Bantam hen setting goose eggs

[Kymarose]

:shock: I know, I know.... this sounds totally unreal but it is real, believe me.

I have a little hobby farm with ducks, chickens (both bantam and standard) and a pair of China geese. This year we agreed to let the geese have little ones, so I made our small "hay room" enticing for them to make a nest and set up house keeping. Sure enough... the goose found a nice nesting area. She deposited an egg about every other day. However... she didn't set on them. I really think she was waiting to lay more eggs before setting. With five eggs in the nest a little Bantam hen apparently thought she'd better take charge since Mrs. Goose wasn't doing anything with the eggs. The first night I took her from the nest hoping Mrs. Goose would take up the task of setting. She didn't.. and the little Bantam hen is back setting on her eggs. Since then I haven't disturbed her. What chance does she have to bring these 5 goose eggs to full term? This is funny... and cute, but I wonder if it will work. I don't have an incubator or I would have taken the goose eggs from the start and tried to hatch them myself. Mrs. Goose hangs around the barn yard with Mr. Gander and doesn't seem to mind that a Bantam hen... no less... is doing her job. The nest is soft and deep (grass hay) so Bantie is able to cover them all. IF this works... and if little China geese develop I will take them when hatched and raise them without either Mrs. Goose or Bantie.

It has been three years now since I started my little flock of feathered friends. Each season I am amazed with what happens in the barn yard. :lol:

Any comments on this would be appreciated.

Kymarose

[goosedragon]

Can the bantam hen turn the eggs? Have you seen her do it or seen that the eggs have changed position in the nest? I do not know much about hatching goose eggs but that would be one of my concerns. Also if the eggs are inside on a solid dry base for the nest there could be a lack of moisture problem. I do not know if the old goose tale is true that they bring required moisture to the nest when they return from their quick bath during the short period that they are off the nest, but many hatchers seem concerned about about the humidity in their incubators.
Finally if you do get a hatch I would consider letting the goose and gander raise them if they show interest, and the goslings don't imprint on the bantam hen. Geese (both sexes) are usually good parents, and in my opinion the goslings they raise grow up to be well ajusted geese. My first hatch, I didn't seperate the goose and nest from the rest of the flock and got into a "dump nest" problem where the boss goose would force the setting goose off the nest long enough to lay her egg. This really became a problem when the original clutch hatched and the boss goose and mama goose were fighting over the goslings. I took them and hand raised them until I could set up a seperate pen for the boss and her mate. They were very pleased when I returned the clutch to their care. The original mama continued to set the remaining eggs which had been layed in her nest over a period of time. She would produce 7 more goslings, one every other day and I would take it so that she wouldn't 'come off the nest' to care for the one gosling at the expense of the remaining eggs. When she finally hatched the last egg, I returned her goslings to her but she only accepted the last 3 leaving 4 for me to raise. The goose raised birds did much better than the ones I raised and imprinted on me. ~gd

[Evy]

Her intentions are good but I doubt she'll be successful. A bird incubates with the heat from her breast area. Just because her feathers & wings are stretched over the eggs doesn't mean she's keeping them warm enough. I also doubt if she's able to ''turn'' them properly. She might be able to deal with just 1 or 2 eggs. The goose may have abandonded the nest because she was bothered by the chicken. It'll be an interesting experiment.

[wimothergoose]

I have tried this a couple of years ago. We started the goose eggs in the incubator until we knew they were fertile then I put 2 under a bantam chicken, that's all she could handle comfortably. Before I put them under the bantam chicken I marked one side of the egg with an "X" and the other with an "O" with a pencil. I would rotate the eggs 2 times a day and give them a good mist of distilled water. Because as you know waterfowl in the wild get off their nests and bath daily, this keeps the humidity up on the eggs. Since a chicken doesn't get wet like waterfowl, you will need to help with the moisture part by misting them. This also helps when it comes time for them to hatch. Waterfowl needs more moisture to hatch then chickens do. The goose eggs didn't hatch and our thoughts on the matter were: the eggs were too big for the chicken to keep the core temperature totally warm to the right temperature for the incubating process. We had a bigger breed of geese, you have smaller size geese, it may work if you follow the 2 steps I listed above. Also I hope the eggs are clean so the air pores don't get clogged from being too dirty/soiled.

[tinag210]

I too believe five will be difficult for her to keep covered well enough. I use silkie hens to set my peafowl eggs for at least the first week of incubation as I was told the constant turning of the eggs a hen does helps with peafowl. I have never put more than three eggs under one though as that is all mine can easily cover. It's also true that waterfowl normally need more humidity especially during hatching so the spritzing of water would help. If you let her continue be aware that goose eggs can take 28-32 days to hatch.

