Johnny Come Lately (a gosling story)

 

My geese have been trying to hatch goslings for a few months now. But, it’s been so super hot and dry that every time a gosling hatched, it would die within 24-36 hours. After three deaths, I decided I was going to retrieve the next one that hatched in order to give it a helping hand. So I started watching the remaining three eggs closely and checking up on the, now, two sitting geese often in order to catch and retrieve the next to hatch. (Back story: the two mother geese had their own nests but, one chose a really hot place and, even though I built a sun shade over her, her eggs exploded in the heat and she decided to co-sit with the more successful goose who built her nest in the goose house we have by their pond). Shortly after coming to this resolve, I noticed one morning the mother geese were off the nest and all 6 geese in the gaggle were staring at it so I thought sure enough the next goose had hatched but, why were they all looking at the nest like they were in wonder instead of taking care of it (geese are very good care-takers – even the fathers look out after everyone). So, even though it was 6am and I wanted to just stay in bed awhile longer, I grumbled out of bed and walked out to see the goose nest and found that what the gaggle was intrigued by was the fact that a snake was there with one of the goose eggs half way down its throat. I ran to retrieve the machete and, seeing, from the window, that I was in panic, my husband joined me in time to chop off the snake’s head. “Now, how are we going to get the egg out of the snake”, I questioned. And, just as he replied “I don’t know” the snake’s head jerked and out popped the egg. And, two days later, that egg hatched and, as planned, I retrieved the gosling but, not unscathed as the mother goose jumped up and nipped me in the shoulder leaving a red mark and, that, my folks is a good mother goose! I assured the mother I would bring her baby back in due time and, after a day and a night resting in the chicken brooder while tending to it and making sure it was very self sufficient in the task of eating and drinking, I brought the gosling back to the gaggle and they took the little gosling under their wing immediately. The little gosling has survived and is thriving, despite the heat and we now call him Jonah (who was expelled by a snake as opposed to the bible story where it was a whale). But, wait; there are still two more eggs to hatch. After about a week of waiting, I candled the eggs to find that one had died but, one was peeping and starting to hatch. So, I put it back and found the little wet gosling in the nest the next day. I brought this one in the house and kept it at my bedside in a box that I lined with a heating pad for two nights and a day. This morning, I relinquished it to the gaggle where two eager mothers and a sibling were happy to embrace it. And that concludes our goose nesting season as this was the last living egg on the farm. So, we now have Jonah and Johnny as in Johnny Come Lately. In years past, we have offered the goslings to other farms but, last year, we lost three geese from our gaggle so, we are keeping these to add to the flock. If you want to add geese to your flock, check back with us during the summer months. For now, keep (and yours) cool and hydrated as much as you can.

 

To see a small clip on Jonah and Johnny in his first hours back with the gaggle, 

see this fb link: https://fb.watch/ezUDKgJSD6/