RIP Gertie

We've 2 groups of geese. One of the the  three living in the Burn Field  has been sitting on some eggs.  The other pair hang round the drive and pond ( and house) . And the female (Gertie) has been laying eggs - but we think the ravens or hoodies have been taking them - we have found broken goose eggs in the fields.

For the last few days she has been sitting - on nothing-  in various places.
And today we found her on the  empty nest she had made previously.
Very strange - usually whne you approach  a goose they hiss at you , but she didnt. She was very limp and not reacting .

So something clearly was amiss.

And this afternoon on checking on her , we found that she had died. if the information we were given when we received her was accurate , she would be 7 years of age. And dometic geese and live up to the age of 30  so it was unlikely to be 'old age' .

RIP Gertie

.

A sitting hen.

Someone local had  a broody hen   which was offered on loan  - perhaps thats easier  that trying to unbrood them , or putting up with pushing her off any eggs that are  laid.

As we've had limited luck with geese - because of the predators taking the eggs - the hen is sitting on some geese eggs.

Only a few - we started with 4 but on the first inspection , only 3 were under her so one was removed. Perhaps ot surprising as they are so much bigger

And the hen is in a broody box - its gives them the shade and privacy they need and means we need to be bothered a bit less about disurbances.

And the incubation period is 25-30 days .

A sitting turkey

and not only have we got a goose sitting on  ?7 eggs , we now have a broody turkey.

We knew there were some eggs there

and she manages to keep herself well hidden in the rushes

And the male is still standing gaurd, trying to frighten off any intruders

One goose a-sitting

The goose started making a nest as we discovered here . She continued to ignore the custom-made comfortable accommodation that we had made.
And continued to lay eggs in the nest she had made in the bushes.

And she is sitting on the eggs . We think there could be 7 eggs.

 And the other geese are hanging around making appropriate noises when approached.

Incubation time for geese is 4 weeks.

So another 3 weeks or so and we shall see what additions ( if any ) we have  to the menagerie

the eggless turkey nest

So there have been a couple of ravens around , and the hoodies ( hooded crows) , and the turkey nest is empty .
1 +1 = ?
 Adn weve found some empty, broken eggs

and te nest is empty of eggs

so ive added some netting to see if that dissuades the maruaders.