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Yesterday was day 29 of incubation for the first batch of goose eggs of the year. By the end of the day, there were several external pips – goslings were on their way!
Waterfowl take their sweet time hatching. I’ve learned, over the years, that patience is a must. Let me be clear: this means waiting to assist until it is actually necessary. I am hands-on, so I assist if I think the gosling is having trouble, such as being improperly positioned to hatch in the egg (malposition).
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Since this is Hatch Day, there are multiple external pips, indicating that the goslings in those eggs are preparing to escape the confines of the shell. Sometimes, the external pip – a hole through the outer shell that follows the “inner pip”, which is a hole the gosling makes first in the membrane between it and the shell – doesn’t get all the way through the thick membrane on the inner part of the shell. I keep an eye on these because there is a limited amount of air in the shell (even if they pip on the correct end where the air cell is located) and prepare to make a safety air hole by carefully piercing that “outer” membrane if needed.
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At this point, however, all I need to do is monitor the humidity – which was increased with the first external pip – and temperature. If there are goslings who haven’t zipped (the process of cracking the egg around its perimeter with a gosling’s bill, the last step before hatching) by tomorrow, I’ll candle those eggs to see if anyone needs help.
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The newly-hatched goslings may look wet and bedraggled now, but soon they’ll be fluffy and active, knocking the other eggs around and talking up a storm. This hatch was a relatively small one, but I already know that the hatcher is going to be a hot mess after the hatch – and that I’ll be scrubbing it out immediately afterward in preparation for the next hatch!