[Kymarose]

Thanks for all of your comments. Misting... I will start doing that today. And turning too... I'll mark the eggs as was suggested with an X and O. I don't know if Bantie has been able to turn them but when I checked last night is seemed they had been moved. She may not be able to hatch all 5 eggs but I hope 2-3 at least. This is cute, I will take pictures as time goes along. She has been setting for 3-4 days now, so we hope at least some will hatch. Maybe Mrs. Goose (actually that is Ethel as in Walter and Ethel) will set up another nest this summer.

Thanks again for your comments.

Kymarose

[Evy]

Even if all are fertile & she can turn them, chances are they still won't hatch because none will get the required heat for the required period of incubation. The humidity thing really is a problem, too. Misting actually makes them dry out faster, whereas a warm, wet bird keeps it high for hours. Some people used to put sod in a surrogates' nest to hold moisture.

[Kymarose]

Hummmm.... I really don't know what else to do but just leave them and hope they make it. Wish I had an incubator right now... but that's something I didn't want to get into with any of my birds. I checked the nest about an hour ago to mist the eggs and turn them. And... yeah... there are six eggs in there now. Silly birds!! Maybe Mrs. Goose will take over the task of setting when she has laid all she wants to lay. I haven't witnessed this, but apparently she is pushing Bantie off while she lays another egg. :o Only time will tell.

Kymarose

[Duk]

My thought would be to lock up the hen and take your chances with the goose setting when she finishes laying.

[CindyS]

I dont see how she is possibly covering the eggs! I agree, you need to lock the hen up. Although if she has been setting for 3 or 4 days she is warming the eggs up some, enough to start incubation so these eggs will probably die. I think the poor goose knows what she is doing! she isnt done with her clutch yet and will set when she is ready.

[Kymarose]

Well Bantie has given up on setting goose eggs, there are 6 eggs in the nest now. Maybe she realized this is a bigger task than she had imagined. :( So tonight I locked Mr. and Mrs. Goose up in the hay room, where the nest is, and will open the door for them tomorrow morning. I think she will set when she's ready but these that the Bantie sat on for a few days my not be good now. What a shame. I will just have to wait and see. They all free range during the day and are locked up in two different "rooms" at night. The hay room will now become night quarters for the geese. I really want them to hatch little ones this year. If this spring clutch doesn't develop maybe they will try again in the warmer months.

[fowlplay50]

I have successfully hatched waterfowl on many occasions under bantam chicken without adding additional moisture.

Dennis

[Kymarose]

Update on goose setting. Mrs. Goose has at least 9 eggs in her nest, but she will not set on them. She's there about every other day to lay a new egg, but is not setting. This doesn't seem normal to me. Will she eventually set, or do you think she has given up on raising little ones? The Bantam hen has not been on the eggs since around the 3rd of April. It's sad to see these eggs go to waste but I really don't know what else to do but to let her be. I don't have an incubator. What a shame if this is all in vain. Is it normal for a young goose (2 years old) to do this?

[Patrick]

You really need to educate yourself on proper goose biology, care and management. Try The Book of Geese by Dave Holderread and Domestic Geese by Chris Ashton.

Update on goose setting. Mrs. Goose has at least 9 eggs in her nest, but she will not set on them. She's there about every other day to lay a new egg, but is not setting. This doesn't seem normal to me. She's a China. They're known to be nonsetters, for the most part. It is normal. Geese lay an egg every other day. It is normal. Will she eventually set, or do you think she has given up on raising little ones? The Bantam hen has not been on the eggs since around the 3rd of April. It's sad to see these eggs go to waste but I really don't know what else to do but to let her be. Read the books and take some of the advice that you've been given above. Read the wisdom in the words posted below, from another thread. Both a tractor and a car have four wheels and an engine, but you can't plow a field or drive down the highway at 50 mph in both. Learn more about your birds, so you can redefine your expectations. I don't have an incubator. What a shame if this is all in vain. Is it normal for a young goose (2 years old) to do this?

It is not a matter of keeping birds as pets per se, but of the changing status of the term ‘pet’ that concerns some of us. People look at animals increasingly and

(1) ascribe human feelings/personalities to them, or social/physiological patterns, concepts that are proper to human beings. This does NOT mean that animals have no feeling or do not exhibit social behaviours, only that we cannot project ourselves onto animals and make good judgments about aspects of husbandry founded on sentiment and misguided emotion.

(2) think that animals are mistreated because they are not fed/housed like a pet dog or cat. (And many a pet dog and cat is mistreated, in my opinion, through overfeeding – esp. foods not suited to them -- and poor socialization through unsound expectations of what animals can understand or give in response to our association with them.)

Our increasingly urban population has lost contact with how animals live, reproduce, and under what circumstances they can be expected to thrive when interacting with us. If we have chickens, we must study them and give them what they need, not what we fancy they should need. That is proper responsibility in caring for animals.

