The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: goosepimple on June 25, 2012, 09:09:30 pm
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One of our 5 goslings has been trodden on by a parent goose - its has been trodden in a couple of places - one on the body which I think is find, the other is in the neck. It is not lifting its head - just want to tuck it in but its not broken (I think or it would be dead right?). I put it in a box in the goose pen - it immediately scrambled out to be with the others but couldn't get itself upright and turned over with its legs wheeling in the air, so I've put it in a deeper box in the goose house with a 'ball' of straw under its chin for support. Will just have to leave it i think and see how it is in the morning.
Anyone any suggestions?
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Hopefully little one is just bruised and sore and will be fine by morning.
The worry is if it has swelling around the head. Especially with the unco-ordination symptoms :-\
Warmth and strict rest for tonight would be my advice. Perhaps somebody else has any other advice.
Hope he/she is fine by tomorrow :fc:
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I think its neck will hurt and remembering that from when I had meningitis, I couldn't lift my head without using my hands either.
Hopefully it'll mend soon - supporting his head seems like a good plan, even to the point of putting it in a box with its head through a hole tonight. You got any cat metacam, it could have a drop (literally) of that? Otherwise, warmth and rest.
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Thanks both, don't know what metacam is but will google it shortly - in a rush to get kids to last day at school. many thanks.
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Metacam is a liquid anti inflammatory and painkiller.
How's he doing this morning?
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Oh thanks - that'll be what the vet's just given him/her/probablyhim then!
Am feeding it by syringe with milky bread and tiny grass clippings and a dose of water and it's in a trug (so it can't escape) in the goose pen. They've got loads of space there, we quadrupled the size of their pen but that's two squashing incidents this year. OH put some grass clippings in last night and they were devouring them, then next time he looked he saw the squashed one. It had dirty feet marks on its left wing and neck (left wing fine) and legs are fine but it can't stand up. If it sees siblings it wants to run with them and shows a lot of spark but it just falls over and most but not all of the time its head goes too. They are 4 weeks old today and about 12" high and I had just been thinking that they were over the stage of being squashed. :o ::)
Read a post on an American website that talks about a very similar thing, seemingly it is rectifiable but takes time and hand feeding.
Think I'll just take them off them next year and keep them in a pen that parents are adjacent but can't get at them, seems a bit heartless but...
Vet could see it had quite a bit of fight in it, so long as I can feed it and keep it strong it could have a chance, if no improvement by the weekend then call it a day.
Of the 5 that are left (including poorly) 4 are slightly bigger and 1 in smaller - 4 boys and 1 girl, oh dear. Would a few boys be ok on their own as a group (so long as a girl wasn't introduced)?
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Gosling eating very well indeed and neck getting stronger, still can't stand or sit properly, but its on the upward direction I would say, see how it fairs at the weekend.
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:thumbsup: come on little one .
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Good to hear :thumbsup:
Could you make a 'creep area', as for piglets, that the goslings can get into but the adults can't? And maybe put them into it when you feed them something scrummy that will generate a feeding frenzy?
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I found sheep hurdles upside down worked quite well as a gosling creep, the big gap between the bars at the bottom - the geese couldnt get in so as long as the food inside was beyond goose neck length they couldnt get at it.
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Thanks, that idea may work in a few days, it's still having to lie down when I'm not holding it in an upright position - it's getting stronger but still reverts to a real 's' bend neck after a couple of minutes. It's eating loads of grass which I have to pull for it - it does try it but it's to weak and lots of bread and milk - I've mixed in some vitamin E which a few websites have said works well (?). It's head is shaky today (like it's nervous) don't know if that's good or bad. I bath it in the pond near its siblings and dry it - it gets about 30mins stimulation every 3 hours or so, best I can do but then I have to leave it to lie down again - its in a mesh crate with softer hay for a bed and a piece of perspex on the roof (for the endless rain). Give you an update in a few days. Thanks for replies.
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Update on the gosling. Has come on HUGELY since its mishap but still can't stand up. Eating like a trooper, swimming really well in the pond but still can't stand up. Was at vets today for cat boosters and took goose along - she says to keep it going for another week to see if it improves - doesn't look like any breakages in the leg but it doesn't want to put pressure on it. It could be the shoulder area, base of neck area. Its great at being handled now and is delighted to see us all the time but it still needs held or propped. If its not improved any more in a week we will have a disabled goose on our hands. It managed to swim with its siblings today but the largest one was getting quite aggressive with it, the parents welcomed it (they see me with it all the time) and were fine with me taking it out again. Will monitor it for another week but I fear it will end in tears yet, will give it a nice week though and lots of attention.
Jaykay, you may be interested to know that the lady in Peebles who also kept Steinbachers says she lost hers over this last winter (to what I don't know).
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Keeping fingers :fc: keep us posted
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Good to hear he's doing well, hope his neck does improve.
Sad to hear about the other Steinbachers, wonder what happened there :-\
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The neck improved and in fact it was 100% apart from it's funny foot. Went on holiday for a week and left it with a mum friend who keeps chooks. It died a day and a half after she kept it in her house. Very odd, I'm assuming it became stressed. But unfortunately she came to ours on Wednesday morning and found another one on its back beside a feeder, took it to the vet who put in to sleep and has ordered an autopsy on it so I'm waiting for the results from that (monday hopefully). Vet said it was for putting down as it was reeling back and couldn't stand - that's how the first one was at the start though and then got much much better to the point it looked as good as the others apart from its foot. I think its a default position for a gosling in stress to not be able to stand up and to hug its neck into its body in an S bend. Doesn't mean it won't get better. Will let you know what the results were Jaykay, always good to know these things. So 2 goslings down, 3 ducklings lost and 3 skitty bums on sheep - don't think I'll holiday again at this time of year. Did you have any luck with your geese? Also, would you like more muscovies? :innocent:
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No, geese still sitting but one egg broken and rotten yesterday, so imagine the rest are not fertile.
Looks like my expensively imported (from East Anglia) gander is shooting blanks! So might be interested in a male gosling.....of course, the girls have bonded with the fella here now :-\ I love these geese but trying to get healthy, breeding stock seems pretty difficult :-\
No, no Muscovies thanks, I gave away the other two in the end, they were terrifying the runners and having all out fights with the hens :o and that was before they were even fully grown. Suspect them both of being drakes! They did the job that they were bought for, which was to keep the single duckling, rescued then foisted on me, company.
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Shame about the Muscovies, definately males, they are always the cockiest. We're left with what looks to me like 2 male and 1 female goslings but I'll let them stay together for a while yet, despite their bossy pond antics. Thanks Jaykay.
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Just seen this. Sorry little one didnt mak e it :(
What was the outcome of the postmortem?
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Thanks Shaz, post mortem didn't reveal anything apart from a little mark on the wing ::) so was most likely the clumsy footed parents. On the up side the 3 which are left are 2 females and 1 male and the male goes to a swap with jaykay so its a happy ending :D :wave:
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Sad for little one. At least there were no nasties found on pm to worry you for the others' health.
Good outcome in the end for your brood :thumbsup: