My Last Batch of Goslings Needs a Miracle
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
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Failures are lessons, we can beat up ourselves about it or we can learn from it! I’m glad you have another incubator on the way. Be kind to yourself my friend!
What is the mistake here really? That he couldn't tell the reading was lying to him until it was too late? I feel this will only be his bad if he didn't learn anything from this. I hope his next hatch set up is built with redundancies in it. Planes are built like this because if the mechanism breaks that tells the landing gears to lower, that should trigger the next set of systems that tell the landing gear to lower.
@@Lovehandels It makes me feel like there's a lot of room for innovation in incubators especially with software automation and redunancies. If given the chance, Morgan would probably have some great ideas for features/designs if he could work with a company.
best advice ever! kindness starts with yourself. Let go and move on....
Summary of the constructive feedback I've seen in the comments:
- It would be a good idea to have a backup incubator available in case of future equipment failures.
- There's no shame in purchasing replacement animals when things don't go as planned.
- In case of future ongoing catastrophes, consider looking locally for 'good enough' or 'better than nothing' solutions, so that you can act quickly.
- Don't beat yourself up too much. It won't help the animals that have already died and it won't help you take care of the animals you already have.
100% agree on replacement animals, Morgan should go order another 25-30 goslings from a hatchery! it could be a new way to bring in new gander genetics too eventually!
thanks for the summary :)
Great summary.
BINGO!!!! great advice
Each of those with out taxes and shipping is around a dollar or two...$2,000 each...i think its summer and heat rises to the top of all buildings and it got way over heated now in cold winters heat still rises to the top which it will be warmer up in the top of his building....good luck...
You had good years this is just a time to learn, next year you'll see.
You lost a lot of weight looks good. Good job. You probably have more energy now.
A new incubator will be good but I'm wondering since broody weird chickens make great incubators if there would be a chance if you would experiment?
Too bad about the hatch. Did you ever research the " dry hatch method " ??
Worked wonders for me, like a miracle. Eggs would develop super till hatch time. Then disaster.
Discovered they were weak and drowning at the very end . After switching, hatch rate shot up like crazy.
Why not just get a few from tractor supply to add to the flock
Bad seasons are part of being a farmer. At least there’s no loan to pay off for seed or something like that.
Buy some goose chicks so you don't lose the entire year.
Could be a good idea! Get some younger birds and broaden the genetics of his flock.
Probably too late in the year to purchase a gaggle of goslings.
@@jamesking1033 Depends upon where he gets them from. The buff geese were heaven sent, but he might have to send Bruce to the freezer so he doesn't screw up the genetics of his flock. New geese or geese trades might be the way to go. And Bruce might get a few more years that way!
Yeah,most geese in the US are done till the fall. Some places can get a second round of laying outta them, but that depends on the temps. - raised geese in the middle of the California desert, got 2 full lay/hatch sessions outta em.
or steal them and get them for free!
Oh Morgan, I'm so sorry you have had such a rough season. It's frustrating when the equipment fails and we have to step in but you have done a great job and continue to learn and share these situations with us to help us all on this journey. We appreciate you, don't beat yourself up. Next season will be abundant! 😊
I was a zookeeper responsible for breeding endangered birds. I used broody hens to hatch many species then hand raise the offspring.
What kind of birds did you raise? That sounds incredible.
Whenever my father would go to hatch any bird like ducks or quails he would use the hens to do it. He had way more success with a single broody hen than the 2 incubators he kept.
@@Rozella-kc8uf He has the top broody/hatching type chicken in existence (The silkie). Silkies go broody at the drop of a dime. They hear about some neighbor down the road laying an egg and they will go broody. Heck, across the world with just a rumor of an egg being laid and they will go broody xD
The picture in my mind: a hen sitting on an emu egg 😶😂😂😂
@@mkpetersen1607 Weed 'em and Reep's turkey Kiwi has done that!!! I do kinda wish Morgan would add them to the farm aswell. But I enjoy living vicariously thru his youtube videos haha
First the calves, then this. It's been a rough year, but you got this. What's most important is that you learned from what's happened and already fixing things to prevent another catastrophe.
