In the Poultry Nursery

We have two female geese and two males, so although the older female sat on her eggs and hatched out seven healthy goslings approximately thirty days later, the younger goose just kept laying eggs but not sitting. We waited and waited for her to sit. Spring went by and with it the green grass became scarce. It started to become evident that she was never going to sit so Brian intervened.

 As there were two broody hens sitting side by side in the hen shed, he put some of the goose eggs  underneath the two hens. They were able to comfortably cover six eggs between them.

The weeks went by and eventually there was some action. One little gosling hatched unaided, but we found next day it had been squashed in the nest by one of its foster mums. 

The following day we found this egg that was starting to hatch, but after waiting nearly all day for little one to break out of its shell, Brian decided to give it a helping hand.

The little one needed to be peeled out of its egg and placed under the brooder light in the shed until it became strong enough to go back to its foster mother.

Reunited again. They bonded immediately, but the gosling wasn't very smart about snuggling underneath the hen to keep warm, so close watching, gentle persuading and prodding was required on our part. The hen was fiercely protective, so it wasn't easy!  

Not a good quality photo because I had to enlarge it so the baby can be seen poking its head out from under the hen's wing.

A week later and they are still in the nursery yard, separated from the other hens until the gosling is large enough to withstand the goings on and shenanigans of the grown-ups in the foul shed and surrounding paddocks.
Poultry are endlessly fascinating and entertaining aren't they?