by Good day. Let’s talk about hatching goslings in an incubator and under a goose at home. Many novice poultry farmers will not dare to have geese on their farmstead, as they believe that this bird requires complex care. However, this is not entirely correct.
Geese are unpretentious birds, they can easily adapt to both hot periods and severe cold. They do not need a poultry house equipped with complex equipment, and if there is a pond on the range, then the geese will mainly find themselves there, as a result, the owners will save on food for this waterfowl. In addition, by the time of slaughter, geese gain a lot of weight, and their meat has a pleasant taste.
And you should start raising geese with proper care of the chicks.
Description
Breeding and keeping goslings at home is not too difficult and very interesting. And raising goslings for further sale is also very profitable. After all, goslings quickly gain weight, and in just 60 days their weight can increase no less than 40 times.
Goslings of most breeds grow especially quickly in the first 30 days after birth. At the same time, if a chick weighs 100-110 g after 30 hours, then after 2 days it can weigh a couple of kilograms, and by 4 months its live weight can be up to 5 kg, and for especially large breeds – at least kg.
Interesting! Unlike other representatives of domestic birds, geese are distinguished by their intelligence and quick wits, and also clearly know their owners. Read about the vision of geese in this article.
When these waterfowl are raised independently, it is important to remember that the most important stage is the period from the birth of the chicks until they reach the age of 30 days. It is during this period that the chicks are not resistant to the main diseases of geese, and they also require special conditions for their diet and maintenance.
And if these conditions are not met, then the little goslings will get sick and may even die. Therefore, first of all, you need to carefully examine the chicks at this age when buying.
Experts do not recommend purchasing young birds from unverified locations and unknown breeders, since the health of the chicks in these cases is unknown. When buying, you need to observe the behavior of the young birds for some time and examine the chicks.
When goslings are healthy, they instantly react to any sounds and unfamiliar objects, and are also interested in everything new. If the young ones do not show interest in the environment, are not active, it is better not to buy such chicks – most likely, they are sick.
Hatching goslings
Hatching goslings is no more difficult than hatching other poultry. This livestock can be bred in an incubator or naturally. Either method should begin with choosing the incubation material. To hatch goslings, select large, beautiful eggs with a regular oval shape, without flaws or defects.
Before placing in an incubator or under a hen, the selected material should be stored for no more than 2-3 weeks at a temperature of 12-15ºС. Older eggs are not suitable for hatching chicks, but they can be used for food.
To check the eggs more thoroughly, you should use an ovoscope. It can show the presence of dark spots on the white or yolk that are not in the center. If you do not have an ovoscope, you can make one at home.
To do this, you need to use a 100 W incandescent lamp. Cover it with a tin can with a small hole in the bottom. Place an egg on it, turn on the device, and then you can easily determine whether the egg is suitable for incubation. Or take a phone and shine a flashlight through it!
Natural way of breeding
Geese begin to reproduce from the second ten days of March. The beginning of this period can be determined by the changed behavior of the geese and their active egg-laying. The females become aggressive, pluck the fluff on their chests and place it on the bottom of the nest.
Some adults lay one egg and sit down to hatch it. At the same time, they become nervous. The main thing is to notice this period and promptly move the female along with a comfortable nest to a quiet, cozy place. At the same time, access to such a room is limited for other birds.
The room where the goose will lay eggs should be maintained at a temperature of at least +12ºС with an average humidity of no more than 73-75%. The bird is protected from direct sunlight and drafts. A feeder and a drinker with clean water should be placed next to the nest. The usual size of a nest for geese should be 0,4*0,6 m.
If several broody geese are placed on eggs at the same time to hatch goslings under a goose? In this case, their nests are separated from each other by wooden partitions.
One hen can hatch up to 10-13 eggs at a time. The main thing is that her body covers all the eggs. During hatching, geese should bathe daily! This is necessary to moisten the eggs in the nest, and it will be easier for the goslings to hatch. If there is no way to arrange at least a small pond in the walking area? Then while the female goes to eat, the eggs are sprinkled with water.
