5 week old gosling cant walk at all!

[mymomsgoose]

My mom is an animal lover and has had chickens for many years and finally decided she wanted some geese. After much research she finally decided to get a pair of white Chinese. Please bear in mind that i know very little about geese and am not terribly fond of other poultry such as chickens. However i have fallen in love with this young goose. He had been able to walk but her condition deteriorated and as of today she can not stand or even use her legs to swim and instead tries to use her wings to attempt to paddle herself around the pool. I am very worried about my little friend and would really like some opinions. Her joints on her legs seem swollen and her legs very warm to the touch although i know little about geese and am not sure if this is abnormal.I am very worried and would love to see her grow to be a strong goose. Please help.

 

[EvenLater]

Sounds like a possible Niacin deficiency. What are you feeding the gosling? Chick starter doesn't contain the Niacin they need for healthy leg development, so you'll need to supplement some. Without sufficient Niacin, their legs grow weak and they can develop spraddle leg or splay leg.

The easiest way to add this to his diet, is to sprinkle either Nutritional Yeast or Brewers Yeast on his feed. Or, you can find plain Niacin tablets that dissolve in their water. You want the straight Niacin, not anything that says "Time release" or "No Flush" and it's easiest to find (of all places) at a vitamin store for human vitamins. The dosage is 150 mg per gallon of water. Adding Niacin to his diet should show improvement within a few days.

NOTE: In a pinch (can't get to a store for awhile, etc), plain Cheerios are rather high in Niacin and you could give him some that way.

 

[Carrosaur]

If possible take her to a vet.

 

[EvenLater]

If possible take her to a vet.

And yes. this ^

 

[Clpatt72]

I am having this exact same problem right now. I have started the niacin but don't really know how much to give her.

 

[littlegosling]

I am having this exact same problem right now. I have started the niacin but don't really know how much to give her.

For the niacin, I read that you give 100-150 mg for one gallon of water. If you use brewers yeast, I read in a book that 2 cups of brewers yeast for 10 pounds of feed is a good amount. Hope this helps

 

[EvenLater]

I am having this exact same problem right now. I have started the niacin but don't really know how much to give her.

If you are feeding in smaller amounts, I believe it's 1 tablespoon per cup of feed? I'm going to search and check that though...

 

[leggomyegg0]

Thanks for this thread.. I have a week old gosling who just stopped walking. One minute she was fine the next, NOT... I am heading to the store for Niacin and will let you know how it works.

 

[leggomyegg0]

Just a quick update, I haven't gone to the vitamin store,yet, but I did have some bee pollen on hand, which has a ton of vitamins and minerals including niacin. gave her a few grains, and 3 hours later she is walking again. Not 100% yet, but enough that I'm pretty sure this a vitamin deficiency related... still planning on getting the niacin, but just thought I'd let people know about bee pollen in case they had it on hand.

 

[EvenLater]

Glad to hear she's moving again! It's amazing how fast they can bounce back from a deficiency when it's caught early enough.