What methods are there to increase goose egg production in early spring?

In spring, temperatures are low and the climate is changeable. Most laying geese drop in egg production or even stop laying altogether, which affects the economic returns of farmers. To keep laying geese producing eggs continuously, good feeding and management conditions must be created and careful management provided.

Keep warm and increase light

Maintaining the ambient temperature is the key to keeping female geese laying more eggs in early spring. In early spring, the temperature in the goose house should be kept at 8°C to 10°C, with 15 to 16 hours of light per day and night.

Feed reasonably

The reasonable composition of the daily concentrate for laying geese is: 60% corn, 20% bran, 18% cakes, 2% growth hormones and eggshell powder. Each goose is fed 150 g to 200 g of mixed concentrate per day, given in 3 feedings, one of which is arranged between 10 pm and 12 am, that is, an extra feeding of pellet feed before the lights are turned off, which is beneficial for increasing the egg-laying rate.

House feeding and “noise-driving the geese”

In early spring, female geese are still mainly kept in houses and have little activity, so they should be “noise-driven” frequently, that is, gently driven to make circular movements inside the house. In spring, female geese should enter the water fewer times, and the time in the water should be shortened. Generally, they should bathe once each at 10 am to 11 am, 2 pm to 3 pm, or at dusk.

Cleaning and hygiene

The pens for laying geese should be cleaned frequently, the bedding straw should be changed and sun-dried often, and the feed troughs should be scrubbed once a week with alkaline water. The goose farm should be kept clean and hygienic at all times to prevent the breeding and spread of insects, rats and flies. Personnel and vehicles entering and leaving the goose farm should be disinfected, and a disinfection pool should be set up at the entrance.