The chicks begin to hatch after about a month. When the chick can’t break the shell on its own, it needs help. To do this, the shell is broken and the gosling is helped to hatch.
Feeding goslings and keeping conditions
In the first period after birth, goslings need warmth, so the room temperature at this time should be +30ºС. If the hen for some reason does not warm the chicks, then you need to use a heater. When kept on the floor, newborn goslings are provided with dry and clean bedding.
In the first couple of days after birth, chicks are allowed to be given finely chopped boiled eggs, which are mixed with rolled oats. From the third day, finely chopped greens and grated carrots are added to the daily menu of the young. The frequency of feeding during this period should be up to 8 times a day.
From 1,5 weeks, crushed grain, wet mash, which includes bran, are introduced into the goslings’ food, and greens are also added – up to 15% of the total amount of the daily menu. Also during this period, wheat and corn porridge, legumes and boiled potatoes are introduced into the chicks’ diet. From 2 weeks, raw vegetables can be introduced into the diet of waterfowl:
- beets;
- carrot;
- rutabaga;
- potatoes.
And already 30-day-old waterfowl are sent out for a walk, where they can get living creatures from reservoirs and eat greens to their heart’s content. Also at this age, milk, boiled fish, mineral feed and sunflower cake are introduced into the daily menu.
When these waterfowl are bred naturally, there are no problems with hatched chicks. This happens because experienced hens are good mothers and conscientiously take care of the babies, teach them to find food and swim.
The best females to use as brood hens are “older” geese that swim and dive well. Such females will take care of their offspring for 30 days, teach them to swim, protect them from drafts and prying eyes. Sometimes a male is added to help the brood hen, who will help her take care of the young.
If there is no goose suitable for brooding, then you can use other birds – turkeys or hens. But such mothers will get very stressed when the goslings start swimming and diving, so they start running around the pond and clucking loudly to drive the chicks to the shore.
Hatching goslings in an incubator
Many poultry farmers breed goslings using the incubation method. The main advantage of this method is the ability to get a large number of chicks with one laying. After all, the incubator can hold 50-300 eggs for hatching goslings.
Among the disadvantages, it should be noted that it is necessary to strictly adhere to the technology of this process, because even a slight deviation leads to a deterioration in the quality of the offspring, and sometimes to the fact that the chicks will not hatch at all.
The temperature in the incubator changes throughout the entire period of hatching. Hatching goslings in an incubator in the first 7 days – the temperature is maintained at 38ºС, from the beginning of the second to the end of the week – 37,5ºС, and from the beginning of the fourth week until the moment the goslings appear – 37,2ºС.
This change in temperature during the formation of fruits is associated with changes in the thermoregulation of embryos, as a result of the growth of which gas exchange increases, so the fetus begins to supply itself with heat.
And starting from the third week of incubation, the incubator should be cooled twice a day, lifting the lid for 1/3 of an hour to cool the eggs. After all, the goose also gets up from the nest to eat or drink.
The humidity in the incubator will also change during the hatching of the chicks. In the first two weeks of hatching the humidity in the incubator is maintained at around 55-70%, and from the beginning of the third week it is reduced to 45-46%. And when the chicks begin to hatch, the humidity is again increased to 80-85%.
During the process of hatching eggs in an incubator, they are checked three times with an ovoscope, rejecting incorrectly developing or frozen embryos. If the incubator does not have an automatic egg turning function, then in the first 14 days the eggs must be turned manually up to 6 times a day. Otherwise, the embryos will dry out to the shell from the inside and die.
Determining the sex of goslings
You can determine the sex of a gosling within the first day after birth.
The gosling needs to be turned upside down and the anus opened. At this age, the gosling’s penis is already visible – it has a spiral shape and a length of 3 mm. The accuracy of determining the sex is 99%.
At an older age, it is much easier to determine the sex of the chicks. The cloaca is no longer opened, since the gosling’s penis grows and becomes clearly visible. At the age of 30 days, its length is up to 7 mm, and by 60 days it reaches 1 cm.