Is the lack of hygiene a contributing factor?
@@brenta2634 lol you don't farm do you!
@@rsh793 Nope. Glad to be corrected. Thx.
@brenta2634 Huh? Sorry, not being cheeky. I genuinely don't understand the question.
@@brenta2634 na, hygiene has no real role in incubation the problem is the incubator/brooder stopped working meaning the egg's/chicks got to cold and died, it's a common issue people have where the power go's down for a sec and no one notices until it's too late and there is nothing that can really be done about it
Morgan, we all know you do the best you can. You shouldn't blame yourself too much because you don't know everything and are not perfect. That's what keeps us watching is your tenacity and your willingness to teach others the mistakes you've made to help others thrive. You are awesome and I wish I could give you a hug brotha!
Please don’t be so hard on yourself Morgan. ❤ Being a farmer, learning everyday, you instinctually want to troubleshoot things so you can learn and grow. Seeing both you and Allison hover over a single gosling shows just how good of people you both are. Absolutely tragic and heartbreaking, my Mom and I are sending hugs your way friend ❤
So sorry for the difficulties you've had this year with losing babies.
I appreciate your tenacity in discovering where the real pitfalls are and learning from those mistakes.
None of us are perfect, please give yourself grace and move on with a plan to overcome these obstacles Next year. I enjoy your forthright videos, and you will still have your breeding flock to succeed next year, CHIN up! Learn from that mistake and forge ahead. Ignore the negative comments and do you and we will support you
Ginny Barn cat knows you're feeling down ....she's doing her best to make you feel better
Or he’s sitting so ….. can be petting!!!
Even the most expensive products will become faulty at times! This is just another lesson! Making sure equipment is functioning good is just as important as making sure the fence is up or feeding the animals.
Even with like a swing set it could be working one day then the next the chain breaks!!
Dont beat yourself up too much Morgan! Everyday is a chance to learn and improve! You got this!! 🖤🖤
Especially when you do not know how they work.
For example the hygrometers will go bad faster than anything else.
I do not have too much experience about this, but I bought a humidity sensor to build an automatic ventilation system for my bathroom.
Never built it, but I learned that the sensor will not last forever.
Same thing with oxygen sensors. I heard about cases like this, huge problem with the car, just because a sensor has gone bad.
With this knowledge, replacing these little parts in time, or keeping an eye on them, may make the difference.
I would recommend calibrating it each year before you start hatching by running some chicken eggs.
Morgan. have you tested the electricity in your barn? If the voltage has dropped, the polarity is wrong, or the power is dirty it can cause all sort of problems with equipment. The first two are easy to check with a mulit meter, and polarity tester from your local big box building supply store. Checking for dirty power requires some much more expensive equipment and is best left to an electrician.
I've seen electricity fluctuations cause multiple computer hard drives to fail. Without a tool to measure the electrical current behavior, we would have had no idea what kept causing it.
@@deed5811 I have seen such things as well. When I was in my early teens we had an electric string trimmer (they were fairly new then). I had to take the motor apart several times to clean the armature due to voltage drop. That was my first experience with what happens with voltage drop. I have had other such things since then. The latest was when dirty power, from some cheap Chinese crap, ruined a dishwasher .
@@harpintn we ended getting a ups for that computer. Dirty electricity solved. I think we had that machine lose hard drives every 2 months. I asked facilities department to check the power and bingo.
hard luck Morgan but to me it really feels like this is related to the move into the new barn, too much of a co-incidence
What is dirty power and what makes it?
Your main mistake was literally putting all your eggs in one "basket". No matter where it's made or how expensive, any modern machine includes at least a handful of cheap Chinese components prone to failure regardless of operating conditions.
At this stage you really should think of redundancies in your key operations, getting a new cabinet incubator was necessary but so is a second backup unit, smaller and cheaper to keep costs reasonable but readily available in case something goes wrong (again) with the main one.
