This is my first post so bare with me if I seem like an idiot. I have 2 one year old saddleback geese. I've been under the impression that one is male and one is female. The female (darla) laid non fertile eggs late late last fall, she sat on them a little but lost interest. I knew the eggs weren't fertile because I interact with my ducks and geese ALOT and witness a lot of the mating that goes on. My two geese were not mating. To my complete shock I saw Clyde my male (or so I thought) making and sitting on his own nest the other morning! WHAT? now I'm completely confused, always thought he was a male because he's bigger than Darla. Call me crazy. He's more stand-offish than darla and just acts like a gander. Do I have two females? And if there is no male goose around why are they making nests? If they lay non fertile eggs in the nest will they sit on them endlessly? I have two new baby goslings coming this thur. I simply cannot wait to get them! I am a water fowl fanatic! Love love love my geese and ducks (I have 10 ducks) 3 baby Rouen and 1 runner duckling. The rest are all adults! Mallard, Swedish blue, white crested, 3 magpie! Any info at all is greatly appreciated!

Unfortunately I did not date the eggs under the hen, so I don't know how old the unhatched ones are. I'll know better next time! The hen and chick are both eating fine -- the hen has made the effort to show the chick "oh, look, here's something really really good" and wait for the chick to show that it knows to eat. And they have their own water in their crate, too. So I'm not really concerned about nourishment. The other hens seem fascinated by the "peep peeping" -- they even hesitated to go outside this morning when I opened their yard door! (But then they decided to go outside anyway!) I'm hoping that having the hen and chick behind the crate door for a while will make them safer when I let them out into the general population. Thanks for the help! --Johanna

This happened to me last year. My husband actually removed two eggs when there was a live baby inside. He slept through the entire thing. He took a piece of heavy cardboard and carefully slid the nest on to it. Then, using a spoon that was bent (like what you would use to dip easter eggs) he carefully lifted out both eggs and handed them to me. Then he slid the nest back into the box. The two eggs hadn't developed (it was during a really hot spell and they were almost like boiled eggs). Removing them gave the surviving baby more room in the nest and he really seemed to appreciate that. He fledged a week later. Good luck. tara/fairychick

Thanks Kenn, I don't think the others will hatch either. The one hatchling is doing great. It is being fed and watched over by Mama, Daddy and 4 brothers and sisters from the first nesting. I see them perched on the light line near the box about every day. Mama is feeding it faithfully and it looks like its thriving Don't know If the baby hatched from the 1ST egg or the 4TH either way I will remove them by Tuesday If nothing happens. Are the parents capable of removing unhatched eggs? It has been so hot here! I would hate for the remaining eggs to crack and spill out in the nest.