Some of our goose eggs began pipping last night and today two emerged: one female (left hand side with the grey and orange bill) and one male (right hand side with the orange bill). There are 15 in this first set and by the end of the day we could clearly see that eight more were pipping. We are pretty excited as West of England geese are rare and hatching geese is not always as successful as it is with other poultry. We have already had orders for seven females so fingers crossed for a good female/ male ratio! It is all a bit nerve wracking hatching in an incubator because you get to see the process in all its painstakingly slow technicolor glory, whereas under a broody you simply wait and hope to see fluffy bundles as and when the broody is happy for you to do so! The other issue is humidity. As soon as you remove the lid of the incubator, you instantly affect the humidity and if an egg is pipping, it can mean the egg membrame becomes dry, running the risk of trapping the bird inside the egg! This photo was taken with the lid off (!!!).
We hope for more progress tomorrow. It was hard to drag ourselves away and head for bed!!