New Life ~ Goslings for Easter

 New goslings for Easter ! My Sebastopol Geese keep trying to raise a family but the last two years Ella was unable to successfully hatch her many eggs. It was very sad for me knowing all the diligent  care and tending of her eggs laid in a nest in the goose pen was of no use, none hatched. Even sadder was discovering that each and every egg had a fully developed gosling inside that could not break free of its' shell.

This year Ella began laying eggs under the rhododendrons, a place she'd never be able to protect herself or her eggs from predators or our pet dogs. I took her eggs from that beautiful but unwise nesting site and placed them in an incubator. Then I re-located 2 eggs in a nest box made especially for Ella in the goose pen. I kept Ella and Fella confined during egg laying season so she would not choose another site. This last Thursday night and on into Saturday some of the eggs began hatching.

The goslings had poked small holes in their shells but were unable to get out. I peeled tiny bits of their shells off and found even the membrane inside the eggs was too hard for the babies to break free of. ( I DID keep water in the incubator and misted the eggs with water every night .) I needed to be careful how I peeled the shell and membrane away so as not to rip delicate baby goose skin and cause them to bleed to death, so I wrapped each egg in warm , wet washcloths and held them firmly while I slowly began taking pieces of shell off to give the goslings room to move and help me extricate them. I also needed to roll back their membrane covering slowly. It was a long process for each egg but looky here.....

... 3 of the 4 successfully hatched Sebastopol goslings ! One baby was still working herself out of the shell when my husband snapped this pic of me and my new little geese. There are 3 more eggs in the incubator due to hatch in a few days. These little goslings have imprinted on me and get very excited when I say "babies, babies, babies ", just like their parents, Ella and Fella , who get very excited when they hear my voice and follow me around like puppies because they're imprinted on me .

There is new life everywhere here at Cedar Pond. New lambs, baby doves, chicks, goslings, new flowers just beginning to bud. New life here in this world is but a small reflection of the blessing of new life given to all who ask for it from God, and unlike our temporal earthly life and joys, new life from Jesus is eternal, "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death , in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4

Easter blessings to you !

Ella's First Egg of the Season~ Spring Has Sprung !

The weather here is unseasonably as warm as late spring. The bees are buzzing about looking for pollen and nectar not to be found and they have taken over our poultry feeders eating what ? Not sure about why the bees are abuzz in all my chicken feeders but the chickens are having trouble eating with so many bees in their feed. My Sebastopol goose Ella laid her first egg of the season and this year I am hoping her eggs will successfully hatch. Last year she and Fella were diligent parents , but all they hatched were the duck eggs I placed in her nest along with her own eggs. Several eggs  seemed to have been successfully incubated by Ella only to end with fully developed goslings trapped in their eggs, appearing to be unable to extricate them selves. ( Anyone with any helpful info regarding this , please comment  !)

The first goose eggs, the bees abuzz, and new lambs due any day. Spring is here on Cedar Pond and it has sprung !

Ella, Fella & Blizzard

Blizzard is a very curious cat and the package I brought home from the post office intrigued him. The package chirped !

In the small box were two goslings. Sebastopol goslings to be precise. I put myself on a waiting list last fall to even be able to order them and here they are, a pair of goslings of a breed I have wanted for a long time. I named them Ella & Fella. The gosling in the foreground is Fella.

 Look, Fella is peeking out of his box for the first time. He is barely two days old in this picture.

 Ella and Fella were shipped in this box with a warming pad, it is the white rectangular object in the box. It was still emitting heat when I opened the box.

 Blizzard is very interested. I would say he is a keen observer of all that goes on in the sunroom gosling brooder. My brooder is a livestock water tank with two heat lamps. Because I have 2 house cats who would probably love to snack on fresh gosling I also have a metal wire lid to place on top of the tank. ( Sorry Blizzard & Miss Marple)

 Inside the brooder there is newspaper to absorb the water and toweling on top of the newspaper to make it more comfortable for the goslings and easier on their delicate feet. The waterer is on a metal rack inside a cookie sheet with even more toweling to absorb the water.This helps keep the water contained after the goslings play with the water. That is the primary problem with raising water fowl. They are too young to be wet all the time but cannot resist playing with water until it is all gone. This takes a lot of upkeep, but I think it is worth it.

  The aluminum foil on top of the tub surrounds a heat lamp to help direct the heat down into the tub . The metal crib springs keep the cats out and the heat lamp which is firmly clipped into place from causing a fire.

Having a large metal tub in my sun room does wonders for my home décor don't you think? But the entertainment value of a curious cat and goslings in a tub beats Nat Geo and Animal Planet paws down.