Goose oviposition: when does it start, how many eggs are laid?

Depending on the characteristics of the breed, geese lay eggs at 6-9 months or at the beginning of their second year of life. It depends on the content – under comfortable conditions and good nutrition, this process can begin as early as 5-6 months. Also, egg production is affected by the weight of the bird.

Goose laying period

As a rule, a young goose is ready for a relationship with a male at 180-300 days of life with some deviations, but the problem is that when she has sexual readiness, the gander is not yet mature in this regard. This is partly the reason for the low egg production and late onset of the laying period.

In most cases, the goose starts laying eggs in early spring – in March-April, and does this every other day. The first clutch is a stress for the bird, and what will be its fertility in the future may depend on this.

In nature, geese live in pairs. In order for a young goose to rush, normal mating is necessary, which means that a mature and healthy male is needed. Usually, there are 2-3 birds per gander, which it periodically fertilizes. The presence of a natural or artificial reservoir is especially favorable for these purposes, since in such places birds prefer their mating games.

Without mating, the female still rushes, but the chicks do not hatch. In general, the average bird flock accounts for 50 to 80% of fertilized eggs in one laying period.

Geese rush three days after fertilization by a gander, mainly in the morning, every other day, and this process lasts about 2-3 months. If the goose is not allowed to incubate eggs, then a break follows for 30-60 days. Then the female starts laying again.

On private farms and in the household, geese are not slaughtered, and, living next to a person, sometimes up to 25-30 years old, they rush for the rest of their lives.

The beginning of egg-laying

The low productivity of female geese, compared to other birds, is due to their large size, so there are few eggs, although they differ in impressive size. Their number is only 30-60 eggs per year. But gradually the situation is changing and at the age of 2-3, geese give the largest number of eggs.

The main factors affecting fertility:

  • the age of the female;
  • bird breed;
  • living conditions;
  • season;
  • feeding schedule and diet.

First laying of eggs

You can understand that a bird is ready to lay eggs by the following signs:

  • a clear symptom of the beginning process is the lowered tail;
  • the goose begins to show anxiety, does not find a place for itself, can rush around the house;
  • walks unevenly, waddling from one side to the other;
  • is engaged in construction, plucks fluff from his breast, collects straw, blades of grass, covering the nest with them.

If eggs are needed to hatch chicks, they are collected and then placed under the laying hen so that the goslings appear at the same time. Storage of such eggs is allowed for a week in a cool place, a longer period is undesirable, since the offspring may be weak and not viable. However, you should be prepared for the fact that the chicks will appear with a gap of 1-2 days, since, with all the desire, the bird cannot provide uniform heating for all eggs.

When the farmer chooses the natural appearance of the chicks, the eggs are collected and laid on the laying hen – she incubates them for about a month. True, the bird will not be able to hatch more than 15 eggs. Artificial breeding is more appropriate for large-scale poultry rearing and a special incubator is used for this. In this case, the owner of the herd needs to select eggs, check them with an ovoscope, clean them of dirt and lay them in the device at a temperature of 37,8-38 ยฐ C. With proper heating, turning, maintaining normal humidity, the goslings hatch after 30 days.

How many eggs does a goose lay?

Egg-laying in geese is a seasonal process, and, despite exceptions, it is most often in the spring, in general, this occurs during five months of the year. Most of all, geese lay eggs before 8 am (60%), although they can be carried until 18.00 pm, but much less often. With a productivity of 30 eggs, the female can lay 1 egg at the end of February, 12 in March, 10 in April and 7 in May. But the number of eggs per month may not be the same for different breeds:

  • Toulouse brings in the first year – 100, in the second – 140, in the third 120 eggs;
  • Kholmogorskaya – in the first year – 100, in the second – 125, in the third – 160 pieces;
  • Romenskaya – in the first year – 100, in the second – 125, in the third 162 eggs.

There are breeds of geese in which egg production reaches its peak in the fifth year of life.

Despite the fact that geese live for about 20 years, using females for about 6 years, it is considered impractical to keep such birds as laying hens for longer, as their egg production begins to decline. If we take the average productivity of a bird of 50 eggs per year, then during this period it can bring about 300 eggs. It is clear that in more prolific breeds this number is much larger – up to 900 pieces or more.

The goose builds a nest

Geese eggs have a white shell, and their weight is from 120 to 200 g. They can have two or three yolks.

Preparation of premises

The poultry house for geese should be equipped in advance. It is better to have windows to the south or southeast, on the leeward side of the residential sector. Although the room should be bright, too many windows will contribute to overheating on hot summer days and excessive cooling in winter.

In addition, it is impossible to install a building on a site with a groundwater level of more than 2 m from the surface of the earth, since during heavy rains or floods it can be flooded. For ease of feeding, the height of the house can reach 1,7 m.

