The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: hughesy on May 09, 2012, 05:50:55 pm
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We've had a goose sitting tight on a clutch of eggs for nearly a fortnight. This lunchtime I noticed she wasn't on the nest, though she had been first thing this morning. She had gone through into the next field and was with the other geese. I thought mayvbe she was taking a break, getting a bit of a feed, and everything would be ok. So I thought I'd take a sneaky peek in the nest while she was away just to check. The nest was undisturbed and the top lightly covered in straw and feathers just as you might expect. But there wasn't a single egg in it! Before she went broody there were 17! All gone! No sign of any disturbance and the nest was just as if she'd been sitting in it. I'm puzzled, annoyed, dissapointed, frustrated and thoroughly pissed off to say the least.
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Rats? or crows? Rats I'd suspect, they will take eggs from underneath a broody.
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maybe even stoat - we had a stoat who only stole blue eggs...reckon they could handle goose eggs as they can take massive rabbits.
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We've had a really good look around this evening. Can't find any evidence of any animal tracks or signs of rats or anything else. The geese are all ok and went into their pen as if nothing has happened so don't think a fox or other large animal has been about. What annoys me is that I very nearly took the eggs and put them in the incubator just before she went broody but changed my mind when she looked like she was going to sit.
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a two legged rat :farmer:
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I would say stoat, they can get through a tiny tiny gap and are totally fearless. Our chickens werent spooked by it, I think it is so small and so fast they dont really know whats happened.
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a two legged rat :farmer:
That is what the missus thinks. I'm trying not to but have to admit it's a possibility.
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Well hughesy, your story is exactly what happened to me a month ago - I put out some poison around the area (carefully of course ::)) and she just started to make another nest - this time it's successful although she still has about 10 days to go. If they're laying well, which they should still be just now, it's likely she'll start again - can't you pinch some eggs from the others and put them in her nest? Or perhaps mess up the nest so she knows it's been ransacked and will start again somewhere else (our goose made her second nest right next door to the first). Good luck. Last year our goose squashed one chick with her big feet and the other was lifted by a heron (or something), this year we have put 9 in an incubator as backup ;)
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TO take that many in that time, I'm saying you were robbed by some thieving HUMAN git >:(
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Goosepimple thanks for the encouragement. There are signs of a new nest today. No eggs yet as we only have two geese and the other one hasn't started to lay yet she's only young so hoping she will start soon. The one whose eggs dissapeared was laying solidly before she went broody so fingers crossed she'll start again.
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I am inclined to agree with RW. But couldn't rule out some four legged predator entirely.