Depending on the characteristics of the breed, geese lay eggs at 6–9 months or at the beginning of the 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. Egg production is also affected by the weight of the bird.
The period of goose laying
As a rule, a young goose is ready for a relationship with a male for 180-300 days of life with some deviations, but the problem is that when she has sexual readiness, the gander is still not mature in this regard. In part, this is the reason for the low egg production and the late onset of the laying period.
In most cases, the goose begins to lay eggs in the early spring - in March-April, and does this every other day. The first clutch is stress for the bird, and what its fertility will be in the future, may depend on this.
In nature, geese live in pairs. In order for the 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 he periodically fertilizes. The presence of a natural or artificial pond 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 at the same time. In general, the average flock of birds accounts for 50 to 80% of fertilized eggs in a single laying period.
Geese are carried three days after insemination by the 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 should be taken for 30-60 days. Then the female proceeds to masonry again.
On private farms and in the household, geese are not killed, and, living next to a person sometimes up to 25-30 years old, they rush to the end of their lives.
Beginning of oviposition
The low productivity of female geese, compared with 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 for 2-3 years of life, geese give the largest number of eggs.
The main factors affecting fertility:
- female age;
- breed of bird;
- habitat conditions;
- season;
- feeding regimen and diet.
You can understand that the bird is ready for egg laying by the following signs:
- a clear symptom of the onset of the process is the lowered tail;
- the goose begins to show concern, finds no place for itself, can rush about the house;
- walks unevenly, shifting from one side to another;
- engaged in construction, plucking fluff from his breast, collecting straw, blades of grass, covering them with a nest.
If the eggs are needed to hatch the chicks, they are collected, and then laid under a layer 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 can be weak and not viable. However, you should be prepared for the fact that the chicks appear with a gap of 1-2 days, because, with all the desire, the bird can not provide all the eggs with uniform heating.
When the farmer chooses the natural appearance of the chicks, the eggs are collected and laid on a laying hen - she incubates them for about a month. True, more than 15 eggs, the bird can not sit. 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 must select the eggs, check them with an ovoscope, clean them from contamination and put them into the device at a temperature of 37.8-38 ° C. With proper heating, turning, maintaining normal humidity, the goslings hatch after 30 days.
How many eggs does a goose take?
Egg laying in geese is a seasonal process, and, despite the exceptions, most often it is spring, in general, it occurs within five months of the year. Most geese lay their eggs until 8 o’clock in the morning (at 60%), although they can be carried until 18:00, but much less often. With a productivity of 30 eggs, a female can lay 1 egg in late February, 12 in March, 10 in April and 7 in May. But the number of eggs per month may be different 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, use females for about 6 years, it is considered inexpedient to keep such birds as hens longer, as their egg production begins to decrease. 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 amount is much larger - up to 900 pieces and more.
The eggs of geese have a white shell, and their mass is from 120 to 200 g. They can have two and three yolks.
Room preparation
The geese house should be set up well in advance. It is better to have windows to the south or southeast, on the leeward side of the residential sector. Despite the fact that the room should be bright, too many windows will contribute to overheating on hot summer days, and excessive cooling in the winter.
In addition, it is impossible to install the building on a site with a groundwater level of more than 2 m from the surface of the earth, because during heavy rains or floods it can be flooded. For convenience of feeding, the house can reach a height of 1.7 m.
To prepare a home for laying hens, you must:
- adjust the temperature - the temperature from +20 to +25 is considered the most comfortable for layers aboutFROM;
- the floor of the room should be covered with sawdust and a straw layer of 5 cm;
- usually three females have one box with nests, they need to be covered with a warm cloth, if possible, it is better to keep the layers separately;
- the nests should be 50 cm wide and high, 60 cm long, and a 10 cm high side should be made in front so that the litter and eggs cannot fall out;
- walls, external and internal, it is better to whitewash;
- the room has several pallets of sand;
- geese should be located in a separate building, away from other poultry;
- cracks and cracks should 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 daily. If the pasture cannot give enough feed, the geese are additionally fed in the evening.
In hot weather, it is important to establish a canopy for the birds or to drive the laying hens away in the shade of deciduous or fruit trees, where they can hide from birds of prey and rain. In the absence of a pond, birds are placed a trough up to 25 cm high and are constantly monitored so that the water in it is fresh.
Nutrition for good egg production
For egg laying, the bird begins to be cooked a month before its start. For this, her feed includes:
- oats, wheat and barley;
- legumes;
- 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 feeds 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 her hand under her wings - under them there should be no tubercles of adipose tissue.
If the geese do not rush, the cause may be improper nutrition, causing disturbances in their body, or errors in the arrangement of the house - temperature, light and other parameters that are extremely important.
Winter oviposition
To goose also rushed well in the winter, you need to create the most comfortable conditions for wintering and introduce the appropriate winter diet.
Home Improvement
For the construction of a winter house, durable wood or brick is used. In cold weather, the room temperature is maintained at least 3-5 degrees. Ideally, it is best to maintain 13-20 degrees. The fact is that geese are not afraid of cold, and they are indoors only at night, in severe frosts and windy weather, but in a warm room the egg production increases. But dampness is disastrous for them, so air humidity should be maintained at 30%.
For winter, special conditions are needed:
- the house’s windows should initially be equipped with vents to cover 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, previously, the area for walking is cleaned of snow mass;
- for swimming, 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; around such a reservoir, flooring is made of straw, where geese can lie down.
Birds should not be allowed to cool their feet, as this may adversely affect their reproduction, therefore, in winter they use additional heating and increase the thickness of the litter.
Winter food
Proper nutrition in the winter is necessary, 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.
Layers are given grain, fresh hay, boiled root vegetables, sauerkraut, steamed chaff, as well as vitamin supplements. In the evening, feed 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.
Food in the winter should be three meals a day.
Useful Tips
It is important for geese to create decent living conditions, as well as know the features of this bird.
Some nuances will help to achieve high egg laying hens:
- two males should not be allowed for one female - in this case, the gander will deal with the relationship, throw off each other and not trample the goose, and the eggs will remain unfertilized;
- mating on water increases fertility at times, so if there is no pond nearby, you can put a barrel or a bath of water in the area;
- so that the goose has hatched all the chicks, the eggs in the nest should be no more than 12 pieces, 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 brood by the behavior of the female - such a mother, when approaching a man, although it raises its wings, but remains in the nest;
- free-range geese carry fewer eggs;
- the female can hatch eggs only in the nest in which it is carried; therefore, there are frequent cases of the bird refusing to incubate when transplanting it to another place;
- during hatching of gander, geese are not allowed to enter, and hens are separated by partitions so that they do not see each other.
In order for the geese to sweep fully, they need a balanced diet, peace, warmth, free access to food and water. Under conditions that are optimal for their livelihoods, contented and healthy birds can provide high egg production rates.