We have a gosling on the way!

I

Isis

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Hey everyone, my name is Isis, I'm new to all of this.
We have 1 goose egg that was abandoned. We brought it home and stuck it in the tank with the lizards for the heat lamp and kept it there all week, turning it 3 times daily. We didn't think it was alive, but there was no smell coming from the egg and it was absorbing the heat very well. There was no concern about the lizards eating the egg.
When we first candled the egg, there was a dark mass and we could see no movement. Second day everything looked the same. By the third day the mass had moved into the air pocket blocking our ability to see inside the egg. It stayed that way for another 2 days.
We went out to buy an individual heat lamp for our little gosling last night to set up the space we'd be keeping him in. It's a good thing we did! This morning at 7:16am, I came out to check on our little egg and it has begun the hatching process. There is a crack on the egg and scratching noises coming from inside. It is now 8:30am and there has been no further progress.
At this point, I know it's a waiting game. Like labour, hatching is a long progress.
But how long will we be waiting? Is there any chance it may die during hatching? After?
Educate me!
I didn't really think it would hatch, it had been left in the cold after some punks destroyed the nest :( Mama Goose was nowhere in sight, and the egg was down a hill from where the nest was. It was freezing cold too. I was sure it was dead but knew I would feel awful about not even trying.
 
Welcome to the forum Isis. We've just had a real drama here with a deserted goose egg being incubated. Apparently goose eggs are difficult to hatch. The last one died of exhaustion before it pipped, but it sounds as though yours is on the way out already as you have a crack in the egg. The egg needs to be kept lightly moistened so that the emerging chick doesn't stick to the inner membrane, fine spray of luke warm water will do I think. Mummy could have wet feathers or a damp nest and that would do it, but in incubators an attempt is made to replicate that moisture by increasing the air humidity.

Can try talking to it for encouragement.
 
Yes I saw the drama show. Read about 4 pages of it.
I'll get the squirt bottle then :)
Currently we have a bowl of water in with the egg for humidity and the heat lamp is turned up full blast.. difficult to keep an egg warm without an incubator, but apparently we're doing something right!


Edited to add: If I quack at it, it wiggles and chirps! Still no further progress but leaving him be and hopefully we'll have a little gosling in the next day or 2. :D
What do you think??
How often should I squirt him with water to keep the shell moist?
 
The bowl of water may be enough Isis. Just needs to be lightly dampened not wet. Under the lamp it will dry quickly but the water in the towel should keep the area humidity up. You will have to judge if the towel feels too dry or not.

Looks promising so far. A thermometer next to it would help. It should read 39 degrees.
 
We don't have a thermometer :( I'll see if maybe a family member has something we can borrow.
Anything else I should be doing?
 
So goose eggs take longer then chickens to hatch right? They just sort of... hangout after they make that first crack? Still no progress.. wiggles every once in a while, but seems to be resting mostly. Chirpping once in a while too. Thing is with a loud 3yr old, hearing the gosling is near impossible. I know we have to leave it where it lies, but I wish I could just put my ear to it and listen for the little clicky breathing sounds we'd been hearing the last few days...
ETA: Read on a site it takes 24-48 hours after the first pip (assuming from other posts that means crack?) until the gosling will hatch entirely. So we're still in the clear. :)
 
Well it's been 24 hours, and our egg is still looking the same.
He was chirping lots last night just before bed but quieted down again and I'm assuming went back to sleep?
Haven't heard a peep all night, but I very carefully picked up the egg and put my ear to it, didn't roll it or anything just a straight pick up and straight set down. He's still making that clicky rhythmatic breathing sound so I'm sure he is still alive.
Hopefully sometime today he'll start to wiggle around lots and hatch.
 
