Struggling with raising a lone disabled gosling indoors - all feedback and tips welcome!

Hello all!

I joined this forum after reading many many threads and getting extremely useful information. My husband and I are new to raising ducks or geese. We took in this cute gosling who could not walk as otherwise the owner would have culled her. We believe she has a genetic problem; she was never able to walk from the start. She is now around 3 weeks of age. Current routine is every morning at 5 am one of us gives the gosling time in the bathtub while one cleans its plastic container and puts fresh bedding. Bedding is non-toxic paper based, which we use for our other animals. Food is comprised of a starter duck feed (non-medicated), brewers yeast supplement and greens (right now a mix of romaine lettuce, fresh clover and glass clippings). We provide natural grit from outside for now but plan to get construction sand to have a steady supply.

We just ordered some diapers from the indoorducks website and are hoping they will arrive soon. For now, we carry the gosling with us in towels which we have to change and wash almost daily.

Our main concern is around keeping the gosling happy. She often calls out when left alone. One gosling is not at all ideal but we do not have the resources to buy another animal (this makes our 6th indoor pet!). We tried to see if anyone else with a farm would give the needed care for the disabled gosling, but nobody is able or willing. Our only other option would be to euthanize her. We have considered it given that she obviously will not experience being outdoors much or with other geese, however when we see how happy and cuddly she is, we feel we should give it a chance. She loves to spend time with us and often sleeps with us at night. She already has bonded with us and recognizes us. We nicknamed her "chickenwing" because of her small wings. One of us is at home most days therefore can attend to her needs and help her if she would get flipped or would be in distress.

Things we would love input on:

1) How to decrease the feeling of loneliness (other than adding another animal which is not possible). We have bought some calming music and also placed a goose stuffed animal in her container. Despite this, she still tends to call out during the day unless we are with her (we will cuddle her at least 5 times a day).

2) Caring for the nails (do they need to be trimmed and if so, how much and how often?)

3) When to switch to a normal feed and which feed do you recommend (we live in Canada so an online store with international shipping is a must). Currently we add water to her starter feed. How long should we do this for?

4) Whether or not you would support keeping her alone versus culling her. This is an ethical question that is not easily answered and we welcome others' opinion.

Thank you very much!

Hi! I'm a fellow House Goose Mama! And, despite some neigh-sayers...I also have just ONE and intend to keep it that way. Cas (my big boy is now almost 8 weeks old!) is happily adjusted, has learned our routine and is thriving.


(Me and Cas watching baby geese on the big TV)

I'll answer your questions based on MY EXPERIENCES, and as one who has/is also raising a SINGLE HOUSE PET GOOSE (as opposed to an outdoor farm animal)

1) TOYS! Things to keep their minds sharp and busy. Cas has a mix of soft snuggly toys, and toys he can play rough with. Tennis balls, the rubber-type dog style toys (Kong brand, etc), toys made for parrots, etc. I even give him toys made for human infants. He doesn't seem to care one way or another when it comes to music, but he LOVES my phone and tablet! I'll put on videos or games for him to watch and YES he actually watches!

Your little one is GOING to call for you, even if he doesn't really need anything, just as a young child will. And each time you go and cuddle him, you just reinforced that behavior without even realizing it. Sometimes, as hard as it will be, you need to NOT go to his calls for you so he learns to entertain himself until you come for him. It might sound harsh, but if you don't practice this little bit of Tough Love now, you will forever have a goose that will scream whenever you are out of sight.

It doesn't last long though, so chin up! It took me about a week with Cas. I would "tuck him in", give him toys, snuggle and tell him bedtime, and walk away. He would cry and call, and I had to be strong and stay away. Eventually, he would call for shorter periods and would then busy himself with his toys and snuggle down and sleep. Now when I say bedtime, he goes into his house on his own, waits to be tucked in, and beds down quietly all on his own!

2) Ahhh the nails! I too have bared many scars! Lol I have found a solution to that tho, and I'll be testing it this week with Cas. I'm happy to PM you a review and update if you'd like?

3) The feeding when it comes to a goose in the house is a bit of trial and error. Because they aren't outdoors foraging a nibble here and there, finding info with exact amounts to feed them is hard. I would say at 3 weeks if its starter crumble she's on now, she shouldn't need the water in it anymore, they'll usually do that on their own if they want to anyway! LOL As far as when to switch them to "adult" feed, I think it's between 8-10 weeks, or when they're fully feathered, at least that's what I've done for Cas.

4) KEEP HER! A farmer or breeder culls. Someone wanting a pet, generally doesn't UNLESS the problem will cause some loss of quality of life. You could always teach her to ride in style in a make shift stroller since she can't walk, and she could help as a therapy pet for human kids that can't walk! She could be an advocate! Or she could ride in a wagon!

