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[Cathy <goosecreekfarm AT gmail.com>]

On Sat, May 23, 2009 at 12:03 PM, Robert Walton <waltonrp AT gmail.com> wrote:

> The nest is full of eggs, real full. Couldn't count them, the other
> day I happened to be there when there wasn't a goose there, but they
> caught me and they do not like me around that nest.
>

This was my experience with geese.  Lots and lots of eggs.  We snuck some
during the first week or so of laying, always leaving the same few (marked
with an X) to encourage continued laying.  Once sitting began in
earnest, the birds didn't want me around.

>
> When you say abandon the rest, I have a mating pair and a trio that
> are mating. The pair seems to be dominant, one smaller goose from the
> trio seems to sit more. Should I expect some to be abandoned?
>

It was very cute to see 15 or 20 goslings in a row during the first few
outings.  Less cute was seeing goslings literally pestered to death and/or
left to die.  We found the abandonment to be permanent--even after rescuing
and raising to adolescence.  The birds' choices seemed arbitrary to me at
the time, but now I suppose they were better at detecting and eliminating
rival males?  We always ended up with lots and lots of  geese and very few
ganders.

>
>
> Cathy
>