Well I had my first dog attack one of my geese. I have 30-something geese that wander around the farmhouse here. My weekend neighbor has a Portugese Water Dog who has a strong prey drive. He is very concientious of this and the dog is always leashed. He was loading him into the crate in his truck, getting ready to leave, and the dog got loose and ran a goose down. Fortunately, he was right on it so the damage could have been worse.
So, I got another neighbor to come down who is a better vet than I am. We stitched up the wounds, the largest being about a 3" long gash by 4" wide. There were 3 pretty deep punctures into the muscle on the back which caused the skin to rip. In general, geese have very thin skin, so stitching it was not easy. We drenched the wound repeatedly with a penecillin/water mixture and we're giving the goose IM penecilling daily for probably a week. We covered the wound with pink-coat.
So far, so good. The goose has not managed to pick any of the stitches out or really fuss at the wound at all. We have her locked in the laundry room bathroom. She's alert, up and wanting to move. But the bathroom is small, intentionally, so we have her somewhere that she cannot spread her wings (the wound is right down the backbone). Her flock is standing outside the bathroom window calling into her and she's shouting back. So she has a lot of spirit; but we're not letting her out for many more days yet.
Everything I've read says geese are amazingly resistant to infection. But dog bites are notoriously bacteria filled. We'll see which wins. If she pulls through, she'll be named "Lucky". She is a crossbreed that was intended to be a Christmas goose on November 13th.... but there is no way we can sell her now since the wounds won't heal and she'll be scarred.
This is the second time I've had a goose go into shock. We have an AGA in the kitchen, which has saved a lot of animals' lives. So if you have a goose go into shock, bundle them in a blanket somewhere warm. I sat this one on my lap for several hours stroking her under the chin which kept her calm. Then, just make sure they drink water if they want to. You can tell when a goose is in shock because their eyes seem glazed over and they seem to hunch over with their beaks on the floor. Once they come out of it, you will notice them get far more alert with their heads and eyes.
So, I got another neighbor to come down who is a better vet than I am. We stitched up the wounds, the largest being about a 3" long gash by 4" wide. There were 3 pretty deep punctures into the muscle on the back which caused the skin to rip. In general, geese have very thin skin, so stitching it was not easy. We drenched the wound repeatedly with a penecillin/water mixture and we're giving the goose IM penecilling daily for probably a week. We covered the wound with pink-coat.
So far, so good. The goose has not managed to pick any of the stitches out or really fuss at the wound at all. We have her locked in the laundry room bathroom. She's alert, up and wanting to move. But the bathroom is small, intentionally, so we have her somewhere that she cannot spread her wings (the wound is right down the backbone). Her flock is standing outside the bathroom window calling into her and she's shouting back. So she has a lot of spirit; but we're not letting her out for many more days yet.
Everything I've read says geese are amazingly resistant to infection. But dog bites are notoriously bacteria filled. We'll see which wins. If she pulls through, she'll be named "Lucky". She is a crossbreed that was intended to be a Christmas goose on November 13th.... but there is no way we can sell her now since the wounds won't heal and she'll be scarred.
This is the second time I've had a goose go into shock. We have an AGA in the kitchen, which has saved a lot of animals' lives. So if you have a goose go into shock, bundle them in a blanket somewhere warm. I sat this one on my lap for several hours stroking her under the chin which kept her calm. Then, just make sure they drink water if they want to. You can tell when a goose is in shock because their eyes seem glazed over and they seem to hunch over with their beaks on the floor. Once they come out of it, you will notice them get far more alert with their heads and eyes.
