geese lay eggs that do not hatch

17 years ago

We have 3 geese that lay their eggs, and keep them in the same large nest. They take turns laying on the eggs, but they do not hatch. I assume they are sterile. I also have 2 resident ducks (brown in color), and a pair of Canadian geese that have been visiting us over the last 4 months. We would like additional ducks/geese, but I am unsure of the best method to go about introducing them. Can I purchase ducklings/goslings via the internet? Is it better to purchase them locally? I do not know of anyone who sells them in my area. It would be interesting and educational for my children if we could somehow obtain fertilized eggs and incubate them to hatching. I have read about some of the challenges in caring for a newly hatched gosling on this forum, and am leaning toward ducklings/goslings. Advice is greatly appreciated.

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Lori Kuserk

6 years ago

Kayaking in the stream that runs through our back yard this morning in south Jersey we notice a very stressed looking very still goose sitting on a nest. She was alone both times we went by her. It’s the middle of May- if there are eggs in her nest wouldn’t they have hatched by now? Is there a way to comfort or help in this situation?

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Comments (9)

patrick_nh
17 years ago
The best education for both you and the children would be to get your hands on some good books about the basic care of waterfowl. If you do it before you attempt to incubate any eggs, it will probably increase your success, as well as save you all from possible dissapointment. Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks and the Book of Geese, both by Dave Holderread, as well as Domestic Duck, and Domestic Geese, both by Chris Ashton, are about the best books out there on domestic waterfowl.

Your inability to hatch is not caused by any infertility with your birds, it's your management. No domestic poultry or waterfowl will hatch eggs effectively in a communal nest like you have. The books explain why, and how to manage the birds so that they will have a better chance of hatching their own eggs.
pacmom23
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you for the redirect. I will educate myself and decide what is best after that. Thanks for the valuable book insight.
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hotzcatz
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I've also heard that geese need a pond or swimable water source for fertile eggs. Don't know if that's true or not, though.
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17 years ago
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15 years ago
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carol721
10 years ago
I have a goose that has hatched out 2 goslings. The other 5 eggs are NOT going to hatch. Can i just take them form her or wait until she gives them up??
User
10 years ago
I'd remove the eggs that aren't going to hatch....have had this happen before and depending on how dedicated the mother bird is, it can be a real stress on her. She'll sit and sit and sit, only getting up and out to *maybe* eat, and her health will start to deteriorate. She needs to be out showing her babes to forage and have a good time.
As far as several geese sharing a nest and not having a good hatch, this is not always true. I've had 3 Pilgrim geese all sharing a large nest and many eggs hatch. One of them started laying later than the others in a different location, after the others had hatched, and those mother geese took turns sitting on her eggs. All of them, including the gander, shared in the "childcare".
User
6 years ago
Since this is, I'm assuming, a wild goose, contact your Department of Natural Resources, or similar organization, and ask if there may be something wrong and if they could check on her. I'm thinking in the wild these sort of things do happen, but in most cases we just don't notice.