I feel bad that this is turning into a poor goose year. I always root for you. You are braver than most, taking on tasks that you have never done before. It's not like you grew up surrounded by farm chores. Maybe you could still get an extra pig to help make up the cost factor for the year. Hopefully a new book will be out this year.
I was so worried about you sitting in that boiling hot barn! Be really careful with heat stroke! Especially since you are alone most days and might not realize how hot you are getting. I ended up in the emergency room because of this. And it happens much more quickly than you can imagine!
You have many more successes than failures. Please don't be so hard on yourself.
I hope you try to order some so you still have something to keep your customers from previous years . Most farmers buy replacement animals when unforseen things happen unless you have a different plan to fill that gap? thanks for sharing your learning experience
I think I lost weight watching you sweat! Sending a big healing hug to all at Gold Shaw Farm. ❤️
You know that saying. 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket' in this case it may be something to consider having a spare or 2 smaller ones for this exact reason. A friend of mine is in the process of making his own incubator and I have seen a few that work very well made out of Styrofoam coolers. ;) Some times less is better, personally I find the bigger ones not very reliable or effective. A couple of light bulbs in a cheep cooler with a temp control on off switch and a bowl of water is all you need lol
😊
Please don't beat yourself up over this. You did all that you could and your an amazing farmer. Your gonna have some bad hatching years but you have had soo many successful ones! Please keep your head up Morgan we are still rooting for you
You're too hard on yourself , mother nature will always do what's best. All you can do is try and remember you're not the one in control! Sending hugs your way.
GOD, He created everything
I thought you had a smaller incubator? Did u not try incubating with that one? I think you should get a big main and smaller emergency incubator for situations like this.
Don’t beat yourself up. You tried your best.
hi from uk think i would take this years hatching has another learning experiance and from now on every year run a thirty day full cycle with independant temp and humidity monitors before hatching season to check everything ok(even if its a brand new incubator) a small pecentage of everything manufactured has faults or will develop a fault so without regular chks its a nunbers game you can be lucky get one that lasts 20 years never a problem or one that lasts 1 year and dies srry for your bad luck
Hi, Morgan. I am a primary school teacher and we hatch chicken eggs as a science cycle of life lesson. Our eggs this year were weird. One started to pip but died in the egg. We didn't think much of it, it happens. But all of the rest started to pip and the same thing happened. In the middle of the night two teachers, (one who the eggs came from and the chicks go back to after we are done with them) had to go in and help the chicks out and inside there was an extra membrane. This had not been seen before by the farmer teacher. The membranes were thick and bloody and the chicks could not get out without help. Out of 10 eggs 5 made it with hatch assistance. Just thought I would let you know. 🤷
the diet of the bird who layed them might have been off or had other issues i.e. poor genetics
I would use a back up hygrometer. I wonder if your humidity level was off.
Also back up thermometer.
To prepare for the potential of something like this happening again in future, you could take some time during the lull of the winter season to test your equipment! Develop a testing procedure for any automated equipment.
100% this.
I'm sorry this season's been so rough.
Always have backups for necessary equipment. And have a backup or two for you backups. Test equipment early so repairs or replacement can occur without loss of time when that exact thing is most needed.
My dad told me being extra prepared is good juju. Being unprepared is inviting disaster. He was right.
Sending hugs to all of you!
Maybe just as a backup u should have a second incubator on the side in case of requirement failure or run two incubators simultaneously to prevent "putting all ur eggs in one basket"
Especially if your business depends on it...
I feel this year have been cursed . Is like is 50% good and 50% bad no middle ground. So many good things have happened to me but also equally bad . Is so weird .
I'll be 100% real: It's a little strange you didn't go down to the hardware store to grab a temp incubator once the 3rd hatching didn't pan out, much less 5 rounds of eggs. (And now you're waiting for one online? There's nothing small but local?) But looking to the positive, it may be that your farm needs a little new blood for geese, anyway? It's late in the season but there may be some goslings for sale. Even if not, turn a negative into a positive. Take this year to reassess, set up redundancies and plans B, C, and D so you can come back stronger than ever. :)
Sarahc3866 I agree & am right there with you as far as being 100% real. There is no good reason with the phenomenal income from all of Morgan's endeavors not to have bought a "back up" incubator & had it standing by especially after he saw what was happening with the first TWO hatchings. It is not like he is poor and has no other options like many farmers who don't have the resources he has.