You may have to help him out Isis, Goose eggs are difficult as you know from reading about the last one. It is now taking rather a long time sice it pipped. As you know too early and it bleeds to death, too late and it dies of exhaustion. The technique, if you choose to follow it, is to take a pair of sterilised tweezers and a wet warm towel. Pick at the egg with the tweezers taking small pieces off to expose the membrane. Then dampen the membrane and try to tear pieces away. Dangers are it gets too cold, or a piece of the shell breaks inwards and cuts the chick, or you are too early and tearing the membrane breaks a blood vessel, in which case stop immediately and put back under the lamp. Good luck, it's a delicate operation.
 
It's chirpping again, and wiggling. We've got a little bit more progress too.
It can take 24-48 hours AFTER pipping for a gosling to hatch. We're watching him closely and doing our research. If theres no further progress today I'll probably just knock off 1 of the little bits that he's broken and see what happens.

 
Hi Isis, we just went thru similar anxious couple of days this weekend, in our case all went well, I hope the same for you and the that the chick hatches fine. If you handle the egg then, assuming that similar principle to chicken applies, make sure you put it back in the same position to ensure that the chick inside does not get disoriented. Also are you able to check humidity, in my case i used a incubator but knowng it was faulty i used damp towel inside the incubator. Also, if you listen carefully you will probably hear light scratching noise - for us this was a sign that the chick, although not showing any other signs of life, was working hard to hatch.
 
Yes, in the evening when my 3 year old is in bed we can hear the chick much easier. I whistle and talk to it and it chirps back and wiggles.
We're getting things ready now for the big moment and feeling hopeful that all will work out well. If not then we have a giant bag of starter feed to a good home ;) lol. Probably donate it to a wildlife center or something.
No way to check humidity, but the egg is deffinately very warm. Theres a dish of water in with it and we squirt it once in a while just to add to humidity since there really is no way for us to check it properly. I added a damp cloth yesturday too (it's dried now) and that seemed to keep things alright for a while. I keep worrying he'll get too hot and cook lol, but I know that's not the case.
The heat lamp has a dimmer on it as well, and I turned it down for a little bit earlier today because I'd read they need about 15 minutes of "break time" from the heat? So I did that and he's still a little wiggle-worm so I'm thinking he's okay. :)
 
Update:

Lot's of movement and clear chirps. The frst piece of shell is off. Membrane is white and visible. :D
Now just waiting for further progress!
 
Lol, I keep checking for responses and guidance, but it seems I may not be too bad at just following my instincts on this kinda thing. So far.
Of course the advice I have recieved has been very helpful and I thank you for it! I wouldn't have thought to keep the egg moist-ish. Nor would I have thought the membrane could dry out and act like cyran wrap!

As I typed this there was more progress! A nice big crack has been made.
 
Update:

There has been even more progress. The gosling has broken the membrane! Hopefully things will begin to move a little more quickly now. :)
 
Can't stay up any longer, too many builders on site early in the morning. Sincerely hope when I next look it will be to say the gosling has hatched.

PS How do you know it's a him?
 
Margaid said:
Can't stay up any longer, too many builders on site early in the morning. Sincerely hope when I next look it will be to say the gosling has hatched.

PS How do you know it's a him?
Click to expand...

I don't Lol. I just call everything a him until it has a specified gender. My goldfish were "assigned" genders for example but I'm sure they're probably the same sex. My son was a "him" while he was in the womb too until I found out his gender and discovered he actually was a him.
So it could be a her, my son named it Peep which is a pretty neutral name. Better then his first choice - Fried Eggs. :roll: :lol:
 
Update:

After a few hours of watching him poke the same spot and get no further then he has already gotten, I managed to safely remove 3 pieces of the shell, and break a little more of the membrane. No bleeding or anything, he's chirpy, breathing, and pokes his little beak out once in a while. I've decided to leave it like that for now and hopefully he will do the rest on his own, if nothing changes by morning I plan to intervene again.
He responds immediately now to my voice and seems to call out to me once in a while.. I call back and he goes silent again for a little. Sometimes I'll whistle first and he calls right after. I'm thinking we're in the clear but never know. Heres hoping!
 
All our chicks are assigned 'she' by me and 'he' by my wife Isis. Hoped for an update, but as your last post was quarter to four this morning!
 
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