2 y/o Sebastopol limping

[Cwilkins711]

Hi all,

I have a 2 year old Sebastopol goose that has been limping for a few days. I was hoping it would resolve on its own but I’m afraid it’s not, it’s possibly getting worse.
I checked the bottoms of her feet for sores or abrasions and I haven’t seen any. She has another goose friend that’s the same age that has no issues. She’s eating well, I feed Kalmbach duck and goose. She also grazing in the yard but I’ve noticed she isn’t venturing as far as usual and seems a little more dull. She also is laying as well.
She has angel wing that she unfortunately had when I purchased her as a gosling and even though I tried to wrap her wings it didn’t correct. (I think she was too old at that point)

I can’t appreciate any swelling anywhere on her legs either.

- is there anything I can do to make her feel better?

I did have a Marricks disease scare this winter with two young (chicken) hens. They are presumed positive after state testing was done. I just don’t know how common the disease is in adult geese.

I do want to add I’m trying to find a veterinarian in my area that will see geese but that’s posed to be more difficult than I thought.

Thanks all for your insight!

 

[Goosebaby]

Can you post a picture of the bottoms of her feet? Some issues aren’t obvious unless you’ve encountered them before and know what to look for.

Beyond that could you feel for her keel to see how pronounced it is? You won’t feel it at all if she’s overweight, if she’s healthy you’ll feel a nice slope that graduates to it, but if she’s underweight it will feel like an abrupt blade jutting out from her body.

What do her droppings look like? Have you noticed any unusual colors like bright green, yellow, orange, pink, red, black, or mostly white? Have you noticed any that are bubbly?

Have you seen her eat recently? Does she eat as often as the other goose?
Also does she have access to oyster shell?

Most of the time limping is caused by a nutritional deficiency, sometimes even if they have a balanced feed they can still end up with a deficiency because of numerous issues like bullying, a parasite or infection, or some other issue.

If she were my bird I’d start her off on a round of corid just to be sure and then start her on a regimen of B vitamin complex and rooster booster every day for a week and see how she does.

There isn’t clear information that I’ve found online that actually documents incidences of Marricks in waterfowl so either they’re immune or partially immune to it or that incidences of it are so low that they’re rarely reported, I can’t say that you can rule it out completely but it’s probably unlikely that that’s the issue.



Corid oral dosage is 0.1 ml per pound once or twice a day.

 

[Cwilkins711]

I have to soak her feet today in some Epsom salt to see if I can appreciate any issues.
They do not have oyster shell right now because they used to just dump it out of the dish and make a huge mess. I will get more and start the corid and rooster booster like you suggested. As far as I can see she is eating just as well as the other goose. She feels a healthy weight. Just having a really rough time getting around now.
Thank you!

 

[Cwilkins711]

Can you post a picture of the bottoms of her feet? Some issues aren’t obvious unless you’ve encountered them before and know what to look for.

Beyond that could you feel for her keel to see how pronounced it is? You won’t feel it at all if she’s overweight, if she’s healthy you’ll feel a nice slope that graduates to it, but if she’s underweight it will feel like an abrupt blade jutting out from her body.

What do her droppings look like? Have you noticed any unusual colors like bright green, yellow, orange, pink, red, black, or mostly white? Have you noticed any that are bubbly?

Have you seen her eat recently? Does she eat as often as the other goose?
Also does she have access to oyster shell?

Most of the time limping is caused by a nutritional deficiency, sometimes even if they have a balanced feed they can still end up with a deficiency because of numerous issues like bullying, a parasite or infection, or some other issue.

If she were my bird I’d start her off on a round of corid just to be sure and then start her on a regimen of B vitamin complex and rooster booster every day for a week and see how she does.

There isn’t clear information that I’ve found online that actually documents incidences of Marricks in waterfowl so either they’re immune or partially immune to it or that incidences of it are so low that they’re rarely reported, I can’t say that you can rule it out completely but it’s probably unlikely that that’s the issue.



Corid oral dosage is 0.1 ml per pound once or twice a day.

How do you suggest I administer the corid? My geese are nice but not the most snuggly and affectionate so I can’t hold them on their own accord. I can grab them and do what I need but I’m not sure how to go about giving meds. I have to to string it into their mouth I can but I wasn’t sure if there was an easier way (I’m a vet tech with small and large animal experience but not with “exotics” or birds)

 

[MROO]

How do you suggest I administer the corid? My geese are nice but not the most snuggly and affectionate so I can’t hold them on their own accord. I can grab them and do what I need but I’m not sure how to go about giving meds. I have to to string it into their mouth I can but I wasn’t sure if there was an easier way (I’m a vet tech with small and large animal experience but not with “exotics” or birds)

Corid can go directly into their water. Just make sure it's the only water they get, so you know they're getting their dosage. If you have to administer it, directly most birds will swallow reflexively if you lay the liquid (including water with dissolved meds in it) alongside their closed beak.

 

[Goosebaby]

How do you suggest I administer the corid? My geese are nice but not the most snuggly and affectionate so I can’t hold them on their own accord. I can grab them and do what I need but I’m not sure how to go about giving meds. I have to to string it into their mouth I can but I wasn’t sure if there was an easier way (I’m a vet tech with small and large animal experience but not with “exotics” or birds)

You can add it to their water according to the instructions on the bottle/ bag or you can administer it orally via a needless 12 ml syringe.

Corid when offered in their water works fine as long as they’re willing to drink it, the only issue I’ve had is that waterfowl like to play in their water and so will waste most of it, you’ll have to constantly make new batches and go through it pretty quick, and sometimes they will choose to not drink it because of the taste.

Administering it through a syringe is the only sure way that they’ll actually get enough in their system and it’s less expensive as you won’t be wasting the majority of the bottle.

How you administer meds via a syringe to an uncooperative goose is to corner them, grab them and squat over them just enough so that your body is holding them in place but not sitting on them.
With one hand apply pressure to the corners of the mouth until they loosen their jaw, then open their mouth and wrap one hand around their top bill (this actually makes it harder for them to bite and squirm.)
With your other hand push the syringe down THEIR right side of the throat as far down as it will go and hit the plunger.

TIP: the faster you do this the easier it is and less stressful it is for them. The more time you give them to think about what’s going on the more they will panic. Also it helps to give a treat immediately after to give them positive reinforcement and it also helps them keep down any meds you’ve just given them.

 

[Goosebaby]

Corid can go directly into their water. Just make sure it's the only water they get, so you know they're getting their dosage. If you have to administer it, directly most birds will swallow reflexively if you lay the liquid (including water with dissolved meds in it) alongside their closed beak.

That can technically work, but most of the time geese will just spit the meds out if it’s administered that way and trying to give liquid meds that way carries the risk of aspiration.