Also I would like to see him give more thought and take earlier action when he sees things going south. It is like the business with the loss of the two calves... he already knew the area had a selenium deficiency and that should have been the first thing he could have addressed since he knew about it ahead of time! Not sure if he shared that fact with his vet or even why his vet working in that community didn't know about that fact but it would have been an easy fix if he had given it some thought and even consulted the internet since he knew it was an issue/problem known to exist in the area. Why ignore such valuable information when it might be a life saver?!
Sandy Brock of Sheepishly Yours channel in one of her recent videos had a new lamb start going down after a day & called her vet immediately... The vet told her to give the lamb an injection of selenium after they discussed the symptoms. Sandy checked with her vet even though she suspected it was a selenium deficiency issue (they have the same problem with feed as you & keep liquid selenium on hand) but she just wanted to be sure there weren't any other possibilities that needed addressing. She saved her lambs life as it was better in one day!! So Morgan, when something is right in front of you like these two problems were presenting put in the thought about it instead of sitting back and worrying and wondering. Heck if nothing else & no vet is available, ask your fans! (I use to be on many dog groups and we always ran by problems with each other especially when no vets were available & I know after the many years that it often saved a puppy's or dog's life.) While I am disappointed that you lost lives due to your lack of action, I still love you & your channel. BUT you''re a really smart guy so USE THAT BRAIN more!! ♥
I'm from VT and Morgan is from DC. I did some looking and at the easiest to find Hardware stores online Aubuchon and the closest incubator in stock was in Barre. Dad's 4 Buy tool and Supply doesn't carry them. Blue seal has 1 posted location in the state. Agway has small incubators. Everything here that you need to get is a day trip, and you need to plan time for that, and most importantly get two of what you need. I'm used too it, and Morgan isn't.
@@RayF6126 You may have learned from experience being from VT and all but that is not the only way to come to a conclusion & to do things in a smarter manner. Giving thought to what one is doing is a great way to stave off problems especially when you have the resources not to wait. Plus online purchasing and shipping can be pretty quick if you don't wait till you're in dire circumstances and need the item yesterday! Morgan has proven he's a pretty smart guy so I know he has the potential to use those smarts more. ♥
@@PapillonOne Yeah, I also took the time to list a lot of stores and resources for him to use by name and an adjustment to how to most people handle it. Online shipping here can vary greatly usually it's fast but my last Amazon order took 6 weeks and my Walmart order took 3 days that's pretty big spread.
Live, love and Learn, cannot fault you, you always try your best
As much as this years hatching was a failure, past successes out weigh this failure. I have followed you over the years on your farm and your success rate for running your farm outshine your very few failures. You are the type that will continue to strive and learn from any mistakes to become a more knowledgeable farmer.
Morgan you did all you could do to get the baby's to live. Don't blame yourself for them not making it.
You're not the only farmer who's lost birds or other animals this year. A lot of TH-camrs that I watch had some rough losses of their own. Now that you know what went wrong, at least you can make changes and try again when the time comes.
Please don't blame yourself. You are a great farmer. You care about your animals and provide them with the best.
Sorry Morgan. You’ve had some sad losses this year but you’ve learned from them. Don’t be hard on yourself. You’re doing so well as a dedicated farmer.
Damn, that sucks.
A very harsh lesson, but you've gotta take what you can out of it.
Seems like monitoring closely the first hatch with backup meters is important. Even if the equipment worked perfectly until then. Makes it so you *know* if the incubator or that particular eggs were at fault. Saves you from losing a 2nd or further batches to the same problem.
The comments about the electricity issues also seem important to look at! To know if it was really the incubator's fault. After all, you didn't have that problem before moving it to the new barn installation, did you?
And having backup incubators also seems vital to a professional / semi-professional setup. Even if they're simples / require more work out of you, it still sounds better than 0 hatchlings. And you would be ready if you decide to increase your output for some reason.
