How to Raise Goose Eggs the Modern Way

A gaggle of geese

While in general, the majority of people raising poultry do so by raising chickens or ducks, there are an increasing number of people who are trying their hand at raising geese. One reason geese are coming into popularity is that they are really very useful creatures to have around; they are excellent for pest control and if you keep them in your yard they are natural weeders. As geese provide you with eggs, down, meat and/or nice pets and they are relatively inexpensive to keep, a gaggle of geese is a great investment if you have the space and time for them.

Things You'll Need

• Fertilized goose eggs
• Incubator
• Warming box
• Chick feed
• Waterer
• Coop

Instructions

Hatching Eggs and Brooding Goslings

1. Acquire your eggs from a reputable breeder and ensure that they are fertilized eggs.

2. Place eggs in an incubator. If your incubator is not fitted with a built-in egg turner, you will have to be sure you are available to turn the eggs by hand four times a day. You will want to be sure that your incubator has a thermometer to keep your eggs at a warm temperature of 99 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as settings to keep the humidity level at 86 to 88 percent.

3. Allow eggs 28 to 35 days to hatch. As soon as hatching occurs, move the goslings from the incubator to a brooder. Your brooder should be warm, dry and soft.

4. Use a lamp with a 250 watt bulb to warm the brooder to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. You will want to reduce this temperature by 5 degrees every week.

5. Feed your new gaggle chick feed, which is different from chicken feed by being higher in protein and thus better for growing goslings. Make sure your brooder has a waterer deep enough for your goslings to submerge their whole head and bill.

As your Goslings Grow

1. Move your goslings to a coop at about 3 to 4 weeks old or when your geese are well feathered. If you are keeping your geese in a coop inside, be sure there is at least 6 square feet of space per full-grown goose inside the coop. If you are keeping goslings in a pen outdoors, make sure there will be 18 square feet of space per full-grown goose in the pen.

2. Predator-proof your pen or coop to make sure your new gaggle of geese is safe. If you are keeping the geese inside in a coop, make sure that the coop is kept clean and dry with soft flooring.

3. Feed your geese grower chicken feed when they become adult geese. In addition to the chicken feed, feed your geese grains and let them forage for food in their outdoor pen or in your yard. Geese are excellent foragers and will find insects and pests in the ground as well as feed on your weeds.

References

• Poultry One: Raising Geese in your Backyard
• Poultry Pages: Raising Geese
• University of Minnesota: Raising Geese

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish