What to do when geese start to rush?

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An important, even fundamental question for every house that wants to get rich from the goose egg trade is when the geese start to lay. Without knowing this, as well as the factors affecting the egg production of birds, starting a business and even just raising birds for eggs is simply inappropriate. As they say, not knowing the ford, do not poke your nose into the water.

When geese start to rush

What is a goose

Geese are large waterfowl and, as some poultry houses add with annoyance, they also have a nasty and arrogant character. The latter is indirectly confirmed by the famous story about geese, who woke up the Roman guards when the Gauls climbed through the walls.

Geese have a sharp beak, a rather long neck, although not as long as that of swans. High legs. The birds can eat almost any vegetation, they even feed on grass. Thanks to this, growing them at home in the summer is a pleasure for an economical owner.

Domestic geese are bred for meat, feathers, fat, foie gras and eggs. The latter are almost 4 times more in volume than chicken, but the taste and smell are specific to an unprepared person. Nevertheless, eggs are quite suitable for food, they contain many vitamins and minerals. Their regular use improves the nervous system and vision, and also serves as an antioxidant.

To the deep regret of gourmets, the egg production of geese has big problems. Unlike chickens, this bird rushes badly. Breeds were bred, in which they tried to level this deficiency.

How to choose the goose that lays the golden eggs?

How many eggs a goose will bring is determined largely by what breed it is. To date, breeders have created and continue to breed more and more new varieties of these birds. Some breeds are better for breeding for meat, some give more fluff or eggs, but they are all almost ideal for growing on farms. There are so many varieties of these that a voluminous book would be required to list them, therefore only popular egg breeds are presented below.

1. Kholmogorskys. They differ in very large dimensions: it is better not to quarrel with such "birds". The female is gaining 8 kg of weight, the male weighs almost 12 kg. They carry only up to 30 eggs per year, but 200 g each. Kholmogory residents are not afraid of frost and are unpretentious, like mice. There are gray, piebald and white birds.
2. Italian. Beautiful snow-white birds arrived in cold Russia and nearby countries from sunny Italy. The weight of an adult Italian goose is about 6 kg and the male did not go far from her in size. Compared to Kholmogory, these are very compact creatures, and in terms of egg production, they are more productive. 40-45 eggs are carried annually, the mass of which is in the range of 150-170 g.
3. Chinese. If you look for breeds with exceptional egg production, then the Chinese will receive the title of champion. The goose brings 60-70 eggs a year, sometimes in especially good conditions it can produce 100 eggs.However, their weight is the smallest - 120 g, to match the live weight of their mothers. The gander weighs about 5, and the female - 4 kg. The plumage is gray-brown interspersed with white and black colors.

What other factors affect egg production

In addition to the breed, other factors affect the value of egg production:

1. Age. Pullets, for example, firstly, bring fewer offspring than their older companions, and secondly, they begin to lay a little later. You should not be angry with them for this: their bodies are still young and not fully prepared for a heavy burden. A female that has lived for more years runs better.
2. Conditions of detention. It is true that the worse the conditions a bird lives, the less it rushes. And if the birds have completely stopped laying eggs, it means that their life is nowhere worse: poor, hungry and cold. Potential stress also diminishes the desire to reproduce in females.
3. Small big. Why is the egg production of geese so bad? Due to the special feature. Large size means that the bird lays large eggs, therefore, there will be few of them. The Chinese yield so many eggs because their overall body size is small. Nature also decided that the gander reached puberty later than the females.
4. Poor kids. The hatching of chicks from eggs is extremely low compared to hens.

What are the signs to determine the beginning of oviposition

Geese begin to lay at 275 days of age. However, the time when they are potentially ready to reproduce comes earlier - at 5-6 months of life. The laying period is 5-6 years. Experienced breeders selling eggs and meat keep hens up to 4-5 years old, after which they are slaughtered.

The period when geese rush begins in the spring.

By this time, you need to make a nest for the bird. The less time remains before laying, the more the female begins to worry. She walks around the nest, insulates it with her feathers, treads restlessly in place, her tail is down. How geese rush is possible, but novice breeders need to watch the video.

If the birds did not start to rush, the reasons lie in severe stress, constant darkness in the goose house, poor food or lack of it, lack of vitamins. All this together leads to the fact that not only does the bird not rush, it can also become seriously ill. Laying season will only be successful if the necessary level of care for the house and its inhabitants is maintained.

The secret influence of light on egg-laying

There is a secret that needs to be applied if you want the geese to rush at normal intervals. The whole secret lies in the regulation of daylight hours:

1. First-year females in winter, in December, gradually increase daylight hours for a week to 14 hours. As a result, the bird rushes in January.
2. In the same way, you need to do with geese that are 2 years old - translate in winter to a long daylight hours.
3. When the summer egg-laying period is over, they are kept for a month in a short 7-hour light, and after that they are again transferred to 14-hour. This is how molting and the laying period in autumn-winter are provoked.
4. Molting is called again in the month of December in three-year-old females.

Preparing the female for childbirth

How many eggs will be in the nest depends on the bird, and whether they will be born at all depends on the person. A month before the birds start laying eggs, they need to be well fed, but not overfed. First of all, you need to make a nest, it should be such that the feathered young lady feels comfortable and safe:

1. Geese should not clash with each other for nests, so each should have their own "shelter".
2. You can make it out of anything. Tip: take a closer look at the behavior of the females. They often choose strange objects like old baskets as their nest, but they feel safe there, which means that things can be transferred to the house.
3. The main criteria by which the best nests are determined are dimensions (spacious enough) and location.Geese are nervous and shy birds, they cannot give eggs in full view and in the light, therefore it is better to arrange nests in dark corners where people do not walk much.
4. The house should be strengthened if the egg-laying falls during the cold season. Even mid-May can be chilly, especially at night. Birds can get sick.
5. In nature, geese live in pairs, and at home you should not have more than 3-4 females per 1 gander. The male will not cope with a large harem and some of the young ladies will be unfertilized.

Another issue worth taking care of is the right diet. In the warm summer, females can roam the green pastures, but even so, it is worth adding healthy supplements to their diet. Oviposition lasts for several days. To strengthen the health of mothers, they are fed with sprouted grain.

Without children, grief, but with children twice

When eggs finally appear in the nest, the efforts of the owner do not diminish, but even increase. Breeders often face the following problems during this period:

1. The female incubates eggs anywhere, but not in the poultry house. Solution: She found herself a suitable egg-laying site in or outside the yard. Now you can't do anything, because if you try to move the chosen shelter to another place, the bird will refuse to rush;
2. Geese lay eggs, but do not incubate them, what is the reason? Birds, which are few years old, do not know how to do this, and therefore do not sit down. They can be taught to lay fake eggs or force the mother to sit on the nest and cover it with a box. If the trick works, you won't have to wait for the beginning of incubation, after a while everything will be fine. When females for 2-3 years refuse to sit on the nest, this indicates a more serious problem: it means that it is cold in the house, the light regime is not suitable, the nest is in a noisy place, etc. Eliminating these problems is essential.

Some owners, instead of trusting the laying hens, take the eggs and send them to the incubator. How long does it take for the chicks to hatch? Both with natural and artificial withdrawal, this period is from 28 to 32 days. You can learn more about breeding geese in the video.