Again, this is MY opinion as a PET household, not a farm household, and I'm not a breeder. I wouldn't "cull" a blind cat, or a 3-legged dog, and IF IT'S FEASIBLE, I wouldn't cull a gosling just because it can't get around like the others can. I would find a way to help it live life to the fullest.

And I bet if you looked on line you can find all kinds of things to make for your gosling that will give her mobility of some kind.
A large mirror with out sharp edges may help keep the lil one busy talking to itself. Mine love to look at themselves in a mirror.

Thank you EvenLater for the detailed post. It echoes a lot of my feelings. She was calling out a bit less today already. Hopefully it will continue to improve as long as we don't reinforce the screaming. I will try to get a lot of toys that are easy to clean in case she has accidents on them! I am definitely interested in hearing about your nail clipping experiments, although I suspect our "chickenwing" will not be too fussy. She lets me touch and press on her nails without moving already.

Miss Lydia - I ordered a book that talks about such a unique contraption with wheels! We noted her feet are changing as the days go by, her legs are contracting more as she is not using them and I want to be able to have her legs dangle from a hammock type thing. We will also increase her swimming time in hopes of keeping the legs moving a bit. Thank you!

littlegosling said:

Thank you EvenLater for the detailed post. It echoes a lot of my feelings. She was calling out a bit less today already. Hopefully it will continue to improve as long as we don't reinforce the screaming. I will try to get a lot of toys that are easy to clean in case she has accidents on them! I am definitely interested in hearing about your nail clipping experiments, although I suspect our "chickenwing" will not be too fussy. She lets me touch and press on her nails without moving already.

Miss Lydia - I ordered a book that talks about such a unique contraption with wheels! We noted her feet are changing as the days go by, her legs are contracting more as she is not using them and I want to be able to have her legs dangle from a hammock type thing. We will also increase her swimming time in hopes of keeping the legs moving a bit. Thank you!

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Swimming is great for leg problems as long as she can stay afloat, and of course you stay with her. I hope you can fashion something for her there was a member a couple years back that had a disabled goose and she made a hammock for hers where her legs dangled down. I wish I could remember her name then I could find her posts about it Maybe when you get a chance you can share a pic we'd love to see her.

littlegosling said:

Thank you EvenLater for the detailed post. It echoes a lot of my feelings. She was calling out a bit less today already. Hopefully it will continue to improve as long as we don't reinforce the screaming. I will try to get a lot of toys that are easy to clean in case she has accidents on them! I am definitely interested in hearing about your nail clipping experiments, although I suspect our "chickenwing" will not be too fussy. She lets me touch and press on her nails without moving already.

Miss Lydia - I ordered a book that talks about such a unique contraption with wheels! We noted her feet are changing as the days go by, her legs are contracting more as she is not using them and I want to be able to have her legs dangle from a hammock type thing. We will also increase her swimming time in hopes of keeping the legs moving a bit. Thank you!

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These are what I found, and I bought a pack ($12 for 40 of them at PetCo). I'm going to try them on Cas and post a result and review. I am too timid to clip him because if something startled him and I nicked him I would just feel awful, so I read up on these as a safer alternative. I'll keep you posted on how (or IF) they work! They come in multiple different sizes and even colors!

EvenLater said:

These are what I found, and I bought a pack ($12 for 40 of them at PetCo). I'm going to try them on Cas and post a result and review. I am too timid to clip him because if something startled him and I nicked him I would just feel awful, so I read up on these as a safer alternative. I'll keep you posted on how (or IF) they work! They come in multiple different sizes and even colors!

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Do you think he'll be able to chew them off and eat them?

I don't think he will, but even if he should manage to get one off and eat it, it's made of food-grade and edible material. I bought the clear ones so I doubt he will even notice them once they're on. They are made to be safe enough to use on puppies and kittens, both who can much more easily chew on their paws than a goose can, but I intend to watch him very carefully just to make sure everything's fine.

Have you thought about taking her to a vet to maybe possibly see if there's any way to improve her walking?

Too bad you don't live near me, I would've taken her!

Yes, a vet might be able to help. Or the person you got her from or someone else with geese might be able to give you a good idea.

If the bird is going to be lame and dependent for its whole life I would encourage you to cull it. Keeping a Goose as a house pet is a huge responsibility (not speaking from experience). Geese do need constant companionship. A lot of your life would have to revolve around this goose. This service would last upward of 10 years (I say 10 because of the lack of exercise). Its quality of life will also not be that great.