Pringle-icious

[cirianz]

Well, to anyone who was wondering I can now announce that Pringle is definitely a girl & has just started laying
Had to collect the first eggs from her this morning, a surprisingly sad experience.
(& painful!!! Quite asides from the bruises, that serrated beak left some nasty slices on my hand)
I know the eggs are infertile (we don't have a man goose) & that if I leave them there they will just go rotten.
But I know that she doesn't know that
All she knows is that I'm stealing her babies
She hasn't spoken to me since so far
Have to wait till feed time tonight to find out if I'm forgiven or not yet

Now I've got them in a basket on the bench & have to keep reminding myself that they are eggies, not babies
Going to be weird when it comes time to eat them
The eggs are about 3x the size of chiken eggs (size 7 eggs) & about 4x as heavy (we weighed some)
probably because the yolk is larger relative to the size of the egg itself than chicken eggs are.
They are supposed to taste stronger too.
So right now I'm hovering between curiosity
& feeling like a cannibal

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs...
Not babies...
Eggs...!

 

[muckshifter]

I say, if you don't want to eat them, pass 'em over here.


You do know that "she" is laying out of season ... also, you need to leave at least two eggs or she will stop laying. If you can't do that, get a couple imitation eggs.

They are the best eggs in the world for eating.


You need a Gander, but that ain't easy, they tend to choose their own mates.

 

[cirianz]

Yeah, I had one for tea & I was full!
Deliecious
Total guesswork on how long to cook it though
we left one egg with her but I'll make sure that there's 2 there in future thanks mucks
It is rather early for her to be laying, normally winter doesn't end here untill about mid september, & August is the coldest month.
But this is the third year running that we've had spring arrive during August.
Today was warm & sunny & most days are now.
& cold days are meaning a rainy day, not frost or snow.
Weird.
We won't be getting a gander though.
John says no more geese
I think he thinks I'll end up with flocks of the things
although, I'm not sure that Pringle hasn't hooked up with gabby already
you see them up the back paddock snuffling & grooming each other.
& they always sleep together
Very cute

 

[muckshifter]

Hmmm, don't think Pringle has "hooked up" with a Gander, they tend to be "mates for life" as do we humans.


They are very much like us in that way, the reason for leaving some eggs is so they don't get too upset ... it can take a good few days for them to get over the loss of their 'babies' ...

I did forget your spring is our Autumn ...

 

[ChristopherP]

Eat them. Or sell them!

We have a couple of duck eggs in the fridge... my dad loves them...

They must be twice the size of those!

 

[nivrip]

"mates for life" as do we humans.

Hmmmmm. Not everyone I know has mated for life.

LOL

 

[floppybootstomp]

Omelettes!

 

[Taffycat]

although, I'm not sure that Pringle hasn't hooked up with gabby already
you see them up the back paddock snuffling & grooming each other.
& they always sleep together
Very cute[QUOTE/]

A goat and goose friendship, aahh...Ciri, this just sounds so cute, we really need some photos please

I was half afraid to click to this thread, fearing that Pringle had somehow become (ssshhh, cover her ears...) roasted So phew...! big relief

I hope Pringle has forgiven you for the "egg-napping" - I think I can imagine how you must have felt taking them, because geese seem to have such expressive faces, don't they? Recently we went to feed the local goose population at the castle. They all gathered around me in a "mob" and just seemed to look so earnest. I know I'm a softie, but I felt so awful about the ones who didn't manage to get quite so much as their friends - due to being jostled out of the way by said friends

Those eggs sound huge - don't think I've ever seen one in the flesh - er - shell though

 

[cirianz]

Hmmm, don't think Pringle has "hooked up" with a Gander, they tend to be "mates for life" as do we humans.


They are very much like us in that way, the reason for leaving some eggs is so they don't get too upset ... it can take a good few days for them to get over the loss of their 'babies' ...

I did forget your spring is our Autumn ...

Yes, I know. I've always thought that was cool
I especially like it that they will be 'engaged' (yeah, I've even seen that wonderfully anthropomorphic term used in scientific sites & books too ) for anything up to a year before they mate & if they do seperate it is usually during this time. Once mated 'divorces' are vey rare (although they do occur)
They also form same gender couples who are ranked very highly in the flock generaly becoming the flock gardians & protectors, not having gosslings to look after & all

Geese imprint on the first moving thing that they see, If this is not another goose then they will assume that they are also of the same species as the 'mother' If raised with siblings (also imprinted this way) they will still seek to mate with other geese when they reach maturity, If raised on their own, however, they will seek to mate with the imprinted species when the time comes.

Pringle will obviously have imprinted on his actual mother when he hatched, however, when he came here he was so terrified of us & in general from his experiences, that I went to a lot of trouble to try & get him to accept me literrally as an adoptive mother as if I was a member of his original flock ( I spent a lot of time reading Goose ethology, especially Konrad Lorenz & generally crawling around on the floor making appropriate goose mother noises & behaving in goose mother ways... it really was hilarious ) We really only started making progress with Pringle when he started following me. Up untill then he was so terrified I was not sure that he wouldn't die of shock, but after then he started calming down.

