Suckler and sheep farmer John Dolan from Banagher, Co. Offaly had a “great surprise” this New Year’s Day after his Pomeranian goose called Concepta hatched for the third time in the last 12 months.
Dolan said he had never heard of a story like this and is seeking to have the bird listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
“I can’t be completely sure if it is a world record yet, but it definitely is a nationwide record,” Dolan told Agriland.
Concepta the goose hatched 13 goslings during April 2024, two goslings in September and one on New Years day (January 1) this year.
Dolan said that for a goose to hatch twice within 12 months it is “unusual”, but that three times was “unheard of”.
In many other areas of poultry, the use of artificial heating and lighting has led to year-round production, however geese are generally hatched from February to June, according to Teagasc.
‘Unique’ goose
After arriving home in the cold weather that this first week of the year has brought, Dolan had found the newly born gosling amongst the ewes after falling down from bales of straw, where it had hatched.
The gosling was named ‘Lucky’ after the “lucky escape” it faced after being rescued and put under a heated lamp.
Dolan described Concepta as a “very unique” goose, which he bought from Mackie Brennan in Co. Tipperary three years ago when she was a few months old.
While the bird might very well be special, it is not the first time that the family farm has found itself in a potentially record breaking situation.
The Dolan family is already known for their hens which Dolan is confident have broken world records in the past. One of the hens, Marmalade averaged around five clutches per year.
Marmalade delivered 181 live chicks during her lifetime, which Dolan said was “so unusual” at the time.
He said that the birds get fed “good barley”, but that “it really is a unique situation” to have both the hens and the geese “breaking records”.
The Dolan family also had three experiences of ewes giving birth to quintuplets in the past, which have all been recorded.
“There is no way to know way to tell how it is happening. Some people say its in the feed, others say its in the water, but it really is unique,” Dolan said.