Goose pulling feathers from his chest...mites? Lice? Worms?

[bonnieandclydeg]

Hello.

My goose/gander is constantly preening/pecking at his chest and pulling out feathers. His chest just has lots of fluffed up down feathers and does not have the glossy look to it anymore. I feel like he must be itching. Could he have mites or lice? What can I put on him to help? His partner does not have the same problem. I don't have any other birds/waterfowl besides the 2 geese but wild canadian geese sometimes land in the pond.

Also, my geese never go in the pond and just like to hang around the barn and get into horse water buckets. Why might they behave this way and is there a way to get them to swim in and hang out around the pond?

Thanks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hello.

My goose/gander is constantly preening/pecking at his chest and pulling out feathers. His chest just has lots of fluffed up down feathers and does not have the glossy look to it anymore. I feel like he must be itching. Could he have mites or lice? What can I put on him to help? His partner does not have the same problem. I don't have any other birds/waterfowl besides the 2 geese but wild canadian geese sometimes land in the pond.

Also, my geese never go in the pond and just like to hang around the barn and get into horse water buckets. Why might they behave this way and is there a way to get them to swim in and hang out around the pond?

Thanks!

Welcome to BYC

Might your gander be molting my gander is just coming out of molt and he was obsessed with his chest for a while after he'd get through preening there would be white feathers all over the ground. They usually start molting after breeding season but i noticed some feathers still laying around from my geese this has been a weird year.
They need a good quality diet especially if there isn't alot of green grass for them to graze on. I'd still offer them a good quality diet though. also some extra protein in the form of Blk oil sunflower seeds will help get them in top condition again mixed into their daily feed.

If your feeding only corn or scratch it just doesn't have the nutrients to keep them in top shape although i feed it to my flocks but in moderation. as for going in the pond could the Canada geese be intimidating them?or could you possibly have snapping turtle that are scaring them snappers will snap off feet kill and seriously injured water fowl even eat babies of water fowl. Also large mouth bass or other types of fish maybe nibbling on their webbs . Only thing I can think of other than they just feel more secure hanging out close to home. Is the pond pretty far away from the barn and house?

 

[bonnieandclydeg]

He started messing with his chest in the spring (right after we adopted him and his partner). I have been away all summer and came back to find that he is still doing it. If it is just hormonal/seasonal does it usually last 4+ months? Also, his partner is a male...so he hasn't actually been mating, unless he (the one with the problem) is actually female. He's very dominant and aggressive and has not laid any eggs (that we know of), so I think he is a gander too. We have LOTS of grass so they graze mostly but we feed them melon, salads, corn, scratch, and goose crumbles a few times a week. My geese intimidate the canadians, not the other way around. There supposedly are snapping turtles in the pond. Snapping turtles would really hurt geese? Neither of the geese have been injured. Would it be unwise for people to swim in the pond too then? Is there a safe, humane way of encouraging snapping turtles to move out of the pond?


Also, the geese were given dewormer before we adopted them. How often should they be dewormed?

Thanks

 

[Miss Lydia]

He started messing with his chest in the spring (right after we adopted him and his partner). I have been away all summer and came back to find that he is still doing it. If it is just hormonal/seasonal does it usually last 4+ months? Also, his partner is a male...so he hasn't actually been mating, unless he (the one with the problem) is actually female. He's very dominant and aggressive and has not laid any eggs (that we know of), so I think he is a gander too. We have LOTS of grass so they graze mostly but we feed them melon, salads, corn, scratch, and goose crumbles a few times a week. My geese intimidate the canadians, not the other way around. There supposedly are snapping turtles in the pond. Snapping turtles would really hurt geese? Neither of the geese have been injured. Would it be unwise for people to swim in the pond too then? Is there a safe, humane way of encouraging snapping turtles to move out of the pond?


Also, the geese were given dewormer before we adopted them. How often should they be dewormed?

Thanks

About the only way to get rid of a snapping turtle and if you have one you probably have more is by baiting catching them and relocating them many miles away. Some catch and make turtle soup. But yes snappers are dangerous for animals and humans. They will bite anything that looks like food.

Can you get a good look at his skin/ like separate his feathers and look at his skin? mites look like teeny tiny pepper flakes you could use a poultry dust on him but if he had mites or lice the other would to most likely. Also there is a product called Epernix pour on I have used it before on my flock when my chickens had mites, you use it just like front line for dogs drops get placed on the neck at skin and under each wing where it meets the body on skin.
To find out how to bait and catch snappers go on you tube lots of info there on the subject.

I worm my geese in late fall November that is a few months before breeding season starts. so 1X a year is what I do for my water fowl.

If you ever get a chance we'd love to see some pics of your geese.