Expert: Julia Booth - 4/20/2008

Question
I've been watching the nest of a goose. The mother sat on her nest for a while but then just stopped coming back to sit on her eggs. I went down to the nest to see what was wrong. When I looked into the nest I found one egg. (I also saw another egg shell near by that was already cracked.) Does that mean the egg is a dud?

Answer
Typically Geese/Ducks do not leave their nest once they are finished laying their brood.

The amount of time the mother has been gone makes a difference. If it's a few hours, then the eggs might be okay. If she's been gone a few days, chances are the eggs have no maintained the proper temperature to keep them viable.

Geese usually lay anywhere from 6-15 eggs in a clutch. The fact that you saw only one might mean that an animal -coyote, bobcat, raccoon- got to them and the mother left in an attempt to save herself.

If it's cracked, then it's most definitely not viable.

Hope this helps,

Julia