[HesterF]

I'm hoping to breed a clutch of goslings and ducklings this year (thanks to broody hens although I've none of those yet). I know it's a bit early to be planning since none of the ducks or goose has laid anything yet but I've also seen no sign of 'interest'  from the males. Does this suddenly kick in when the females start laying? Just that the cockerel has been molesting the hens for a while - since before they started to come into lay - but the drake and gander appear to be true gents. I'm just wondering because the drake is mature (3ish?) so I'm hoping he's not too old (possibly the guy I got him from didn't know his true age) and the gander is young (last year's hatch) so I'm hoping he's not too young.

They're going to be switched to breeders pellets tomorrow although I imgine that'll effect the females more than the males...

Thoughts?

H

[Shropshirelass]

Drakes & cockerals seem to be after the girls normally all year & are mature from around 6 months of age, geese I think are mature at 8-12 months, & I find also very hard to sex as few breeds are auto-sexing (Meaning you can tell by the color as day olds ) With our geese I know they breed very successfully but have only ever seen them mate once in 6-8 years of having them (I just think their shy & like their privacy )

As for hatching with hens great if you get any or can use a friends but you could be waiting on something that doesn't happen the best thing you can do is buy a decent but not too expensive incubator & do your research on them as there are so many on the market. We've used manual & automatic in the past & once you get the temperature & humidity right for that species then great - with manual I simply mean you have to turn the eggs twice daily ( I think it was will defo check) so we marked all our eggs with a big X & the automatics just turn the eggs for you which we use a lot more as it's less hassle but their more expensive but we check the eggs & humidity & temperature monitors (a must buy with incubators) daily, or at least every 2 days or it could ruin a whole batch. Also duck eggs & goose eggs can be put in together as their approx the same hatch time, temp & humidity to hatch & we often do this & rear them together off heat fine.

You'd be best to get yourself a good guide & do some research on incubators & incubation online - just be prepared for the electric bill - but it's also a great way to measure your birds fertility levels x

[HesterF]

Thanks! They're Orpington hens so everything I've heard implies they turn broody at the drop of a hat - annoyingly so. Hopefully amongst 7 of them, one will feel like sitting tight for a while. From next year, I'm hoping the goose will hatch her own but have been advised not to try with a yearling as they don't have enough fat on them. They're West of England geese so they are auto sexing and the gander clearly acts like a gander in most ways so maybe they do keep rumpy-pumpy for after bedtime  . I probably will get an incubator at one point but it's not just the hatching, it's the brooding and aftercare too....

Bit worried about the drake though - when do they get too old?

H

[Shropshirelass]

For the ducks is it the 1st year breeding them? As for when do they get too old - sorry not a clue as ours stay in mixed sex groups until they die & we are constantly bringing in new birds each year to replace dead ones if need be so we may have 2 old drakes & 2 youngsters ect with a lot of females as it keeps the bloodlines fresh. But if he hasn't bred before & you've had him that long are you sure he's actually a drake? & I'd be considering cooking him & getting a new one, maybe 2 - how many females is he with.

To check he's male look for the curled tail feathers or mallard type markings with the green on or a greeny shine to coats like black breeds (Sometimes ducks have the green sheen to feathers to though) - that depends on the breed. Also listen to the noise he makes ducks make more of a quack sounding a lot flatter in sound where as the males sound a bit more high pitched but that & the tail feathers are the best sexing methods without vent sexing.

Letting the goose hatch her own is an interesting one we've tried it in our birds 1st years & the older 1 was clumsy at hatching - she sat well & always tends to go broody but we always have her eggs as she treads on them & kills them when they hatch, the other 1 is just coming 2 so we might try her again but she sat well but was clumsy like the other & is a lot bigger. Also we have found as ours sit in the goose shed rats will go under a goose to steal eggs or hatched goslings & I have seen them trying it & eggs or dead goslings in rat holes 

Our geese do though despite being clumsy make excellent parents & the gander being better than the females we tend to put the goslings out in runs in the orchard at 2-3 weeks on their own or with hens but are in runs in the garden in the day from day 1-2 & indoors by a rayburn at night or on wet days & when the geese see them they instantly know what they are & hang around the pens guarding them a lot until they get let out after a week or so of getting used to the adults & go around with 1 another - although we do tend to pen them separate at night until 6-8 weeks because of rats killing them when small.

