Incubating Goose Eggs

Although the geese have some eggs in their nests, I also have some in the incubator.  Goose eggs need to be hand turned 180 degrees, end to end, every day, in addition to being rolled from side to side.  I mist the eggs with warm water once a day, and cool down the eggs for 10 minutes after the first week of incubation.  

Any marks on the egg need to hold up to handling and water, so I mark my eggs with a crayon.  Each egg is marked on one side with the name of the goose that laid it, and the day it went in the incubator.  On the other side, I mark the day the egg goes into the hatcher.  Each side is marked with a different color of crayon and I leave out the crayon that matches the color that needs to be facing up at bedtime.  It is important to have an uneven number of rolls, so each day the egg is resting on a different side during the long period of not being turned at night.  I sometimes loose count, so the crayon is my safety crutch.  

The geese do all this instinctively.  They use both their feet and bills to turn the eggs.  They get off the nest daily, and bathe.  Their wet feathers dampen the eggs and give them time to cool off.  One thing I have noticed this year with our early heat wave, the geese are standing over the eggs and letting them cool several times a day.  The American Buff goose in the photo above is standing over her eggs in the late afternoon heat.