HATCHING A GUARD GOOSE

Geese, in my opinion, are extremely misunderstood. Thought mostly as aggressive savages that attack and chase small children (and some adults) around fields, they can actually become loyal, friendly and invaluable pets on any farm. I love the sound of a goose honking in the distance. They are have a diet that consists mostly of grass, so they are not expensive at all to feed and though will snack on chicken feed, really prefer lots of the green stuff. Finally, if you want to protect your flock of chickens but are unable to have a livestock guardian dog, then a guard goose could be an ideal option.

An Embden goose with her flock

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Unfortunately, adding a guard goose to your flock isn’t as simple as heading to the nearest poultry auction, purchasing a beautiful goose and then popping it over the fence and in with your chickens. In this scenario your goose almost certainly will make noise when predators are near, and over time, will become territorial to its new patch. However, it won’t bond with your chickens … and bonding is important because it’s this relationship that encourages your goose to make a racket and protect the flock when a predator comes calling. To best enable this bond to form, you need to hatch a guard goose.

Personally, I think many people over-complicate hatching geese. In my experience, it’s just as simple as hatching any other poultry; the main factor is that it is SO important to have a good incubator. I have used multiple types of incubator in my decades of hatching, to various degrees of success. However, it wasn’t until I got a Brinsea (take a look at one here on Amazon) that I realised my normal hopeful hatch rate of between 50 and 60% was startlingly low. So when my new Brinsea arrived I threw every egg I had into it, basing subsequent chicks on previous experience. And then, of course, every single chick hatched. I cannot stress enough how important having the right incubator is. Chicken eggs are relatively simple to hatch, but as your journey takes you towards more difficult species, a good incubator will save the day! If you’re looking for supplies, take a look at my recommendations here.

Fresh out the incubator

A couple of days old

So … first steps for hatching a guard goose is to get a good incubator.

The second steps is where I tend to find people really start to complicate matters. A lot of folk swear by spraying and misting the eggs daily, in addition to giving an hour’s cooling period. This does makes sense; after all, the female goose leaves her eggs to eat and poop. She’ll have a little wash and clean up and then return to the nest with moist feathers. So by including misting and cooling, there’s reason to suppose you’re mirroring what happens naturally. Only, your eggs aren’t being incubated naturally. They’re in a plastic box with an electric fan and heater whirring … there’s nothing natural about that and it’s, in my opinion, a consideration to bear in mind.

So, how to hatch a guard goose?

I prefer to hatch geese eggs the same as any other eggs … through dry hatching and air cell monitoring. They will need to be turned manually, or if you have an automatic turner, I set mine to shuffle the eggs around every 45 minutes. I do not spray or mist the eggs. I do not cool the eggs for an hour every day. In fact, all I do is candle the eggs every three to four days and see if I need to up the humidity. I won’t go into full air cell monitoring specifics in this article but at a basic level, if the air cell is too large, then humidity should be increased to prevent more moisture from inside the egg leaving the shell. If the air cell is too small then you need to draw some water from the egg and you can do this by adding silica packets to the incubator - though I’ve only ever had to do this once.

HATCH WITH A BRINSEA INCUBATOR

MONITOR AIR CELL GROWTH WITH A CANDLER

Depending on the breed of goose you have, expect goslings between day 28 and 35. Do not be worried if they take an age to hatch; in general I find they will pip but not actually emerge from the egg for up to three days. Patience. I know it’s hard but sit on your hands! They will get there. Opening the incubator and looking only increases the risk of shrink wrapping (where the membrane of the exposed sack the chick is in becomes dry and essentially wraps the embryo so tightly it can no longer hatch).

If you’re looking to create a guard goose, then I also encourage you to hatch some chicks at the same time and raise them alongside the gosling. That way a strong bond will be formed and you’ll be well on your way to creating the best guard goose you’ve ever had!