I'm still some time from trying my hand into it, but I try to learn from you: both from the good and the bad.
I wish you a better 2nd semester.
Aww your cat is trying to get your attention Daddy! Lol😊😊😊❤❤❤❤❤
I’m sending big hugs to you. You have had failures this spring. I feel for you, don’t get discouraged. It’s hard NOT to take it really hard, especially when caring for animals.
Your cattle look great, and you are tweaking your methods. Equipment fails. People have back up systems and alarms, etc. Try, try again.
You really care, you think and you solve. You can move on.
This is one billion times sadder then what happened to the two cow babies. I've made mistakes with my animals/ pets growing up so I could never throw the first stone here at you. But that's the incubator Uncle Ben uses from the Urban Rescue Ranch and he has always had problems with it. And those problems were so common I was surprised you were not having a problem as well, until now. This one made my cry, I want to give you a hug so bad!
I'm so sorry. Chin up, lessons learned and you did your best!!
As you had a problem with Selenium in you beef cattle, perhaps you also have a micro-nutrient problem with your geese.
To prevent issues in the future, you might test temp and humidity before hatching season every year. Don't be too hard on yourself, protocols like these are learned the hard way by many, many, many people
With so many videos you made about your incubator not working, you might want to think of getting a new incubator. I think your incubator only worked well one year but i always rmb every year you talking about struggling with it.
apart from that he often incubates dirty eggs which should NOT be done. The egg must be disinfected with special product ( but even hydrogen peroxide can be fine in absence of anything else) immediately before being incubated. If this is not done, the bacteria from the excrement can penetrate the eggshell and create problems to the embryo.
He says it in the video that he bought a replacement one
@@briggzm2098ah I yeah I didn't get to that section yet when I wrote the comment
Watch the video ffs
Interesting, I didn't know that...thanks.
Sorry to hear you have had a rough go with your incubator and hatching of goslings. We raise Muscovy because the meat is so prized in my area. We have several Mamma's that hatch and raise them with no assistance from us. We do not have to hatch them indoors in an incubator. We currently have 30 ducklings running around in our aviary. Muscovy meat is just like Beef. It's red and super delicious. We do however raise quail ever month in our Hova bator incubators with simple technology and always have a good 80 to 100% hatch rate.
Rough patch. Perhaps the move to the new room broke something…
Sending a big hug and a reminder that we learn most from failure, it’s just the pathway to future success.
Take care and I miss your Stories Told by Morgan Gold, but am pretty sure you are super slammed!
Its contrast, it’ll only make you a better farmer.. you rock brotha keep up the great work. your amazing inspiration.
Thank you for this channel 🤙
*@Gold Shaw Farm*
16:57 Why do you not *always* have an extra thermometer & hygrometer (humidity meter), in there, for a "sanity check" of the machine?
Especially now when you know it is malfunctioning?
Oh Morgan, it’s going to be ok 👍 no need to stress these things happen!
Debb looks so funny 😆 with her little nimble kids.
Do you think you could try getting some quails? They can be raised for both meat + eggs, plus they mature Very quickly.
After a few years of breeding birds, you should consider adding new blood. Goose breeders might have different ideas, but adding to your flock (with outside birds) is recommended for chickens. Even if you don’t add new this year, reach out and find a source of suitable ganders.
Maybe this would be a good time to order live chicks and increase the genetic pool for your geese. Trying to find a positive for the situation.
Hey I'm obsesed with geese genetics. I'd be glad to help you out plan apropiate crosses. Proper genetic management can make huge impact on the health of the animals and thus productivity and succes of the farm.
85 - 90% your fault? You are too generous with yourself Morgan. I've lost count of the numberless lives that your ignorance and lack of diligence have caused so far. At least this time you are not laughing about it, like with the bees
Exactly.
I don't believe that this is your fault Morgan, how could you know your incubator was going to fail. This has been a rough season on the farm but hopefully it will be a bump in the road and then smooth sailing for the rest of the year and going forward. 💖💖💖
So sad to hear about the incubator fail, but remember that sharing your experience to the hive mind may help someone else with the same problem. Hopefully, you've also let the incubator company know what happened.