Whether a bird came from a famous breeder or a hatchery makes no difference, or that we share eggs with neighbours. We have these animals because we enjoy the experience of tending them – we like them for themselves. But as chickens, not little people in feathers, no matter the strange desire to bond with animals in a way best suited to our own children so many seem now to have.

[jamie4445]

Read the books and take some of the advice that you've been given above. Read the wisdom in the words posted below, from another thread. Both a tractor and a car have four wheels and an engine, but you can't plow a field or drive down the highway at 50 mph in both. Learn more about your birds, so you can redefine your expectations.

Here we go again making somone feel stupid for asking a question. It just never seems to end on the forum. You say Learn more about your birds?? Well I thought this forum was one of the ways to learn about birds. I know it has been for me. It just always seems that I see some of the people on this forum who know alot about birds making the people who dont know as much feel dumb.

[ritterhahn]

There is a good Latin saying: de gustibus non disputandum – ‘there is no arguing about taste.’

Most of these spats are really about aesthetics. The original poster made comments, got answers, then continued posting as if answers were not made. To some, that is rude, and prompts a rebuke! To others, the rebuke itself is alone rude. It fascinates me, the human appetite for argument, and how varied the platforms and perspectives, for we nowadays seem to have an incredible capacity for taking offense – usually third persons to arguments. Personally, I thank God for a thick skin. That is why I am an academic.

Why ask a question? To learn. We should wonder who is better – the one who accepts an answer when it comes from experience or one who asks again and again waiting to hear an answer that is wanted all along.

A teacher of mine long ago had a sign over the door in his classroom: ‘To learn, one must be humbled to ask. Welcome to the place of humiliation!’

It was not easy being his student, but I can look back and see how great a teacher he was. Constructive criticism is hard, but if it is sound and true, it is a gift meant really to help.

Richard

[Kymarose]

I have concluded some people like the Patrick guy, enjoy putting others down. Somehow these people think it makes themselves look more intelligent. Not so Patrick! You have assumed I treat my birds like my little children. Again, not so Patrick. You actually know nothing of my set up here, or how I view my birds. You are assuming a lot about me that you have no knowledge of. I asked a simple question, and I appreciated the information I received. The "update post" was just that, an update. I was not asking the same question again. It's true some people enjoy trying to make others look stupid. In reality they make themselves look stupid.

I suppose I will continue to ask question here.... when I feel brave enough. I have learned a lot from this forum and from other forums like it. I do research on my flock. Asking question here is some of that research. Thanks Jamie4445 for speaking up in my behalf. I really did feel a bit wounded by Patrick's post.

Basically this is a good poultry forum.

[jamie4445]

I just seem to see it all the time here and I dont think its right. I think somtimes people forget that there are real people on the end of these postes. Its easier to say rude things to people online because you dont have to put a face to the post.

Another post that kinda got me going is in the Show Hall right now. Here is the quote and response:

I think that is a great looking cockerl!!
u mentioned you are in college and just starting out.....good on ya!! I too just finished school not long ago! U do what suits you. Enjoy going to see your birds everday!!
I like the blues also!! Kind of a neat variety!

Best of luck with them!!


Did they teach English at that school, or Literature?

Now I dont see why that comment by Patrick was necessary. Come on. You are just trying to anger people.

[Kymarose]

I agree.

People who are quick to put others down, or try to embarrass them in front of others obviously don't have a high opinion of themselves. This may be the case with our poster Patrick.

Whether we like it or not, today's cell-phone-text-people will use u for you, etc. That's where we are today, that's all.

Have a good day. :)

[j_rorer]

A lot of what goes on here is shared experience. There is almost always some sort of exception to the rule when it comes to life and biology. As a general rule China geese are not prone to setting. However, there could be someone on here who has had success with his/her geese setting, and perhaps they might have a few little tricks to pass on that would raise the chances of success for someone else as well. That is worth sharing. Of course people can read for themselves, as they should take the effort to, but new ideas, methods, or inventions are not much good if kept to one's self. It is a given that one could read in a book that an old chicken tastes bad and is too tough to eat, but there are probably a lot of people who know how to cook one fit for eating.

[Kymarose]

As a general rule China geese are not prone to setting.

Now that bit of information is helpful to me. Thank you j_rorer! I can quit expecting this goose to set her eggs. I suppose, at some point, I should invest in an incubator.

Thanks to all of you for your helpful information.

[ritterhahn]

You really need to educate yourself on proper goose biology, care and management. Try The Book of Geese by Dave Holderread and Domestic Geese by Chris Ashton.

Update on goose setting. Mrs. Goose has at least 9 eggs in her nest, but she will not set on them. She's there about every other day to lay a new egg, but is not setting. This doesn't seem normal to me. She's a China. They're known to be nonsetters, for the most part. It is normal. Geese lay an egg every other day. It is normal.

