Embden Gosling HELP

[Jmegheno]

We have two 7 day old embden goslings in a brudder and we’ve noticed a few things. We need help tips, or direction please.

- our male gosling had his left foot turned in a bit, and is currently (day 7) not eating much. Female is eating well, but the male is off to the side shaking his head.

- the pair is also not eating much of our feed (Scratch & Peck Starter Feed). Is that normal?

We have been giving them weeds/grit and water with additives in it since we received them by mail 5 days ago. they seem to enjoy the weeds the most. However our male has been staying off to the side, not eating and keeps shaking his head.

We’re newbies to the guardian geese world but did research before and thought (still think) we are doing everything right. If we’re missing something please help.

 

[Jmegheno]

We have been looking for weeds that’s are high in niacin! Our local feed store has some supplements but they have a ton of filler and artificial additives.

 

[Goosebaby]

I looked up the feed you have them on, the protein percentage is good, it says it has niacin but not how much and nowhere online can I find the percentage which could be a concern.

Niacin also isn’t all they need, waterfowl actually need all the Bs in higher amounts than other fowl so a B vitamin mix is preferable to just buying niacin. Other vitamins like A and E are also critically important to development.

The artificial additives may be a negative but watching your birds succumb to vitamin deficiency is worse in my opinion so if all they have is the additive vitamin mix it’s better than nothing. You can also purchase human vitamin tablets from a drugstore and let them dissolve in their water.

The head shaking doesn’t strike me as a vitamin deficiency, I haven’t seen everything but that to me sounds like it could be an upper respiratory issue, any number of things could cause this, bacteria, viral, or fungal. A vet is the only one who can determine exactly which it is unfortunatly.

Is the gosling avoiding the heat lamp? If so they could be too hot.

Have you seen him spit out mucous?

Have you heard sneezing or coughing?

 

[Goosebaby]

Some add extra Bs by giving brewers yeast as a feed supplement. As for naturally niacin rich plants you aren’t really going to find any that have nearly enough for a growing goose.

In the wild goslings get their vitamins and protein from algae, spiralina might be a good source but may not be quite enough, I’m not sure.

The issue is that domestic geese have different needs than their wild counterparts. If you compare a domestic goose like a Toulouse or Embden to their wild ancestor the greylag, the greylag is tiny by comparison, they don’t have nearly as much energy needs while growing as a domestic goose.
An equivalent would be comparing the needs of a zebra to a Percheron.

 

[LovedMyAlydar]

I have raised several batches of goslings. To me the light is too close to them. I keep mine up about 2 ft above the tote we brood them in. I use the big flake shavings from TSC instead of the fine because some of these guys like to try and eat them.
We use New Country Organics starter mash for 2 weeks then switch to the duck grower which has the extra vitamins to prevent angel wing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If your in the USA get liquid B complex from TSC durvet is brand it will say injectable but we give it orally either over a tasty treat or by mouth. durvet has a good amount of niacin and other b vitamins that are important.

 

[Spring Haven Farm]

We have two 7 day old embden goslings in a brudder and we’ve noticed a few things. We need help tips, or direction please.

- our male gosling had his left foot turned in a bit, and is currently (day 7) not eating much. Female is eating well, but the male is off to the side shaking his head.

- the pair is also not eating much of our feed (Scratch & Peck Starter Feed). Is that normal?

We have been giving them weeds/grit and water with additives in it since we received them by mail 5 days ago. they seem to enjoy the weeds the most. However our male has been staying off to the side, not eating and keeps shaking his head.

We’re newbies to the guardian geese world but did research before and thought (still think) we are doing everything right. If we’re missing something please help.

I have read a well ref'd article that said that pine bedding is actually very toxic to small animals, it is off gassing , they can also eat it, and fill up their body with something toxic, which impacts their gut and can kill them.
I used paper towels with mine initially. so they can learn what is food and what is floor/bedding.
I use good quality human vit caps crumbled in their water, and vit D3 10,000 iu caps dripped and stirred into
chick crumb food.
If your weather is nice I think it does them good to get them out on a lawn in a run as soon as you can and move it twice a day, they like to select their own food and love fresh pasture and sun. They are primarily veggie, this helps them get good bacteria for gut health and sunlight for d3 production.
I also give them a shallow water dish/container to paddle in on sunny days, they are water fowl and need to clean their heads and sinuses often.
Could he have mites?

 

[Goosebaby]

I have read a well ref'd article that said that pine bedding is actually very toxic to small animals, it is off gassing , they can also eat it, and fill up their body with something toxic, which impacts their gut and can kill them.
I used paper towels with mine initially. so they can learn what is food and what is floor/bedding.
I use good quality human vit caps crumbled in their water, and vit D3 10,000 iu caps dripped and stirred into
chick crumb food.
If your weather is nice I think it does them good to get them out on a lawn in a run as soon as you can and move it twice a day, they like to select their own food and love fresh pasture and sun. They are primarily veggie, this helps them get good bacteria for gut health and sunlight for d3 production.
I also give them a shallow water dish/container to paddle in on sunny days, they are water fowl and need to clean their heads and sinuses often.
Could he have mites?

I’ve always used pine bedding and have never had issues.

Though different species of pine have different properties, the bags don’t exactly name the species sourced on them.

Could you post a link to the article?

 

[Spring Haven Farm]

I’ve always used pine bedding and have never had issues.

Though different species of pine have different properties, the bags don’t exactly name the species sourced on them.

Could you post a link to the article?

Pine Shavings in the Coop: The Secret Chicken Killer?​

https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/toxic-chicken-coop-pine-shavings