If you were having problems with your incubator, why wouldn't you get your broody geese to take on some of the hatching duties?
WOW, Morton, you have had one rough spring! I wish you peace and renewed confidence. ❤🩹
Ok Morgan, it is time to tell you that you must stop looking at your past and live in the present. Look towards the future and be a positive thinker all the time.
It works for me. My counselor started this with me. ❤ look forward to the future because you're not super man. You're a good farmer.
This is NOT your fault. You are so harsh on yourself. You did everything you knew to do in a situation where everything was stacked against you, and it didn't work out, but that isn't because you failed. Give yourself some grace. Sometimes everything just goes wrong, and you learn, and you go on to do better. Please don't blame yourself for this.
What happened to the ladies just hatching the eggs obviously technology isn’t better
It's precious yet harsh experience, don't blame yourself too much!
If we're looking at pure numbers, yeah this year was a failed goose year. But you're handling it very well Morgan. And you have a good track record of learning from past mistakes and overcoming obstacles. I hope your next goose seasons will be so big you'll need more than one incubator!
Morgan and Allison.. farming is a very very hard life to begin with so when you had such a high survival rate of birds last year ..this year was truly heartbreaking for you! It's just part of farming ! I will tell you one thing I learned from my grandma thyfault. Her and my grandfather farmed since my mother and three other sibs were born in the depression era! Yes that was hard! But she never gave up on her chickens ! Some years she had to buy some chicks and and pullets not sure if spelling is right lol but when she had a good egg.hatch ..repeat and raise. Don't change it if it works!! Makes your job harder !! Again I recall her buying chicks. She had a small house maybe three times size of yours. She was amazing she did three gardens the chickens deliver eggs around the area like you to cafes ..when winter came. There would be only two chicken coops in play.. and they weren't Full. Mostly for meat during the winter. In Kansas spring comes in March and then the chick house and these two other coops connected by a fenced yard were in operation and full by Easter! And we started all.over again gathering eggs feeding grain changing water and so on. Loved it actually!! So don't fret if you have to buy this year. Chicks are cute lol but yes stay the course get a new incubator and start again
.it be right as rain ..and I quote from grandma T!!!
P.S. Hence the term don't count your chicks before they hatch!!! Sorry I had to. My grandma. Would have too lol. 😊😊😊 Morgan btw it's never ever your fault !! Mother nature is cruel and kind. It's part of life! We learn from it all . But no. Not your fault the survived rates are usually low ..again you had such a record breaking year last year that this one really stings!! The bigger your farm grows. Well it just happens! Ya have to March on and you'll have another year that's grand like last year don't worry!! Make sure to keep a note book on each year. That's another thing grandma T did as well! Prayers for you and and Allison for happier days and for your beautiful farm to cont. on successfully !!!❤❤❤
So sorry ! Not your fault! You did your best! There is always another day!!!! ❤❤❤❤
Being so emotional about your farm animals isn't a good idea. Many animals won't survive, and even if they do, they will mostly be harvested as meat. Death on the farm is inevitable. Just buy some and move on.
Goodmorning, to you, your family and all your babies!❤❤❤❤😊😊😊
It’s clear you’ve learned something from this year. Be happy you have ducks, chicken, geese, cows all healthy. You and your wife are healthy. You will not starve next winter. As with any job you just try to be better tomorrow. It’s just like parenting. Some days you’re not the best parent but you always get to do better. I have watch you for to long and see your already “Hatching” a new plan. Ha a good day.
I grew up on a horse ranch/small farm, so I have a decent vision of what this guy has been doing for years now. At first I was as positive as I dared to be in my comments but....damn. The way he does things on camera is so sloppy and lackadaisy.... ....makes me want to pull my hair out. He lost animals because he kept them in their own filth, he allowed his cow's to get pregnant too early.... This is just my opinion and personally I don't think his heart is in it. He wasn't born a farmer, wasn't raised around the life, he's a City kid/desk jockey. He won't hire any local help.... need I go on??
