I have a baby goose and no idea what to do with it!!

Yep,thats pretty much it!! Its about 2-3 weeks old and living with a silkie chick,probably not the best idea for a buddy!! Eating lots of grass and chick starter and is such a cute and friendly little guy!! But im not really sure what to do with it.My first concern is that the little guys seems really wobbly,the feet and legs are fine,but it just seems to not keep balance really well and lays down alot. Is that normal or should I be worried. And if i end up keeping him,should i go out now and get another baby goose,or wait till it is older, Im afraid its going to think its a chicken!! So any advise or ideas for this first time goose mom would be great!!

It may be niacin deficiant. Got to the healthfood section of the grocery and get 100 mg niacin. Don't get the non-flush kind as they don't use it well. Put 100mg per gallon of water. Make that his only water source do he has to drink the treated water. Chick feed is usually low in niacin which leads to ricketts in geese and ducks. If you can get another gosling of similar age, that would be good.

Also its not a good idea to give medicated chick starter to geese. It can make them sick and some even die. Ask your feed store for a non medicated crumble the is around 16-17 percent protein since your goslings are around 3 weeks. For the first 3 weeks they need around 20 percent protein but after that you can drop the protein count down. Good luck with your gosling

Hmmm...... I think you've already been given very good advice about including Niacin in the diet. A quick fix is to dissolve Brewers Yeast into the drinking water ASAP! Your gosling will be fine with grass but it's diet MUST also be supplemented with a Growers Pellet specifically for Waterfowl to correct dietary difficiences.

Best of luck with your baby as it can be readily sorted but you must act quicky.

Pete

Quote:
Sorry Pete but I think you are a little off on this advise, If you must use Brewer's yeast it is best sprinkled dry on the top of feed. If dissolved in water the water will quickly go foul as the yeast will tend to promote growth of bacteria. Here in the US corn (maize) is the major (if not only) source of carbohydrate in feed and it is lower than the rest of the grains in Niacin. Chicken feed is supplemented to the level required by chickens but most waterfowl require more. I usually prevent the problem by adding rolled oats to top dress feed. the difference in color usually results in the oats being eaten first. This has the side benefit of getting the young used to oats, if introduced later they tend to eat around the oats. i use oats as a supplement to their feed throughout their life, Feed formulated for waterfowl is not available in many areas of the USA. If you can get it by all means use it.
Brewers yeast is also hard to come by in quanity unless you live near a brewery. a great source of vit B as well as niacin, but when a bird is showing Niacin difficiency it is available in most drug stores and works faster than brewer's yeast. I have used the 100mg/gal dose with no problems but it is toxic in overdose amounts!

No problem - as I dont live in the States I have no idea about availability of feeds and supplements. We use Brewers Yeast crushed and mixed with the liquid feed for the baby parrots once a week but dont supplement the waterfowl as we can readily access specific Waterfowl feeds. Good tip to put on the feed rather than let the water go foul.

Pete

Quote:
I thought that might be the case. As I said Brewer'yeast is a good supplement but I have had problems with it in water. You know waterfowl wash out their bills and mouths in the water and I have seen fermentation going on after only a hour. I home brew so I usually have some on hand in dry form. All my spent grain (malted barley) is fed to waterfowl, usually after drying in the summer. In the winter they gobble it right down.
When I was younger I wanted a parrot in the worst way but the owner advised that it wasn't a good idea around waterfowl because of disease. was he making an excuse because he didn't want to sell or can there actually be problems? I see you have both. ~gd

I've never had problems but to be fair the Macaws are well away from the geese and ducks. However you can never rule out cross infection but have to be diligent. My friend's had a farm with poultry and geese for 40 years and maintained a huge collection of parrots. I can see the link between foul water etc but if management is sound it should'nt be an issue. We even hatch the baby macaws with the Dewlaps if their hatching co-incides!

Pete


Baby Blue & Gold Macaw hatches with a Dewlap Toulouse!!!

Well, isn't that little macaw about the ugliest little thing I ever saw! LOL!!! No offense meant, Pete, just joking around.