Well five it is. Once they had moved far enough away from the nest we removed what was left, 3 un-hatched eggs and 2 dead gosling's. Sad, but five is plenty. It's not long before they are getting into trouble. One got into the pond but couldn't get out and then they all found their way through the polytunnel fence and didn't want to get back out. The best way to deal with naughty gosling's is a long handled hoe, they can be safely lifted out of ponds, safe for us not the gosling the adults get very aggressive you know!! When mum, dad and the little ones go for a walk everyone stays out of the way, the lambs didn't know what hit them, it was 15kg of hissing aggression!
For the next few weeks we will spend the majority of our time rescuing gosling's. The adults will sound the alarm when it's time to spring into action!
Monday 8th April
And they just keep coming, five this morning all fluffed and off for a drink and a feed. We can see a dead one on the nest and another cracked egg, but who knows what will happen today. She is back on the nest, so we will wait and see. Until she comes far enough away from the nest, it will be impossible to tidy the nest up!
Sun cont....
Then there was four. The evening feed provided a glimpse of another gosling. She quickly returned to the nest so there may be more yet. We will have to wait for the morning.
Sunday 7th April
Well the waiting is finally over and we all gave a sigh of relief, especially Bruiser! This morning, when Diz went to open Spotless's nest there was a lot of unusual activity, she hissed before he had even got to the nest door and when he opened it she got up and repositioned herself always hissing. Diz could hear additional noises and then she showed them to him.
Spotless really needed to get up and stretch her legs and get some water, as she hasn't been off the nest for two days, the gosling's would have been fluffing up and therefore she couldn't leave them.
It was a fleeting glance, they all had a short walk and then they were back under her on the nest.
As some of you will know from previous years, even though they have hatched, there is still a chance they don't live past the first week, getting squashed, cold or drowning. So goose watch will continue for the next few days.
Saturday 6th April
Spotless hasn't left the nest for the past two evenings, which is an encouraging sign. We still haven't seen or heard anything, but they can take a couple of days to break through the shell and then a day to fluff up. Keeping our fingers crossed.
Keep you posted.
Thursday 4th April
Spotless has continued to come of the nest and nothing has happened to the eggs. I checked the nest again and found that instead of the 9 eggs I thought she was sat on she has 10 eggs, which will probably effect the hatch date. So we will have to wait and see.
Keep you posted.
Tuesday 2nd April
Well it's that time of year again and we are always asked, 'have they hatched yet?' Spotless has now been sat on her eggs for 28 days, so hatching is imminent. A gosling can take several days to finally burst out of it's egg so we can only wait and see.
She came off her nest tonight, so I bravely went to investigate the nest for any signs. Diz kept watch on Bruiser and Spotless to make sure they didn't sneak up on me while I had my head in the box. The eggs were uncovered which is unusual and the first egg I checked was cold, not a good sign. The next couple were warm so panic over. There was no sign of cracks in the eggs, the first egg I couldn't hear anything the next one I think I could hear movement so fingers crossed. I left the nest then, as I got too nervous and didn't want to disturb things too much.
Keep you posted.
Stella xx
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