He doesn’t listen to anyone. The amount of advices from experienced people along the years… I was positive at first as well. And after a while I just stopped watching because it was hart cringing all those animals succumbing because he doesn’t follow advices or bothers to study. From bees to calfs, he repeats his mistakes again and again, the livestock suffers. I came back to see how it’s going, just to watch calfs succumbing due to lack of mineral supplements and now this. Incredible.
I'm truly sorry to hear things went so bad.
Last I checked, as of last night, Metzer farms still had babies for sale. We are getting some next month since we just lost one of our guard geese to illness and it is hard to find them locally. As I said previously, it could be a chance to expand your genetic base. Turn a loss into a long term win? I know it is a poor business strategy to buy your babies but it could help in the long game.
Morgan, like anything in life..your gonna screw up... there's no way thru it...but if you learn from this experience..it will help you next year .. don't be so hard on yourself...your human of course...❤😊
🐔🐣🐤🐥🐔 To be honest
with you,
I had to do fast forward a lot because
it was making me crazy 🥴
I wanted you to ger to the point
Aww Morgan, so sorry it's been a rough year for hatching goslings, but you also have learned a lot, and taken responsibility for where you may have made errors. It's all about growing from what you now know. It's all good Morgan, farming is a lot about lessons. Thanks for explaining, giving others the opportunity to learn from your experience.👍🥚❤️
I guess I wonder why you don't by goslings from another farm? It would add to the diversity of your flock. I suppose it wouldn't be cost effective.
In Pakistan today the temperature in my city is 46°C... 0:04
I wish our governments were as transparent as you are Morgan. Ps so glad you have diversified your farm animals.
I'm a normal person, a city dweller with a desk job. I now know more about Goose and Duck farming than I will EVER need in real life. Hmmm. Why did I fill my brain's limited storage space with knowledge of ducks getting overfed by tube, and the ins and outs of candling an egg?? Again I was mesmerised for 20 minutes with info that is useless to me. We all know YT does a lot wrong, but it also gives us insights into other people's lives and makes us smarter through that exposure. Thanks Morgan
Hopefully you keep raising geese I really like yours and their stories
Sounds like the company is a shit company.
Alrighty, so what happened isn't just the humidity, these guys weren't turned enough so their brains were done maturing, but not their organs. When I was younger we'd call these hatchlings "cuppies" because their bottoms would have to stay inside their shells with their heads out and their bottoms immobilized in a cup.
So the first thing now isn't, "BUY A NEW INCUBATOR YOU (insert mean name here)!" It's this:
Stop beating yourself up. It absolutely sucks but these things happen. You can't blame yourself for not knowing what you haven't either been taught or lived through. That's the downside of experience; you only gain it after you first needed it.
Your second step now is to order goslings. Heresy, perhaps, but that's what hatching companies are for.
I'm really, truly sorry you've had such a hard, shitty Spring this year. But you're wiser and stronger now. Keep going.
I bought 4 Embden goslings this spring.
This is my 1st time raising geese. It's been fun and I'm learning. Next spring will be their 1st egg laying.....I've got 3 girls, 1 boy.
I'm learning so much from you.
I haven't decided if I'm going to let them nest and hatch, or if I'll intervene and take some eggs to incubate and let some nest......
My question......will all 3 girls lay eggs in separate nests and lay on their own or will they share a nest, or will just 1 girl nest all the eggs? You see hopefully what my question is, will I need separate areas for each girl and nest......just wondering what I should expect.
I'm in Kentucky.
My neighbour had the same issue with incubating chickens. Humidity swinging and incubator's humidity meter showing wrong results. The hatches were ROUGH.
