Acting strange

[DuckDuckPromise]

Hi there! This is my first time on the “goose” forum, because we don’t have them. My sister does though, and Praise the Lord, we share information all the time with each other, as both of us have duckies and chickens. She sent me a message that I’ll put at the bottom. What do y’all think? Lord’s Willing, we’re praying one of y’all have an idea! Praying God touches the sweet goose and that this is absolutely fine, and hope any other prayer warriors will join us! This is a copy of the text that she sent me
“Hey! Any idea why a goose would shake its head a lot and act kinda tired…she is still eating, but is acting sluggish for lack of a better word. Please say a prayer for her. It may be nothing, but she is just acting different than all the others.”

 

[Goosebaby]

Is it possible for her to be seen by a vet?

There are some things to try yourselves but without knowing the cause it’s hard to say what will work or what to do.

A vet has the best ability to narrow down what could be wrong, I understand if that just isn’t possible, but it would make things easier.

You can start by giving her b vitamins, b vitamins can calm organs and reduce inflammation as well as boost the immune system, as can vitamin c. Bring her in and keep her as stable and comfortable as possible.

If she has worms it could be causing her to regurgitate because they can slow down digestion and she can get backed up. A bacterial, viral, yeast, or Protozoa infection of the intestine like giardia can do this too.

Another possibility that can cause this is a mass in the body or zinc toxicity.

A virus, bacterial, or fungal infection could cause upper respiratory issues, like head shaking, hacking up mucous, sneezing, and/or snicking. If it’s bacterial she has a good prognosis if she’s put on the right antibiotic, if it’s viral all you can do is support her and try to help her beat this. If it’s fungal if caught early it has a better chance of being treated, but Aspergillosis is a very difficult and lengthy illness to treat that often isn’t curable, the current antifungals used to kill the mold is unfortunatly nearly as toxic as the mold itself and often cause irreversible damaging side effects.

I’m sorry to unload all of that, I’m just trying to show a glimpse of the vast amount of possibilities it could be, it can be very hard to figure out exactly what the issue is without specific testing, like fecal exams, fecal floats, bacterial testing, and so on. It could be something that isn’t that big of a deal, or it could be any number of serious problems. Geese are generally hardy, so when they’re sick it’s usually something serious from what I’ve seen.

I hope she starts feeling better soon.

 

[Goosebaby]

Oh my goodness, you are so helpful, Thank you SO much!!! Are you a vet?!!
Please don’t apologize, my sister and I (and my Momma) all love gathering more and more information, especially when it’s coming directly from someone’s experiences! If you don’t care, Lord’s Willing, I’m going to screenshot or copy everything you said, and send it to her!! She is on this website too, but the Facebook page, so I think it might be easier just to send it. Do you know if the things that you said would apply to ducks too? Praise the Lord, ours and her are acting healthy, we just would be well to have information like that in hand!!
Thank you again so much, that really was great information!!!

Yes you can screenshot and save whatever you want, if it helps you and your birds do all you can.

Yes, all of it is true for ducks too more or less, some species can be more prone to some things than others but for the most part many things that geese can get, ducks can get too.

I’m not a vet, I’ve just been absorbing any information I’ve come across since getting my own geese because there are no farm vets in my area anymore and the only vets within 75 mile+ radius are incompetent, crooked, or usually a mix of both.

Unfortunatly there aren’t a lot of farm vets anywhere and it’s a growing trend, not very many exotic vets will see poultry and if they do they’re not always expierienced so many waterfowl owners end up relying on each other along with doing their own research and sooner or later you end up like me.

Always do your own research and make your own opinion when it comes to your birds regardless of what anyone, including myself says, the drawback with relying on advice from strangers online is that we don’t always know what we’re talking about, there isn’t a lot of goose health information out there and unfortunatly there’s also a lot of misinformation that gets spread around by well meaning people. One example is that medicated chick start is toxic to waterfowl, that isn’t true, it’s the fact that chick start has a lower level of b vitamins and protein than what duckling and goslings require, people just thought that the symptoms of nutrient deficiency were symptoms of poisoning.
The only time the anticoccidia meds in the feed is bad is if they interact with some medications like tiamulin.

 

[Goosebaby]

Unfortunatly that isn’t a lot to go on, all I can say is that it sounds like her goose is sick.

Nonspecific symptoms like this could be caused by any number of things, some things benign, others more serious.