Whoops... she sorry.

She has quite obviously regarded Gabby as a part of her flock for a long time. Given that it has been winter here so we've been largely indoors & that they sleep together & graze together up the back padock, Pringle obviously spends more time with Gabby than anyone else. Pringle gets quite distressed if Gabby manages to get himself tangled around a post or whatever, & they both look very cute when they lie, sunbathing, together, contented in each other's company.
But I first began to get the 'hints' of Pringles gender when, recently, if gabby nuzzles Pringle's back/neck area, she would squat down & shove her tail up in the air
So I have been waiting a week or so to see if eggs would arrive.

Given how young Pringle was (less than a week) & the degree of shock, both his mother's killing & actually being carried off in the dogs mouth would've caused, & the socialisation, without siblings or any alternative 'flock', she's had since, I suspect that her species identification is a little confused.

She's certainly not had contact with any geese since then.

I just found out recently that the council hired someone (that I know !!!) to go out & shoot all the feral geese at Aromoana. I suspect that that might've included the flock around back beach
even before this, the last time we went out there I saw that the flock there had shrunk from about 20 geese (including gosslings) to about 11, also inluding gosslings (I think there was about 7 adult/& fully feathered adolescent geese & a clutch worth of gosslings)
I'm especially sad for the locals there, as they look after & are very protective of 'their' geese


As for being upset... I can't blame her,
but this morning when I went past her nest...
Up till now she would just honk out a warning to anyone who passed it.
But this morning, when I went past, she Hissed at me!!!
Like I was some sort of nest raiding baby stealer or something!
I hope she does calm down fairly soon.
She is leaving the nest occasionally for periods now, (usually to bathe or visit Gabby) so the next collection shouldn't be so traumatic.
At first, except for bathing & emptying her bowels, both done within about 10 feet & clear view of her nest, she was pretty much glued to it. She wouldn't even come over to eat when I fed her. Something I usually do by hand.

 

[cirianz]

Chris: Yes, they were delicious, & the shells quite a bit thicker than chook eggshells. The yolk was huge in comparison to the amount of white (only a little white at the top & bottom of the shell) & was quite bright yellow, without the orange tinge chook eggs have

Nivrip: yes, have to say i think the geese tend to do a better Job at the monagomy thing than most humans. Although there are exceptions on both sides.

flops: lol, havent tried omlettes yet, thought I'd start with simple boiled eggs, although, in trying to make sure that they were actually cooked I overdid it slightly so they were hard boiled rather than the halfy-halfy that I like. maybe next time I will try them poached
They could get quite addictive though. They've a much stronger taste than chook eggs & the yolk is 'denser'. Although, technically, for a taste comparison, they should really be compared to free range chook eggs I suppose.

Taffy: No don't worry. I could never eat an animal that I know personally. & I doubt that I could eat a goose now even if It came in anonymous drumsticks. I know too much about how smart they are & how strong & individualistic their personalities are. I suspect that's why John wouldn't want me to have a gander. As I would want to keep all of the offspring & their offspring & their offspring &....
could get quite crowded around here
I am now a confirmed goose-ophile & geese have managed to oust even cats as my favourite animals!
Although the cats don't really seem to care since they each already know that they're the single most important being on the planet regardless of any mere human's opinions

I left her alone after she hissed at me this morning to let her calm down a bit, but will go out there now to
give her her belated breakfast. I don't suppose she will come over for it while I'm present yet. She's obviously still very p*ssed off. But she still needs to be getting her food, especially now that she's laying & hopefully the familiar pattern will help her to calm down about me reasonably soon.
They are very smart & have long memories so I expect mucks is right in that it will take her a few days to forgive me... fingers crossed.

 

[Abarbarian]

If you blow the eggs and use them you can sell the empty shells as they are in demand for folks to decorate them .
Of course this won't work if you are boiling them

 

[cirianz]

lol, I can imagine, My boy has already asked me to clean out the inside of his eggshell cos he wants to keep it as a dinosaur egg

At the moment either Pringle has gone into full broody, or she thinks I 'm out to steal her eggs or something as she hasn't budge from her nest in 2 days now, only once yesturday morning to bathe & go to the toilet. She hasn't eaten & today was so hot I had to take her water a couple of times (complete with the resulting battlescars) because I was so afraid she would dehydrate.
I'm starting to get worried

 

[nivrip]

I'm starting to get worried

Ciri, I wouldn't get too worried. Animals, and that includes geese, I think, cope very well with adversity and almost always find solutions to problems. She'll survive no matter what you do or don't do.

By the way, don't send her over to the UK - we eat Pringles here !! (do you have them in your part of the world?)