Morgan, you did everything you could and sometimes there's just a year that doesn't go right. You're not the only one, either. Heck, we ordered goslings from a couple places this year and they just couldn't deliver because of things outside their control. I think ordering a new incubator is a good call. Also, getting one of the cheaper and less automated incubators as a back up might not be a bad idea, just to have on hand. Our first time hatching goslings went well this year (60%ish hatch rate I would guess) with just the cheap foam incubator that TSC and Blue Seal carry. Of course, I had to use a separate thermostat and humidity sensor because the built in ones are usually crap on them, but it DID work, even if I had to check more frequently and hand-turn eggs. Especially pre-lockdown, it would be a good emergency-incubator to have if you notice something isn't working with the automated one. But, seriously, don't beat yourself up over it. There are so many things that can go wrong and you already know that every mistake/failure is a lesson learned and experienced gained. You know exactly what to look out for in the future and I think learning from these experiences and trying again is the best way to honor these losses.
So sorry your gosling season was a flop. I feel the early heat this year around here was a big factor. We are only about 150 miles from you. Spring ended quickly and we ended up with steamy heat way too early (+90F in early May). That extra heat & humidity may have thrown off your humidity sensors and screwed up your computer control for your egg turner system. To repair that would mean removal of the system board and replacing it or repairing it. I am an electronic technician and I have seen many circuit boards go bad from the manufacturers not properly cleaning their boards of the flux used during the soldering process. The new environmentally safe flux is water based and they think a quick rinse and they are good to go. When in fact what happens is the boards work at first but then as the flux remaining on the boards ages and absorbs moisture from the air and becomes conductive enough to make the circuit malfunction. Sometime I can simply clean the circuit boards and they are fine. Other times I have to replace components that have fried before the circuit can function.
I hope your new incubator works out for you. Best of luck Morgan.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Things will get better and work out for you . And you will be successful just be patient.
Farming is hard and there is a difference between ignorance and arrogance. Don't blame yourself for learning a skill that many could not do. Stop blaming yourself!!!!!!!
I know what happens right now
A massive heatwave is attacking NE including NY, NJ, CT up to 100F in south NJ (actual temp not feeling)
Morgan have you ever thought of taking classes at Vermont University in animal science? Or have you made use of your county extension which is part of Vermont University your land grant University?
My work towards my own degree taught me where to look for the information I need to do my job. Also to keep up on new information so I don't sound antiquated. Good luck!
Morgan, again, not your fault. Ask anyone who deals with modern electronics. They fail. Quality has gone down the toilet. Imagine an incubator with a tray tilting feature that fails and requires you to unplug and start over. What a brilliant design! If only the genius product designers put in a manual control to tilt the trays.
The only way forward is to design things yourself. That's the sad part.
Shit happens. At least ya took notes.
But man, losing 2 potential beef steers, losing ALL of your goslings. Unknown situation for the chickens and ducks. This is probably going to be a tight belt year.
It seems like you don’t really want to do this farm thing… the more and more you “fail” the more and more it just sounds like a hobby. Are there farm supply companies that you can buy geese from like you can chicks from? The mail order catalog?
Alison is so wonderful with the animals... I've often wondered why not veterinary medicine???
Morgan, shht happens... don't beat yourself up... it comes with the territory of being a farmer... wishing you better luck with the new incubator and future hatches!!!
Because she's a nurse practitioner, she's probably satisfied with that field.
Don't want to kick a man while he's down, but you could've gotten a couple cheap hovabators and had at least one hatch. I get ordering the new commercial grade but in the interim, it would've worked for a couple hundred dollars investment. Sorry you had a rough hatch
I'm so sorry it's going like this with the goose hatching this year. I hear you saying feel it's mostly your fault but I also hear you talking through so many measures you were taking in the process. There's so much to learn, and most of us don't have any lives in the line, your job is harder than most in terms of the potential emotional fallout. You are such a kind and caring person that it makes your job that much harder, but honestly that doesn't make it mostly your fault. Farming is full of curve balls, and it's normal to be responding to challenges all the time, isn't it? You are so brave and generous to share the process of what you are learning with us. We are rooting for you, hang in there and don't be too hard on yourself.
I'm not a goose fan but I have a lot of respect for ducks. They're hardy and take care of themselves and don't bother people. Geese seem to me like ducks for insane people. Glad that there are no Muscovy ducks running on your farm. Finally, was there an issue with the temperature in the breeder?