The sluggish behavior means she is not feeling well. Head shaking could mean that there’s something stuck in her throat, she has an intestinal or internal issue that’s causing her to regurgitate, there’s a respiratory illness, or a combination of things.

How long has she been like this?
When she shakes her head does she visibly regurgitate mucous, food, or liquid?
How old is she?

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

Is it possible for her to be seen by a vet?

There are some things to try yourselves but without knowing the cause it’s hard to say what will work or what to do.

A vet has the best ability to narrow down what could be wrong, I understand if that just isn’t possible, but it would make things easier.

You can start by giving her b vitamins, b vitamins can calm organs and reduce inflammation as well as boost the immune system, as can vitamin c. Bring her in and keep her as stable and comfortable as possible.

If she has worms it could be causing her to regurgitate because they can slow down digestion and she can get backed up. A bacterial, viral, yeast, or Protozoa infection of the intestine like giardia can do this too.

Another possibility that can cause this is a mass in the body or zinc toxicity.

A virus, bacterial, or fungal infection could cause upper respiratory issues, like head shaking, hacking up mucous, sneezing, and/or snicking. If it’s bacterial she has a good prognosis if she’s put on the right antibiotic, if it’s viral all you can do is support her and try to help her beat this. If it’s fungal if caught early it has a better chance of being treated, but Aspergillosis is a very difficult and lengthy illness to treat that often isn’t curable, the current antifungals used to kill the mold is unfortunatly nearly as toxic as the mold itself and often cause irreversible damaging side effects.

I’m sorry to unload all of that, I’m just trying to show a glimpse of the vast amount of possibilities it could be, it can be very hard to figure out exactly what the issue is without specific testing, like fecal exams, fecal floats, bacterial testing, and so on. It could be something that isn’t that big of a deal, or it could be any number of serious problems. Geese are generally hardy, so when they’re sick it’s usually something serious from what I’ve seen.

I hope she starts feeling better soon.

Oh my goodness, you are so helpful, Thank you SO much!!! Are you a vet?!!
Please don’t apologize, my sister and I (and my Momma) all love gathering more and more information, especially when it’s coming directly from someone’s experiences! If you don’t care, Lord’s Willing, I’m going to screenshot or copy everything you said, and send it to her!! She is on this website too, but the Facebook page, so I think it might be easier just to send it. Do you know if the things that you said would apply to ducks too? Praise the Lord, ours and her are acting healthy, we just would be well to have information like that in hand!!
Thank you again so much, that really was great information!!!

 

[Goosebaby]

These are some websites I like to use for avian health research

http://www.poultrydvm.com/

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/

https://www.thepoultrysite.com/health-disease-2

PoultryDVM has a good interactive symptom checker tool, they only have it for chickens and ducks, I use the chicken symptom checker for my geese along with my ducks because there’s more information from the chicken version of the site, the duck symptom checker is seriously lacking. Further research is needed because chickens get diseases that geese don’t so not all of the information is relevant.

Some of the information on PoultryDVM is vague, outdated or incorrect with results and treatments so I like to use Merck to get more information on whatever results the symptom checker has, when that fails the poultry site or deep dives into the internet are my next stops.

When it comes to goose health your greatest resource is actually chicken health information.
Veterinary medicin for companion pets (cats, dogs, & horses) is years behind human medical knowledge, avian medicine is years behind companion animal medicine, and poultry aren’t given much thought when it comes to more valuable exotics.
However because of the growing trend with hobby farms chickens have become more popular and so there’s a lot more information for them, ducks are the next most popular followed by turkeys, geese unfortunatly are pretty rare by comparison “hence the lack of information” and there isn’t much to go on for ducks so chicken sites and resources are a great source of information on health topics, you do have to weed through what a goose can and can’t get, which in itself can be difficult to determine but it’s been a help to me in a lot of situations.

Another great source is parrot forums and information websites. Veterinarians are more careful when it comes to treating a $$$$$ hyacinth macaw than they are with “poultry.” More research goes to exotic health because of how valuable they are, and their owners generally have a lot of resources to devote to such expensive pets, so they’re also a wealth of knowledge, especially when it comes to more specific or rare conditions that typical poultry wouldn’t be treated for.

If that fails human medicine is your final source. I had a gander with pancreatitis, which has never been studied in birds that I could find. My vet didn’t know what to do, so I treated him as best I could following what’s done with humans with pancreatitis, it’s all I could do.

