geese

[dancingmunkee]

theres a goose thats been sat on the same nest for well over the average 28 days incubation period and im not really sure whats going on! basically she laid 6 eggs and they must have hatched because theyre not there anymore yet still she sits there - on no eggs - im a tad confused. at first i thought it could be another goose but do geese take over deserted nests? but then i thought, were her eggs stolen, do you think she might be pining? any ideas?!?

[mrs fish]

They might be covered over, swans, geese and ducks will cover their eggs while they go off to look for food.
Perhaps her first clutch didn't hatch and she is trying again

[Shadowjewel]

I know swans, who constantly build up their nests until the eggs hatch as a safeguard against flooding, can get clumsy with their eggs and burry some of them accidentally - if you look at a cross-section of a swan nest you will often see many eggs buried under layers of twigs and reeds, sometimes more of them buried then will hatch. I'm not sure if geese have the same habits, but if they do it might be that the nest building over took their count of the eggs - they might still be there, just entombed in the nest itself. Unfortunately, an egg that gets buried and misplaced like that will die.