for them, and
they will nap a lot. It looks like they have dandruff, but that will
all come off in a day or 2, leaving a fluffy gosling in your care.
Artemis, 2 hours old
On day 2 teach them to eat. Use only UNMEDICATED Chick
starter. If you can not get UNMEDICATED Chick starter, use chick
grower, running it dry through the CLEAN blender or CLEAN coffee
grinder. Feed as much as they will eat or toss around. If you can get
fresh grass, bring in a handful on day 3.
Put to pasture as soon as you have nice warm days around
75-80. If you have adult geese, and some are females, you can put the
babies out with them as low as 60 degrees. Momma will keep them warm.
And she will keep them.....This is another chapter, so here it goes:
Raising Geese to give to Mother Goose
If you are going to give the babies to Momma Goose
to raise, make sure she has a nest. If she doesn't, you are going to
have to build one for her. Inside her hut, her house, the barn, or
the abandoned dog house with a door: start with 1/2" twigs on the
bottom of the floor. Smash them up a bit with your feet, to make the
edges soft.
I did not say this was going to be easy, did I?
Next, get leaves.....3 armloads of leaves, and place on
top. Then place 2 armloads of hay on top. Please use Mulch hay, not
straw. Straw would poke your eye out, and it is much to stiff for
nesting. I always keep a bale of second cutting hay available for
this. It is the softest hay, and we use it for Rabbits' nests, also.
To entice momma to use the nest, put the goslings and momma in there,
close the door, and walk away. You can only do this withan older
female! If your female is 3 years or older, this will work. If your
female is younger, she may attack the babes, knowing they are not
hers! Try to put them together in a closed-in area first, to see the
reaction. I had one who wanted the little ones so bad, but her
jealous daughter could not be trusted, so I was left taking care of
the babes. A bad Mommy will hiss at the babes, peck at them, and
possibly grab them by the neck. If this is happening, you had better
intervene at this point if you want the gosling to survive. The
raising job has been handed to you.
If YOU are left with the responsibility of raising the
young, please do not blame the parents. If they think you can do a
better job, they will let you! Make sure you take your babes out for
a walk in the grass once or twice a day. Make sure their pen is
covered, and protected against cats, dogs, hawks, and small children.
Cover the bottom with soft mulch hay, and leaves. Feed them handfulls
of grass each day. Make sure they have LOTS of fresh water! If you
live in a climate that is cold at night, you will have to provide
heat, to keep them above 50 degrees. We just bring them inside, put 4
large towels on the bottom of the bath tub, and let them spend the
night there. We have a small chicken feeder that is a canning jar
with a special screw top lid with feeding rim, and we give them a
large LOW bowl to drink from. If they need a change of bedding, just
roll up one of the towels, leaving the rest down there. They should
be fine till it gets warm out side. We don't set them back out until
it is 50 degrees. Another way to keep them warm at night: Wet Proof
Heating pads. Do not get one that is thermostatically controlled, it
will never shut off anyway. Plug one in on medium, and use wooden
clothes pins to attatch it to the OUTSIDE of the wire cage. Cover
cage with 2 blankets, and tie down the bottom so the wind doesn't
blow it off. Do not make it airtight, they need to breathe. If you
loose power during the night, you had better go get them and put them
in a towel covered tub. They only can stand so much cold for so long.
Each gosling is different, but they are all tender, fragile little
handfuls! If they do not have a Mommy, they do not have that nice
warm body to cover them at night!
Athena, Apollo & Artemis getting ready for bed
If Momma Goose wants to raise the baby Goslings, let her!
And, you are not going to get them back! So, kiss them good bye, and
walk away. This tells Momma Goose you trust her with this new
responsibility. She may not want to wait till you are done with your
goodbyes, either. Just keep an eye on the situation. She will yell at
them, and push them around. But if one of the geese gets rough with
the goslings, you may have to separate those geese from the family.
We lock our geese up at Sunset. This protects them from
Racoons, Skunks, Wolves, Coyotes, stray dogs, Fox, Martins, and
anything else that creepeth and crawleth upon the earth at night. We
let them out at Sunrise. Momma may want to keep her new babies with
her, inside for a day or 2. So, feed them, place a low pan of water
in there, close the door, and don't worry about them. The little ones
are going to nap, cuddle in the feathers of their new mom, and
whisper sweet nothings to her. Momma might eat the baby food, (which
has extra protien in it) but put it in separate dishes. The water pan
should not be taller than the goslings' legs.
Never leave a gosling in a tall tub of water unattended!
If they can not get out, they will tire, and drown. If we are raising
a small batch inside, we put them in the tub of warm (80 degrees)
water, only 2" of water! We take them out, dry them off with towels,
and put them back in brooder. Till they are on their own, we only
allow bath time to last 10 minutes! As they get older: we only fill
the tub till they can just reach the bottom with their tippy toes.
Athena, Artemis, & Apollo 1 week old
Apollo, 2 days old in an antique bowl
Update:
As the Goslings get older, they are used to the chilly
nights. All 3 have survived. Apollo, Artemis, and Athena are about 1
month old. They are starting to "pin out", meaning their pin feathers
are coming in. These are feathers that are shafted almost to the end,
with a just a bit of fluff at the ends. Their tails look like feather
dusters. They are eating grass all day, and eating their chick grower
at night. They have grown to the size of a small hen. They are still
a little yellow, but the white is coming in quickly.
May 16, 2001
By June 26th,
they are all grown up!
Athena,
Artemis, Apollo
On June 11th,
we found a baby goslin outside the goose hut, long passed on from
running out in the cold rain, and we were not there to help it. Such
a sad loss, for each one is so precious to us. So I risked arms and
eyes, and went into Debbies' nest. I took out the 2 eggs that were
starting to hatch. My, they were BIG! During a thunder and lightning
storm Boomer entered into the world at Midnight. The following
afternoon, June12th, at 2:30, Teddie was born.
Boomer and
Teddie
As of today,
June 26th, the 2 new babies are running around with the 3 immatures.
The adults are quite noisy, and very curious about all these new
geese! The other eggs in the nest were empty, and very undersized. We
cleaned out the pen, gave everyone a flea powder bath, and life is as
calm as a yard with 8 Geese can be.
We hope you have enjoyed this page. We also hope it helps
you with any questions you might have about raising Geese. Raising
Geese is worth every effort, every dollar, and every minute!
Boomer and Teddie
All Five Geese, All grown (Feb 2002)
There were 3 boys, and 2 girls that hatched. Athena and
Teddie are no longer with us. The three males were trying to kill
each other over the females. We now only have Boomer, Artemis and
Apollo out in the now quiet, back yard. Apollo is the male. We were
given many eggs this Spring. We used them in our new bread machine.
Remember: If the goose is only 1 year old, her eggs are not fertile!
This year should be calm until Mating Season...and the cycle starts
again....
Quackers
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All photos by C. Snape