Many people do though hatch well with 1 year old geese just by letting them go broody although I find this & relying on broody hens rather wasteful as if you keep taking the eggs & leaving 1 in the nest & then swapping the old 1 for a new one & putting several in the incubator or under a hen if you have one after about 2 - 3 weeks you can get several broods & have a load of eggs or goslings to sell or a load to rear for xmas when we had just a pair you would average out around 40/50 goslings a year & maybe loose a few - whereas if you let the goose go just broody or have a few broods with hens which will stay with them for about 8 weeks & sit for 4 weeks on them you wont get many broods & you might get 2 loads off the goose if lucky, Also if you have 2 or more females they may try & sit on each others nests & can mess with each others incubation by sitting a little later or earlier, steal eggs off each other or turn each others eggs.

If you want to hatch with the goose - I would hatch a few broods 1st in an incubator or if need be a hen but you may loose a lot of eggs by waiting that way & then halfway or late through the season leave her eggs in the nest for her to go broody & if it's her 1st year laying keep them in a little later to make sure they lay in the sheds as some will go off & nest, ours soon got used to the routine though & if they haven't laid will go back later in the day to the shed, also they tend to start laying later on as they get older.  Also goose & duck eggs once you have the knack with incubators - I find are some of the easiest & most rewarding species to hatch & rear.

Sorry about the essay but any more questions just ask - I hope this helps & if it's possible would it be possible to order some hatching goose eggs off you please? x

[HesterF]

Thanks! That's all great!

The drake is definitely a drake. They're Silver Appleyards so they look very different - he has the full drake colouring, green head and all. I bought them as a mature pair in August last year from a breeder who was selling up. So as far as I know he's sired before and according to the breeder they were 2 1/2 years old then (but he'd also bought them in so I've got a few variables in the age). He's with three females but two are young - just coming up for 6 months. I got them because I reckoned the drake's fertility should last longer than the duck would be laying but we'll see.

The geese breeder was the one that warned me off letting a first year goose sit because she'd lost one goose through letting her sit the first year. They have used geese to brood (these are medium geese so maybe they're a bit more delicate?) but do now use an incubator but they did say it was difficult with goose eggs so it was best to start off with a broody, even if you finish them off with an incubator. I'm just hoping to get a few goslings to expand my own flock for this year. I hate just having a pair because if the fox gets one, that's it and I have to buy all over again whereas I'd be a bit more laid back about letting them free range (which they really need) if there more of them (not least because they'd be a formidable enemy en masse). So I know I could (probably) churn them through quicker with an incubator but I just don't have the facilities to deal with that number of birds anyway - nowhere for them to live once they got beyond the baby stage!

Rats sounds worrying. I hope that our run is reasonably rat proof and the goose shed is in that (and I think is also, currently rat proof - by night at least when the door is shut). But a determined rat could probably squeeze past the gate somehow. The cat has brought in some enormous rats recently. Uggh.

We better see whether Mr.Gander is really doing his bit before I promise any hatching eggs. It's just so complex when they only lay 20 to 30 eggs a year (apparently) and like you say, timing which ones to use. I gather I shouldn't try and hatch the very first eggs but early season ones are a better bet in general. I'll have a look at incubators as well - our geese are very tame (for me at least - our neighbour had a nightmare with them when we were away at the weekend) and I think it's because they were hand reared so that is the big upside. Maybe I could try both (although that would probably use up all the eggs!).

