So I now have a $500 goose...Sadly, Frenchy's wing comes off next week

I have a Toulouse goose and 5 khaki Campbell ducks that have been wandering around our property for about 4 years. They are basically feral- I feed them, water them and house them at night, but that is the extent of our interactions. The few occasions I have had to medically treat them has been a nightmare for both them and me. The flock is pretty savvy and shy, so they have not had a problem with predation up to this point. That changed a couple days ago.

We have been dealing with a problem coyote all summer. This animal is very aggressive, unafraid of humans and as bold as brass. She is healthy, but feeding 2 pups, so she is acting completely unlike any coyote I have dealt with in the past. F&G has been called about her repeatedly, but they are useless. She has snatched one of my chickens. She snatched the neighbors' roo right in broad daylight with the whole family sitting not 50 feet away. We put a hail of buck shot up her nethers last week around lunch time when she came calling. All the birds in the neighborhood have been put into lockdown except for my flock of free-range waterfowl.

Earlier this week my young daughter and her friend were playing in the front yard in my daughter's play yard. They had just come inside when I heard my goose scream. Frenchy was in my daughter's play yard, facing off with the coyote to save her ducks. The coyote grabbed her by the wing as I was running out the door at full tilt. I managed to spook the coyote into dropping Frenchy. Frenchy came running to me and ran straight into my house! As she was hiding in the closet I started calling vets. Her wing was badly broken and all ripped up. She is too wild for me to attempt to fix it myself. I tried and got nowhere. I called a few avian vets I know in the area, found one that was reasonably priced.

Frenchy had to spend the night at the vet. The day she was injured they pumped her full of pain meds, antibiotics, and fluids. She had a temporary cast put on the wing. The next morning, when she was more medically stable, they gassed her and took x-rays. Her wing is snapped through the radius and ulna with some splintering. The vet is confident that she can heal with just a cast on the wing- no surgery. She will lose the ability to fly and the wing may droop, but she can't fly anyways (too big) and I don't care if her wing isn't perfect. She came home yesterday afternoon with a permanent cast on her wing. She needs meds 4 times per day- antibiotics, pain meds and probiotics. She has to be housed in my garage for the next month at least. She will need checks every week and a re-scan of the bones in a month. In total...$500 worth of work.

The free-range ducks have been forcibly captured and locked up with my chickens. That is a story unto itself...

The coyote? Her days are numbered. We will be hiring a hunter/trapper who can concentrate on getting her and her pups ASAP. Everyone in the neighborhood is chipping in to get this animal gone. I cannot believe she was so bold as to attack the birds in my front yard, right in the middle of the day, where the children were playing not 10 minutes before.

In the meantime, I have one very angry $500 goose living in my garage that I have to medicate 4 times per day. Pray for me because I am pretty sure she is going to kill me once she starts feeling better.

She will maybe imprint on you (if geese do)... You may have a friend for life

WOW!! Thank goodness you were able to scare the coyote away!! Good luck to you and your patient.

Aww bless your heart!
I'm sorry your goose got caught by the coyote. We've had a lot of fox this year and I called the Game Warden and he told me there were considered vermin and I could do as I pleased, no permission needed. Trap, kill, etc. I'm in Ohio but I would think that a coyote would fall under the same category pretty much anywhere.

I feel your pain, I have one that has cost me over 1000.00 in the last few weeks and he's currently at the vet again, but hey you get attached. For a feral that's one lucky goose. I'm thinking that after a month of living in the garage and getting handouts she won't be feral anymore.
My sympathy on the meds thing. I'm doing it every night and mine are very tame but they act like I'm trying to hurt them.
One easy thing is if you an catch her and sort of stand over her and crouch down with her back up against a wall.
She can't go back and she can't really stand up so it might make meds easier.
Good luck
Post how she's doing.

Linda

wow!! Crazy story. I hope that coyote is caught. That's so scary. I bet the goose is going to love you forever for this! <3

It is so lucky that you were home. Also VERY lucky your child got inside since that coyote could be dangerous to small children as well.

I am sure the goose will warm up to you. She already associated you and your house with safety and ran toward you and even into your house. Once this is done and over with, she may become much nicer and more sociable with you. Good move capturing the ducks and moving them to safety: Bet that was an adventure...they can be so skiddish.

Good luck and bless you for spending the money on Frenchy so she can heal from her attack!

Wow tha'ts amazing, So glad to hear she will be okay and sure hoping you all stay safe till the coyote and pups are gone. I know it's very difficult to medicate an animal when they don't want to be. Hope you don't get beat up too bad. And bless you for doing this for her hopefully she'll be much friendlier for all the TLC you put into her. Please keep us updated on how she is and how your doing.

That is awful! I hope you get rid of them. Poor goose!

It is so wonderful of you to help your goose!! Most would not do the same.

I've been thinking of you over there in St Tammany parish, with this hurricane lashing Louisiana. You aren't from there if I recall when I looked at your beautiful pictures. You had electricity when you posted last. I hope you and your animals can ride this out okay. I have relatives in St Mary parish, just above Vermilion Bay. It's starting to get bad there, with the storm moving west. We will have to see where it winds up, but it could be in my lap in a day or two if it keeps moving northwest. The county I live in here in Texas abuts the Louisiana line.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!