more adventrures in homesteading......a goose in my bra

I said I wouldn't let myself get attached to another one~ but it may be too late

When I hatched my very first eggs last Jan I had tremendous beginners luck. Seemed like I could hatch anything in those little table top incubators. I even hatched an emu in one!! (that sad story is why I told myself I would not turn another into a pet).

But~ my beginners luck has run it's course and I've been pulling fully devoloped babies that either pipped and died or failed to pip at all and died from the incubators for a while now. I've tried turning them by hand and using the egg turner~ more humidity~ less humidity~ more heat~ less heat......The only thing I'm sure of is it's not the parent birds fault since the Turkey hen hatched 6 baby ducks from the same parents I can't get live hatchlings from. So~ I've stopped putting eggs in the incubators. I've ordered the turbo fan kits and new therm wafers for them~ and as soon as everything in them either hatches or dies I'll bleach them out and start again.

So~ for weeks I've been pulling dead babies. On the 5th the first two goose eggs were due to hatch. One was already dead (you can tell when you candle) but I could hear the other squalling. He'd not even cracked his shell. I knew he was gonna die. So..........
I opened the egg.
I couldn't stand listening to his squal and I knew he was dieing in an egg he couldn't get out of for some reason.

The baby is alive~ but it's just not "right". I think it's blind (white spots on it's eyes) and it's legs don't work at all. It's not spraddle legged~ but it's feet are curled and weak. So~ I put braces on it's feet to open up the toes (wire and scotch tape braces like I saw on a website) and I built a little goose traction device for it



That worked pretty well for an hour~ but then he got strong enough to flip himself out of the traction device and he winds up on his back~ squaling and unable to right himself on his weak legs and braced feet. So~ I came up with a place I could put him~ keep him upright~ and be sure he was safe while both my hands are free to do my chores......................

How does one avoid becoming emotionally attached to goose in her bra???


He's two days old now~ won't eat or drink (I offer several times a day) and can't walk. I do NOT need to be emotionally attached to the crippled goose......but it may be too late.