[Rich]

When Patrick was indicating that you need to learn about proper goose biology, and management part of what he was getting at is knowing what you are dealing with. For example, I've seen some breeds of geese lay upwards of 12 eggs in a clutch. That means they laid 12 eggs before they decided to brood. Since you don't have an incubator, why not just let her lay and see what happens. Even some non-setting varieities have indidividuals that may set. Give her time and stop fretting about this. You don't have other options so leave her be, set back and learn from the experience. You may also post a question to indivdiuals who raise Chinas and ask them their experiences. They might not be looking at this post because of the title but may give you some indication of their experiences if you specifically ask about them. I don't know much about that variety specifically but hopefully someon on this board will.

[fowlplay50]

Hi All,
I have shared some of my experience on several occasions at this site. Seems to me that this group is small and wants to stay that way. Seems I was either shot down or ignored when I have tried to share some of my experience. If my view of this group is wrong I am sorry however that is how I feel. It is frustrating when you try to answer a question and you get no acknowledgment of any kind that you even posted. I have noticed this also on other sites to some degree however seem to be more common here.

Dennis

[breeder]

Hi All,
I have shared some of my experience on several occasions at this site. Seems to me that this group is small and wants to stay that way. Seems I was either shot down or ignored when I have tried to share some of my experience. If my view of this group is wrong I am sorry however that is how I feel. It is frustrating when you try to answer a question and you get no acknowledgment of any kind that you even posted. I have noticed this also on other sites to some degree however seem to be more common here.

Dennis

There's a reason you may not get an answer or even an acknowledgment. If you'll read the posting guidelines at the top of the pages you'll see that this forum isn't a chat group like some others. The point here is to answer questions, not to just tell stories or post to say you can't help, but you're sorry XYZ happened. There are some very knowledgable people here who'll take time to give a sensible answer. The person with the problem may not like what he / she reads but it'll be helpful if they're willing to try.
Admitedly, some get impatient with bad spelling and grammer, as well as with people that don't like what they hear so they do as they please anyway. Many of our people are busy professionals who take the time to answer and don't have time to argue or try to decipher a long post that hasn't a single bit of punctuation in the whole thing.
There's no such thing as a dumb question.

[goosedragon]

Hi All,
I have shared some of my experience on several occasions at this site. Seems to me that this group is small and wants to stay that way. Seems I was either shot down or ignored when I have tried to share some of my experience. If my view of this group is wrong I am sorry however that is how I feel. It is frustrating when you try to answer a question and you get no acknowledgment of any kind that you even posted. I have noticed this also on other sites to some degree however seem to be more common here.

DennisDennis this is your Third post for the year and you are correct the other two were not answered. the first about "ducks that become lame can be do to urinary problems" any answer I could make you would only consider as an attack. 2nd "I have successfully hatched waterfowl on many occasions under bantam chicken without adding additional moisture." on this string. What type of reply did you expect? There are 7195 users registered here, is that small? Some go months at a time without posting and just "lurk" read the posts and add nothing. Some of us (me) should find better use of our time as I check in at least 3 times a day. I am trying to be carefull not to send you away, but if you want a answer to each of your posts may I suggest The Backyard Chicken site, there you almost always get a reply. I hope you stick around you shouldn't judge from only two trials. ~gd

[fowlplay50]

I have been a member since 2003 so I have posted more than three times.I do not want a reply every time I post however it would be nice if the person you are trying to help would at least acknowledge that you posted or if the few people that post on a regular basis would not try to tear your answer apart.This site has a lot of members however not many post on a regular basis or I should say answer questions on a regular basis. I was feeling down when I posted yesterday, probably would not have sounded off otherwise. I have had this feeling about this group for some time. I do not visit on a regular basis. I enjoy the hobby, have been doing it for about fifty years now. I know it is my option to stay or to leave. I am fairly tough skinned time will tell.

Dennis

[goosedragon]

I have been a member since 2003 so I have posted more than three times.I do not want a reply every time I post however it would be nice if the person you are trying to help would at least acknowledge that you posted or if the few people that post on a regular basis would not try to tear your answer apart.This site has a lot of members however not many post on a regular basis or I should say answer questions on a regular basis. I was feeling down when I posted yesterday, probably would not have sounded off otherwise. I have had this feeling about this group for some time. I do not visit on a regular basis. I enjoy the hobby, have been doing it for about fifty years now. I know it is my option to stay or to leave. I am fairly tough skinned time will tell.

Dennis READ I said 3 times THIS YEAR. the counters were reset I don't remember just when, only the 3 were available for me to check just what your posts were like. Previous posts may have been much better.~gd

[breeder]

This is exactly the kind of nonsense that gets posts here locked or deleted.