bruising on goose webbing?

[wildharvesthomestead]

can anyone tell me what's going on with my goose's webbing? she's had this on and off and it doesn't seem to bother her and goes away on its own. looks like bruising and fades over a few days like bruising. nobody else has it, and she has it way worse on this foot than the other. google isn't much help. I'm in upstate NY so there's nothing around that could have stung her, and she has this across both feet, though the left (pictured) is always by far the worst for some reason. thanks in advance!

 

[Goosebaby]

How old is your goose?
What kind of feed are they on?

The closest thing this reminds me of is excessive cold exposure, maybe she’s more sensitive to cold than the others?

Beyond that I would wonder about some sort of circulatory issue. Does she sit around a lot or breath/pant more heavily when exerting herself than the others?

 

[wildharvesthomestead]

They're all about 10 months old on a mix of Mazuri and Kalmbach. I do wonder about the cold as it seemed to start once it got really chilly out (I'm in upstate NY and it's been abnormally cold). She's actually my most active goose, the one who'll climb us if we're sitting down, so I'm leaning more toward cold than circulatory. Bottoms of feet look good--it's pretty clearly tiny burst blood vessels for whatever reason and not anything stuck in there (on another page someone suggested a bee sting, which it's waaaay too cold for here).

I poked around and found a few people asking on various sites about ducks with similar bruising and it seems like mainly it stumped their vets. So weird!

 

[Goosebaby]

They're all about 10 months old on a mix of Mazuri and Kalmbach. I do wonder about the cold as it seemed to start once it got really chilly out (I'm in upstate NY and it's been abnormally cold). She's actually my most active goose, the one who'll climb us if we're sitting down, so I'm leaning more toward cold than circulatory. Bottoms of feet look good--it's pretty clearly tiny burst blood vessels for whatever reason and not anything stuck in there (on another page someone suggested a bee sting, which it's waaaay too cold for here).

I poked around and found a few people asking on various sites about ducks with similar bruising and it seems like mainly it stumped their vets. So weird!

Maybe keep them off any snow or frozen ground for a few days and see if it goes away?

 

[wildharvesthomestead]

Maybe keep them off any snow or frozen ground for a few days and see if it goes away?

Thanks for the input!

So it's worse this morning (she still doesn't seem to notice) but also looks more like smaller darker bruises in addition to the diffuse/fading ones in the pic. I'm starting to wonder if one of her sisters is going after her feet at night, as the size of the new dots looks suspiciously like how my arms look when I get nibbled too hard. The first time I noticed this some weeks ago, two geese had it, though this one much worse, and the one who likes to nibble her sisters had nothing. Which is suspicious! I may need to put a camera in there and spy on them at night. At least the bruising doesn't seem to bother her at all? These baaaabies.

They have access at all times to a shed with deep pine shaving bedding. When it's really cold they do go in there voluntarily during the day and then get shut in for the night as soon as it's dark. It's supposed to get cold cold this weekend though so they may be staying shut in for the worst part of the day at least. Though if the problem turns out to be boredom nibbling then that'll probably just make it worse. Do they have toys in there? Yes. Do they chew on each other anyway? Also yes.

 

[Goosebaby]

Thanks for the input!

So it's worse this morning (she still doesn't seem to notice) but also looks more like smaller darker bruises in addition to the diffuse/fading ones in the pic. I'm starting to wonder if one of her sisters is going after her feet at night, as the size of the new dots looks suspiciously like how my arms look when I get nibbled too hard. The first time I noticed this some weeks ago, two geese had it, though this one much worse, and the one who likes to nibble her sisters had nothing. Which is suspicious! I may need to put a camera in there and spy on them at night. At least the bruising doesn't seem to bother her at all? These baaaabies.

They have access at all times to a shed with deep pine shaving bedding. When it's really cold they do go in there voluntarily during the day and then get shut in for the night as soon as it's dark. It's supposed to get cold cold this weekend though so they may be staying shut in for the worst part of the day at least. Though if the problem turns out to be boredom nibbling then that'll probably just make it worse. Do they have toys in there? Yes. Do they chew on each other anyway? Also yes.

The drama never ends with geese!

 

[Pumperkinz]

Just a side comment from being in upstate as well.

We have had two+ feet on the ground and limited space for them to run around. The ganders have been picking at each other out of space issues. Do you see them standing on one foot or sitting around with their feet tucked under them? If so put more hay down so they aren't touching the snow/ice nearly as much that could solve that issue. But we have had abnormally terrible cold and on the days it's -10 or so and windchill past -30 I have a lot of wind breaks and areas for them to chill at so they don't get frost bite.

The only other thing I could think about is if she had a cut under her pad and it's somehow bruised from accidentally cutting themselves? I have a hard time thinking the geese would be just grabbing feet, mine when they get bored will grab chest/neck/back/wingtip feathers and yoink.

 

[wildharvesthomestead]

The drama never ends with geese!

yeah I feel like I solved it--today I caught her tussling with her sister in the pool with a bit of feather pulling and foot biting. They only fight over things like pool time (they're down to a small pool in the winter which we fill every day with buckets from the kitchen sink) and who gets to sit on my lap and chew on my hoodie strings. Nobody seems to have actually gotten hurt, but yeah that'd explain the tiny bite-sized bruises. They really are just overgrown toddlers lol.

 

[wildharvesthomestead]

Just a side comment from being in upstate as well.

We have had two+ feet on the ground and limited space for them to run around. The ganders have been picking at each other out of space issues. Do you see them standing on one foot or sitting around with their feet tucked under them? If so put more hay down so they aren't touching the snow/ice nearly as much that could solve that issue. But we have had abnormally terrible cold and on the days it's -10 or so and windchill past -30 I have a lot of wind breaks and areas for them to chill at so they don't get frost bite.

The only other thing I could think about is if she had a cut under her pad and it's somehow bruised from accidentally cutting themselves? I have a hard time thinking the geese would be just grabbing feet, mine when they get bored will grab chest/neck/back/wingtip feathers and yoink.

Yeah, this winter's been rough! They have a massive fenced-in area which we go out and shovel for them, and a snug 10x12 shed with deep pine shavings that they have access to all day. Only on really cold days do they actually go in there by choice--normally they prefer to nap in the sun. This weekend's looking like we'll be shutting them up in there for the coldest part of the day though, it's gonna be naaaasty. So ready for spring!!

I did catch her in a foot-nipping feather-pulling tussle with her sister today though so I think that was probably the issue. They were fighting over the pool, which they can absolutely both fit into together but choose not to.

 

[Pumperkinz]

Yeah, this winter's been rough! They have a massive fenced-in area which we go out and shovel for them, and a snug 10x12 shed with deep pine shavings that they have access to all day. Only on really cold days do they actually go in there by choice--normally they prefer to nap in the sun. This weekend's looking like we'll be shutting them up in there for the coldest part of the day though, it's gonna be naaaasty. So ready for spring!!

I did catch her in a foot-nipping feather-pulling tussle with her sister today though so I think that was probably the issue. They were fighting over the pool, which they can absolutely both fit into together but choose not to.

I haven't been able to clean my bedding otu cause of the snow and its stressing me out! I'm hoping we get a thaw soon.

LOL TODDLERS WITH WINGS!

But yeah it should be fine as long as they aren't plucking too hard, or causing raw spots. Sometimes girls will take a gander role if none is present. I have a mature hen who has taken that on and taught some of my newer ganders what mounting was. I was worried back a few months seeing her do it like did I buy another gander?? But now into breeding season things have sorted their way out