Degenerative Bone Disease in Sebastopol Geese?

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

One of our geese started limping last year. After several visits to the vet, anti-inflammatory medication, crate rest, she took x-rays to find a broken leg and pelvis. The break on the leg is way up where the ball of the leg fits into the socket, and it was out of the socket and looked very frayed on the ends. My vet suspects she may have degenerative bone disease. She's been on crate rest for several months, and i put her out in a small pen during the day. Will be taking her back to the vet soon to see if there is any change or improvement.

But last couple of days her sister (same parents, owner said they were bought from Holderread's) has had trouble walking. It looks very similar to what was happening with my first goose. i now have her in the pen with her sister.

i have searched this site and the internet for any information on degenerative bone disease to no avail. Wondering if anyone has had this in their flock or heard of it.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

could be genetic to that line of geese. So sorry you arehaving trouble with one and now another.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Those are the only two that came from the same parents. And it's looks exactly the same down to the second goose holding her left leg out in the same manner as the first. i'm a little scared of the long-term prognosis.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

I share that concern, hopefully the Vet will have some ideas for long term housing and care of the two so they can enjoy yard time without pain.

 

[RURU]

If this is genetic I wonder if it is lack of calcium??? Because I have a bone disease Osto arthritis and am on dialysis I lose calcium from my bones into my blood. Now I wonder if this can happen with geese. If this could be the case would it be benifical to give extra calcium to the two. Just a though from a concerned goose breeder.
I buy Patio, porch and deck mix shelled nuts and feed it to our geese because it has calcium in the nuts to help build the bones back up on the females....

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

You may very well be right. We should probably take some blood when i get them into the vet, as well as x-rays. (i see a giant vet bill in my future). My vet is versed in holistic medicine, and even does acupuncture. She did try acupuncture on the first goose to have problems, but it didn't seem to help.

I feel so bad as these are two of my very first geese, and they are so sweet and gentle.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Very sad news. Yesterday, my second goose who had started limping, Maureen, got worse. She was shivering in the morning so i brought her inside the house. When she stopped shaking a little later in the day, i took her back outside and gently put her in the pen with her sister. When i went back out to check on her she hadn't moved from that spot. Her left leg was out behind her and cold. She did not retract it when i touched it. i took her into the vet right away, but she seemed to go downhill in that short amount of time. The vet took x-rays and it was bad. Her left leg was broken up near the pelvis, but there was also a diagonal break in the femur. She concurred that there could be a degenerative bone issue invoked, as her other leg had some thinning in the bone. She said that even if we could repair the break in the femur, that leg would have no stability with it broken at the top. Plus she was extremely lethargic and the vet suspected she was septic. She recommended euthanasia and i reluctantly agreed.

i am just so heartbroken. Maureen wasn't even two-years-old. She was so sweet and calm. It all happened so fast. Our tiny farm is very empty without her.

 

[The goose girl]

This is so sad.

Last year I was reading up on shellless eggs and calcium because my goose was laying some shellless eggs. I wanted to feed her extra calcium, but I worried about the effects of giving her too much. Somewhere it said that geese store excess calcium in their bones, and that they during laying use that extra supply. If they don't get enough calcium, they'll still use some of the calcium from their bones to create the eggshells and thus be in danger of osteoporosis.

I'm thinking maybe your two geese at some point somehow didn't get enough calcium. Since calcium uptake depends on both magnesium and vitamin D, they may have lacked one of those. Do you know if the previous owner kept them free-range? If they were indoor, they wouldn't get enough vitamin D from the sun.

I'm so sorry for your loss, and I hope Maureen's sister recovers.

 

[Going Bhonkers]

Very sad news. Yesterday, my second goose who had started limping, Maureen, got worse. She was shivering in the morning so i brought her inside the house. When she stopped shaking a little later in the day, i took her back outside and gently put her in the pen with her sister. When i went back out to check on her she hadn't moved from that spot. Her left leg was out behind her and cold. She did not retract it when i touched it. i took her into the vet right away, but she seemed to go downhill in that short amount of time. The vet took x-rays and it was bad. Her left leg was broken up near the pelvis, but there was also a diagonal break in the femur. She concurred that there could be a degenerative bone issue invoked, as her other leg had some thinning in the bone. She said that even if we could repair the break in the femur, that leg would have no stability with it broken at the top. Plus she was extremely lethargic and the vet suspected she was septic. She recommended euthanasia and i reluctantly agreed.

i am just so heartbroken. Maureen wasn't even two-years-old. She was so sweet and calm. It all happened so fast. Our tiny farm is very empty without her.

Gosh, I'm so sorry

At least she's not in any pain now. She sounds like a lovely little soul.

I'm so sorry for your loss, and I hope Maureen's sister recovers.

X 2

 

[Iain Utah]

I am so sorry!!