First Goose egg!

I got my first goose egg today! I do have a female goose (still two males). I'm going to try to hatch it out with a red heat bulb, a rock circle and some towels. Don't know if it'll work. But I'm guessing its fertile and I've got enough duck eggs that its worth a shot for sure!

I slid a thermometer under the towel with the egg and it is currently reading steady at 112 F. It was probably out in the 45-50 degree cool for 6 to 8 hours before I got to it.

After further reading I've decided to reduce the temperature to around 96 degrees. Hopefully I haven't cooked my first egg in the last few hours - I don't think the interior temp got that high. Hope not. Hopefully I'll get a few more eggs in the next week and I'll have some luck hatching them.

I understand that if a goose is killed, a couple more eggs lie within. . Don't do it. Be patient.

I just did some poking around in the ferns under a ceder and uncovered a big ol nest. Found half a dozen more goose eggs and twenty or so duck eggs hanging out - pretty sure the oldest of these is no more than about a month. The duck eggs aren't going to be fertile. I left some of those in the nest even though no-one really seems to be sitting them for more than an hour or two a day. Anyway its in the deep shade and it never gets about 50 this time of year anyway so I think there all good for the eating but I'm hoping the goose eggs all might still have a chance of hatching. I was reading the other day that eggs can sit around at cool temperature for about a week before they start loosing their hatchability. Can anyone confirm this?

Landon Sunrich wrote: I was reading the other day that eggs can sit around at cool temperature for about a week before they start loosing their hatchability.

So long as they don't warm up to hatching temperature they should be fine for a week or more. Our muscovies will lay every day for a while and when they feel they have enough they will start to sit on them, so the oldest eggs would have been nearly two weeks old before incubation started. I think this about normal for most birds. Certainly our chicken eggs will keep for up to two weeks with no problem. If I want a batch for the incubator I usually save the eggs from the best hen or hens until I feel I have enough to do a whole 'batch'.