So basically with geese, you have to do a lot of your own research and make educated guesses, we’re all just kind of “winging” it you could say.

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

I’ve never tried blu-kote, I hope you’re having a wonderful week too, how is your sister’s goose?

It’s really sad, I found out a day after she sent me the message that her goose had passed away. I have no idea how long she wasn’t well, or how old she was. She was gotten at an auction, and they didn’t provide any background info. She has the gander that was purchased with the female still, and I don’t know what her plans are on getting another. Would you suggest she does? The gander is always with at least 2 Pekin ducks, but I know that’s not exact same thing... I hate that for her.
I still appreciate all the knowledge you’ve shared though, and plan on sharing it all with her!

 

[Goosebaby]

It’s really sad, I found out a day after she sent me the message that her goose had passed away. I have no idea how long she wasn’t well, or how old she was. She was gotten at an auction, and they didn’t provide any background info. She has the gander that was purchased with the female still, and I don’t know what her plans are on getting another. Would you suggest she does? The gander is always with at least 2 Pekin ducks, but I know that’s not exact same thing... I hate that for her.
I still appreciate all the knowledge you’ve shared though, and plan on sharing it all with her!

I’m so sorry for her loss!

It would be best to get the gander a new goose friend, he will grieve her and another goose will put his mind at ease.

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

I honestly can not say thank you enough, it is so appreciated! Praise the Lord, that is all helpful information, and Lord’s Willing, we’ll do with it the best that we can! Those links are great, thank you!!!
And yes. I agree with free thinking, and I’m thankful you acknowledge that we all, definitely myself included, Are human and misspeak or misunderstand sometimes and share false information even when trying to help! You debunked the chick start theory though, I’ve read about that and wasn’t sure what to make of it!! My free thinking self tends to agree with you, it makes sense that poison symptoms and nutrient deficiencies could present themselves in the same way!
When treating with home remedies, can they have over the counter medicines? Say, pain relievers? PRAISE THE LORD, we have had a huge blessing in that when we use hemp oil for pets, it seems to help with pain (and anxiety, which is a blessing too!!) That was specifically designed for pets though (which, honestly, I didn’t read any ingredients that humans couldn’t have..) I just didn’t know if stuff made for humans could be made into a powder and administered somehow. I apologize, I’m the one typing a lot, I’m so sorry!!! Thank you again!!!
I love the poultry humor by the way!
It quacks me up!!!

 

[Goosebaby]

I honestly can not say thank you enough, it is so appreciated! Praise the Lord, that is all helpful information, and Lord’s Willing, we’ll do with it the best that we can! Those links are great, thank you!!!
And yes. I agree with free thinking, and I’m thankful you acknowledge that we all, definitely myself included, Are human and misspeak or misunderstand sometimes and share false information even when trying to help! You debunked the chick start theory though, I’ve read about that and wasn’t sure what to make of it!! My free thinking self tends to agree with you, it makes sense that poison symptoms and nutrient deficiencies could present themselves in the same way!
When treating with home remedies, can they have over the counter medicines? Say, pain relievers? PRAISE THE LORD, we have had a huge blessing in that when we use hemp oil for pets, it seems to help with pain (and anxiety, which is a blessing too!!) That was specifically designed for pets though (which, honestly, I didn’t read any ingredients that humans couldn’t have..) I just didn’t know if stuff made for humans could be made into a powder and administered somehow. I apologize, I’m the one typing a lot, I’m so sorry!!! Thank you again!!!
I love the poultry humor by the way!
It quacks me up!!!

I don’t have any expierience with hemp oil unfortunatly. I’ve given my birds around 100mg of naproxen “Aleve” at one time or another when I’ve been in a pinch and I didn’t see any negative reactions, I’ve heard that Tylenol is bad for birds and I’ve heard mixed things about aspirin, so pain medication is a confusing topic. So far I’ve heard “Caine” type medications shouldn’t be given to birds either, but I haven’t heard why.
@casportpony is one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve seen when it comes to health topics, dosages, and medications so if you have questions about that send her a message and she can answer that better than I can.

I also remembered this formulary I found online that has dosages for a lot of medications https://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/18.pdf

It doesn’t have a lot of information for side effects or interactions though so that’s something to look up seperatly with medications. Like potassium should be restricted while taking an antibiotic called SMZ TMP for example.