I decided to only do four hatches this year. Hatch A started with 7 fertile eggs. Three made it to externally pipped but then died. I couldn't figure it out but I suspected the hatcher...separate from the incubator. Two others did make it and are growing well. Hatch B started with 7 eggs also and after one reached externally pipped and then died, I threw the hatcher away. I put the remaining eggs in the bottom of the cabinet incubator and three hatched. I'm currently waiting on Hatch C with 6 eggs still going and Hatch D will be next weekend with 10 eggs still going. My first two hatches gave me three blue goslings and two lavender ones. Hoping for a few more babies!
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Again this year, I decided to set my pens up a bit earlier than usual. It worked out well for last year as I was able to collect and hatch from a goose that goes broody very early in the season.
I've decided that for this year, I will be hatching a bare minimum since I still have extras left from last year. Also, we are now focusing on building our house, so I'm trying to not have as many goslings under foot. Good luck to all the breeders out there!!! I got a head start this year with getting my pairs penned up early. Because of that, I finally was able to hatch three goslings from my Annette Roundtree female that I purchased three years ago. That female, Leah, has a habit of going broody earlier than the other females. I have a lovely lavender (silver on the color calculator) that I think may be a male that I am keeping, and a couple of blues.
Here are my numbers so far: Hatch A: 8 eggs, 4 fertile, 2 hatched Hatch B: 18 eggs, 7 fertile, 2 hatched, but 1 died Hatch C: 21 eggs, 8 fertile, 1 hatched Hatch D: 18 eggs, 4 fertile, 0 hatched Hatch E: 20 eggs, 3 fertile, 1 hatched Hatch F: 18 eggs, 4 fertile, 2 hatched Hatch G: 13 eggs, 9 fertile, 0 hatched.... fertility rate finally went up but hatching rate is still low Hatch H: 15 eggs, 12 fertile, 5 hatched... so far. There is still one alive, but has not yet hatched. Hatch I: 16 eggs, 13 fertile... 8 still going Hatch J: 13 eggs, 11 fertile... 11 still going Hatch K: 10 eggs, 7 fertile... 7 still going That's it for hatches for 2023. I also hatched out 19 Black East Indie ducklings and BEI/Call Duck mixes that I am selling locally. And I hatched a few chicken eggs from my mixed flock to replenish my females for next year. Lots of babies here at the Kelly Farm! I decided to separate my pairs into their pens early this year. In year's past, I waited until I saw my first egg to pen them. Then I would wait 20 days before collecting eggs to be incubated (years ago I had read that you needed to wait 10 days so that any previous breedings were out of the goose's system...I still ended up with mixed breeds, so I do 20 days...and now I only have Sebastopols) . I would end up with several eggs that we would eat, and by the time I was ready to incubate, one of my females would go broody...I've yet to get any goslings from her.
So this year I decided to do something different. Today, I collected my fourth egg and this one will go in the incubator. All four have come from the same female and she is laying early this year. The other females have yet to lay an egg, but once they do, I can incubate it without waiting. Yea!! I have 7 pens set up, with pairs specifically chosen for the potential colors they will produce and so that they will not have too much inbreeding. My prices have gone up this year...after 10 years of being the same. I'm charging $75 per gosling, and $100 for known females. I wish the best of luck to all you breeders out there for this season! I do have two males available for sale at this time. Both males are from spring of this year.
I just returned from a family vacation to Disney World, so incubating is a little behind this year. I've been collecting eggs all week and will start incubating this weekend. If all goes as hoped, I should have goslings starting around April 17th. Good luck to all my breeder friends out there! I hope you have an awesome year!
Today I said goodbye to my 6 year old curly buff gander, Lance. He passed away after being sick for a few weeks. Not exactly sure why, even after I dewormed, gave vitamin B, and gave a round of antibiotics. Since I did not have a local vet, I was trying everything I could think of. I thought he was getting better, but today I found him in the poultry house on his back, blinking at me. He passes a couple of hours later. Lance, buddy, you will be missed.
The five hatches for this year are done. Adjusting the temperature on one of my incubators did help with the last hatch. I only hatched 16 goslings this year with two dying after hatching. My first couple of customers bought all of the goslings that I was planning on selling. I did keep a few to raise and I may have juveniles available in the fall.
As all of my customers know, I strategically put together a male and female, based on color and how closely they are related, so that I know exactly who is breeding whom. I keep accurate records, with photos, so that years later I can still refer back to them. Because of the poor hatches and the lack of goslings, I decided to do something this year that I NEVER do. I decided to collect some eggs AFTER my geese were released from their pens and incubate them...field breeding. I decided that if any hatch, I will raise them up so that if I decide to sell them, the customer can see what they are getting. I labeled the eggs "surprise"!!! It's been a frustrating hatching season. My first hatch did well with 6 goslings hatch, but my second ended up with two hatching, but one had a deformed bill and was blind. I nursed it along but at two weeks old it died. My third hatch which had 11 growing eggs only ended up hatching two. It seems that my eggs are growing until the last week and then die before hatching. I'm thinking it may be my temperature in my incubator. I've adjusted it and we shall see how the next two hatches go.
Also, if you have not visited my for sale page, please know that I do not ship goslings or geese. They are for pick up only in Wilmington Ohio. Thanks! Hatch A is almost complete. We have 5 goslings so far. Only two more eggs, which are still going. I ended up setting five hatches, the remaining hatches should each hatch the next four Mondays. The photo above shows four solid grays, two will be curly and two MAY be curly, and one solid buff that MAY be curly. The buff is already spoken for.
My adult breeders were all too happy to be turned out of their pens last Sunday. Contact me if you are interested in getting a gosling, as I have a waiting list. |
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