Help please!

My 2 month old gosling was found shoulder deep eating a moldy straw hay bale. That was 6 days ago. He stopped eating and drinking. I've been giving him electrolytes and save a chick from tractor supply. He's in the house in the bathtub. I've been trying to force the fluids and have his water in front of him. He's refusing to eat and drink on his own. He's losing weight. He's not moving in his own but his head is up and he's chattering. He's asleep on my lap wrapped in a towel. Any ideas? Will a b12 injection help? What else can I do?

Welcome to BYC. Try some egg and yogurt mixed into some bread crumbs. Keep try to get him to drink fluids, and add SaceAChick electrolytes or use some Pedialyte or Gatorade. He may have poisoning from the mold or a crop blockage. How does his crop feel--empty or full, hard or soft? If you have a vet that could help, that would be best. Post in the goose thread also. Let us know how he is doing.

Thanks for responding. I didn't have any yogurt on hand so I had to work with what I have. I live way out of town and it isn't always easy to get there. I have MS. Anyhow, I've been forcing feeding him every two to three hours a mixture of scrambled egg, a few oats
and applesauce blended with a syringe. I added applesauce to make the mixture a little soupy. He's pooping green watery stools and can't stand on his own. After feeding, I hold him up for a couple of minutes on his legs. At night he is in the bathroom in the tub with towels and his Save a chick and electrolytes in a deep dish in front of him. During the day I put him in his pen with his gosling mates with water near him. He's alert most of the time but when I'm feeding him he wants to dose off. Today I'm going to try to get to town and get some yogurt and honey to try mixing that with scrambled eggs.I'm thinking of adding some vitamin b to the mix but doesn't the Save a chick have enough of that already? Please advise. Thanks.

Yes the SaveAChick vitamins and electrolytes have the B vitamins. The plain yogurt is for probiotic cultures. I have used cottage cheese, buttermilk, and sour cream as well if I was out of yogurt. It sounds like you are taking excellent care of him. I hope that he starts to get better soon. Liver failure is the biggest danger in mold poisoning. Here is an excerpt for the Merck Manual about toxic mold poisoning:

Aflatoxin

Aflatoxicosis is one of the most common intoxications in modern poultry production systems. Certain species of Aspergillus and Penicillium can produce aflatoxins in feedstuffs. The production of aflatoxins can occur either in the field where the crops are grown or during storage. Acute aflatoxicosis is characterized by inappetence, ataxia, convulsions, opisthotonos, depression, and death. A gross lesion often seen with acute aflatoxicosis is an enlarged yellow liver. All poultry are susceptible to aflatoxicosis; however, ducks and turkeys are particularly sensitive.



Ingredients: SavAChick
Potassium chloride, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate,
salt, vitamin D3 supplement, ascorbic acid (vitamin C),
vitamin A supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin
supplement (vitamin B3), magnesium sulfate, calcium
pantothenate (vitamin B5), folic acid (vitamin B9),
menadione sodium bisulfite complex (vitamin K), vitamin
B12 supplement, riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2),
pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), thiamine
mononitrate (vitamin B1), artificial color, silicon dioxide.

Thank you for responding so quickly. He's sitting outside with his gosling mates now and occasionally dipping his head in his fresh water. I'm going to try yogurt, scrambled egg and a little honey in a syringe today. He's due for a feeding right now with his egg, oatmeal, applesauce mixture.

Hi again..just an update on my two month old gosling....Nelson. After I started feeding him blended yogurt, scrambled egg and honey he started to get some of his appetite back. During the day I put him outside with his gosling mates. He was eating some bermuda hay that fell into his water. So I put more hay in the water and he started eating a lot of it. I doubled up his food mixture and started giving it to him in a small pet bottle instead of the syringe. He's still taking Save a chick and electrolytes in his water and has fresh water as well. I don't think I was feeding him enough. I'm still holding him up on his legs before and after he eats because he's still too weak to do it on his own. He's pooping mostly watery stools and is slending the nights in the hall bathroom in the tub. He's very vocal now and very alert. My main concern is for him to gain some weight and his strength back. Is there anything else I can do that won't stress him but help him? Thanks.

It's good to hear that he is doing better, and hopefully he will recover. Here are some pictures from various BYCers who have made chicken slings or chairs to get their birds up into a standing position, with food and water available closeby:

Hey thanks for those pictures. I was wondering how I could get him on his legs without holding him. I'm going to fix some kind of sling tomorrow. Today he's snacking on his regular feed drinking lots of water and is strong enough to refuse feedings today. I'm moving him from the tub into the dogs 4x6 barn tonight with pine shavings, water , his regular feed and his yogurt, honey and egg mix in a dish. I'll be checking on him 2-3 hours to see how he does. The barn is just like his regular barn but without his gosling mates. I think his little friends have been the extra boost he needed to get him this far. I'll post tomorrow when I see how his night goes. Thanks.

Hi again, I have an update on Nelson. He refuses to eat from a syringe, he's eating on his own. I tried the sling and he managed to climb out of it. I put him in his pool everyday for about 30 minutes and he moves his legs to swim. I exercise his legs and hold him up. He crawls to be near the other goslings or away from something that scares him. My biggest concerns are his lack of regaining weight and the weakness in his legs. He's in a small barn at night. Oh and he won't eat yogurt with bread crumbs. He's just eating his regular feed, bermuda grass and the save-a-chick and electrolytes. Is he going to walk eventually?

Have you tried posting on the Goose thread under Forums and scrolling down to other backyard poultry then geese? They may be of some help. Sometimes it is hard to predict if they will get better, since we can only guess that the moldy hay was a problem. The problem with mold exposure is that it can invade the brain and all other organs, so all you can do is keep him away from mold and hope for a recovery. I wish I could tell you he will walk, but since he is swimming and crawling, he seems to have a lot of spunk.