To prepare a home for laying hens, you must:

  • adjust the temperature – the most comfortable temperature for layers is considered to be from +20 to +25 ะพWITH;
  • the floor of the room should be covered with sawdust and straw with a layer of 5 cm;
  • usually there is one box with nests for three females, they need to be covered with a warm cloth, if possible, it is better to keep laying hens separately;
  • nests should be 50 cm wide and high, 60 cm long, make a side 10 cm high in front so that litter and eggs cannot fall out of it;
  • walls, external and internal, it is better to whitewash;
  • there are several pallets with sand in the room;
  • it is desirable that the geese be in a separate building, away from other poultry;
  • cracks and cracks must be sealed, as drafts are unacceptable.

In warm, clear weather, geese walk in meadows with lush, but not tall grass, where one adult bird eats about 2 kg of grass every day. If the pasture cannot provide enough food, the geese are fed additionally in the evening.

In hot weather, it is important to install a canopy for birds or drive the hens into the shade of deciduous or fruit trees, where they can hide from birds of prey and rain. In the absence of a pond, they put a trough up to 25 cm high for the birds and constantly make sure that the water in it is fresh.

Nutrition for good egg production

For oviposition, the bird begins to prepare a month before it starts. To do this, her food includes:

  • oats, wheat and barley;
  • leguminous plants;
  • cake, hay and greens;
  • compound feed;
  • root crops – beets, potatoes, carrots;
  • animal feed (fish and bone meal).

For winter, hay is harvested, which is dried in dark, dry rooms. Also, the diet is supplemented with bread, corn, boiled vegetables, beans and peas. Salt is necessary for birds, and the daily norm for one individual is about 2 g.

Geese are fed, increasing the number of feedings up to four times a day, alternating wet and dry food. This is necessary to increase the immunity and endurance of the bird, which directly affects the formation of eggs. But obesity cannot be allowed, so females are checked by probing with their hand under her wings – there should not be tubercles of adipose tissue under them.

Goose fattening

If the geese do not rush, the cause may be malnutrition, which causes disturbances in their body, or errors in the arrangement of the house – temperature, light and other parameters that are extremely important.

Winter oviposition

In order for the goose to also rush well in the winter, you need to create the most comfortable conditions for it for wintering and introduce an appropriate winter diet.

Poultry house arrangement

For the construction of a winter house, durable wood or brick is used. In cold weather, the temperature in the room is maintained at least 3-5 degrees. Ideally, it is better to maintain 13-20 degrees. The fact is that geese are not afraid of the cold, and are only indoors at night, in severe frosts and windy weather, but egg production increases in a warm room. But dampness is detrimental to them, so the humidity of the air should be maintained at 30%.

For winter, special conditions are necessary:

  • the windows of the poultry house, initially, should be equipped with vents to close them at night at low temperatures and wind;
  • also additionally insulate the roof and floor;
  • it will be necessary to provide artificial lighting, which should maintain the light regime for 13-15 hours a day;
  • you can walk the birds in the yard, but, first, the area for walking is cleared of snow mass;
  • for swimming, the birds are provided with an ice hole in shallow water, which is fenced with a wooden barrier or metal mesh so that they do not dive, a straw flooring is made around such a reservoir, where the geese can lie down.

Birds should not be allowed to cool their paws, as this may adversely affect their reproduction, therefore, in winter, additional heating is used and the thickness of the litter is increased.

Winter food

Proper nutrition is essential in winter, and the most important task of the farmer is to maintain the weight of the bird, as it affects the egg production of geese not only in cold weather, but also in spring and summer.

Laying hens are given grain, fresh hay, boiled root vegetables, sauerkraut, steamed chaff, and vitamin supplements. In the evening they are fed with grain. Closer to February, meat and bone meal, chicken yolks, cottage cheese and fish are introduced into the menu, and the amount of grain is doubled. In the absence of cereals, they are replaced with soaked peas in combination with boiled potatoes.

Meals in the winter should be three times a day.

Feeding geese in winter

helpful hints

For geese, it is important to create decent living conditions, as well as to know the characteristics of this bird.

Some nuances will help to achieve high egg production of laying hens:

  • it should not be allowed that there are two males per female – in this case, the ganders will be engaged in sorting out the relationship, throw each other off and not let the goose trample on, and the eggs will remain unfertilized;
  • mating on the water increases fertility at times, so if there is no pond nearby, you can put a barrel or a bath of water on the site;
  • in order for the goose to hatch all the chicks, there should be no more than 12 eggs in the nest, but during this process it needs to be well fed and walked – for this the bird needs about 20 minutes;
  • you can find out which of the birds will be a good mother hen by the behavior of the female – such a mother, when a person approaches, although she raises her wings, she remains in the nest;
  • free range geese lay fewer eggs;
  • the female can incubate eggs only in the nest in which she rushes, therefore there are frequent cases of a bird refusing to incubate when transplanting it to another place;
  • while hatching, the ganders are not allowed to go near the geese, and the hens are separated by partitions so that they do not see each other.

In order for geese to fully rush, they need a balanced diet, peace, warmth, free access to food and water. Under optimal conditions for their life, happy and healthy birds can provide high egg production rates.

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Anna Evans

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