H

[Shropshirelass]

Ah I see well if the drake proven & the females are that old they are probably just on their 1st ever time laying so you may see some results later in the year but to be honest with ducks your probably better off with hens or an incubator again with duck eggs as the majority of breeds except for call ducks & also I think muscovies tend to be good broodies - they either just don't tend to sit or they do for a few days or weeks & abandon the nests  although you do get the odd 1 but we've known 2 to sit twice for the full length but hatch nothing which was sad but you don't see many.

Rats are sod & will dig & chew though anything ours haven't gotten in from the outside but tunnelled in from the inside so be sure to fill the rat holes with nice big stones but always check the sheds for them - often in corners & we do get big ones & use the live cage traps around the poultry & shoot with an air rifle ect, but it kind of sucks at the moment as we lost our best cat for hunting & ratting & general pest control just before xmas - he was 15 with 1 canine left but could still bring in huge rabbits & rats the size of him at least twice a week, the others except for our youngster at 8months whose getting pretty good, will maybe kill 1-4 things every 2 months & are often shrews or voles  , the old 1 however would bring in crows, pigeons, rabbits rats, mice, shrews, voles, moles & even the odd stoat & weasel which ended up in our shoes shreiking at us & the cats 

Ah ok well I don't know as different people say different things with letting birds hatch their own & youngsters hatching. I think the 1st 1-2 years really determines if you have a good pair or not as the 1st year you might loose a few eggs as the adults arn't mature enough or don't know what they are doing yet - but its a good test to check on fertility from a young age  especially breeding for meat / resale & also to find out how good they are as parents - this is easier in pairs though. As for the 20-30  eggs some may ours tend to be a bit more but our older 1 is laying less but granted she & our gander are nearly 9 years old but fertility wise it hasn't really dropped & with them you do occasionally get bad years but as we've said not very often but all our neighbours tended to have bad hatch rates in those years too. Also with ours I think they do lay more because we are constantly taking the eggs for 4 months or so but they lay every other day (Traditionally from St Valentines day) but seldom do on that day although our older 1 did 1st time around  so you're approx getting 15 eggs off 1 goose each month for 4 months maybe a bit longer / less so we get around 45-50 eggs per goose, but we very rarely eat the eggs (Very tasty by the way) & try to hatch most & sell a few or a few eggs & rear the rest for xmas.

If you want to expand your flock though do remember if you keep the youngsters then you can't really run them with the parents / siblings in the breeding season due to interbreeding so you'd  be best rearing some & selling or swapping or eating the youngsters (If you can bring yourself to doing it - but I'm old fashioned & love my geese to bits but we know they have had a good life when its time to kill them & think they were reared for  the table & couldn't stay otherwise) also bear in mind geese tend to pair for life - yes you can introduce new ones & we have done it successfully but many have not or will do it early on & in pairs geese will pine for a mate once its lost them (Like morning for dead people), so if you can replace them quick then great.

But goose & duck eggs nah once you get the knack of turning in manuals & remember that & humidity & temp checks & getting them to the right level - often its a case of putting the right amount of water in 24-48hours before hand & measuring it throughout the days before putting eggs in until its balanced & checking & adjusting the temp if it has a thermostat in the same time period generally the temp will remain ok unless you leave the lid off or open otherwise it generally a fault which we've never had with the machines & humidity it'll just be a case of checking the levels every 1-2 days & topping up or draining the water slightly if it's altered & if worried check twice in that day but if often takes a few hours / half a day to right itself, hen eggs you can run practically with very little or no water & are again easy to hatch but I find tend to die off more in the rearing stages - ducks & geese are pretty good & great for hand rearing - geese especially & really can form strong bonds with you but with ducks they tend to loose the bond around 4-8 weeks & tend to just become a lot more nervous (Can't explain that one though sorry).

Well if you ever want to sell any just pm me & I'll be happy to give you feedback on fertility rates ect as its an easy way for us to put in new breeding stock into our flock as the eggs would be hatched with ours - is it possible for you to pm me with the breeders details please? & also silver appleyards for ducks great choice I had some & some minatures in the past & love the breeds also the minatures sit well as broodies x