First egg?

[goose321]

Hello everyone. So my goose ended up having 5 eggs, one every second day like clock work but now 2 days after she lay her last egg she has gone off her food. The first day she wouldn’t eat anything and today she would only eat a tiny bit of food at lunch after lots of persuading. Apart from not eating she seems okay. She is drinking lots and walking around and all. What can I do to help her? How long can they go without eating? Is this normal behaviour after finishing up laying? Any and all advice is much appreciated.

 

[Miss Lydia]

5 eggs isn't many have you tried to examine her to feel for an egg? Since she is drinking lots can you get her some calcium citrate or calcium gluconate if she did have an egg stuck the calcium can help move it along. What breed? How old and is this her first time laying?

 

[goose321]

It said online that my breed of goose lay 5-10 eggs per season but usually 5. She is a Canada. Yes this is her first time laying and she is 2 1/2 years old. Also yes I did examine her and her butt has gone back to normal and her abdomen doesn’t seem swollen anymore. I have thought about it a lot and there are a couple things I think it could be. It could be that she has gotten something like maybe a bug as one has been going around here and even my dog threw up and had diarrhea yesterday but she is fine now and never stopped eating. Or could it be because of too much change. I had to move her from my barn to my garage last week because of the cold however I wasn’t sure if this was the cause as she didn’t stop eating straight away. She was in the garage for several days eating fine before she stopped. What do you think? Is it normal for geese to stop eating after change or do you think something is physically wrong with her like an egg stuck or a bug of some kind of.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So very hard to know what might be going on good to rule things out like egg bound which sounds like that has been now if your noticing changes. When you had her in the garage was she where she could have eaten anything toxic or something metal laying around? Were other geese or birds with her? Is a vet an option? Is the bug your talking about hitting poultry or just dogs etc?

 

[Miss Lydia]

So very hard to know what might be going on good to rule things out like egg bound which sounds like that has been now if your noticing. When you had her in the garage was she where she could have eaten anything toxic or something metal laying around? We’re other geese or birds with her? Is a vet an option? Is the bug your talking about hitting poultry or just dogs etc?

 

[goose321]

Yes I did let her out in the garage where she could possibly have ate something off the ground. I know I did catch her pecking at car parts covered in oil but I don’t think that such a small bit of oil would harm her. Would it? No there are no other birds with her. The bug I am talking about was getting to people in my family and then the dog was acting sick so I’m not sure if that could have even spread to her. I just got her all her favourite treats so will try her with that when I get home. How will I know if she ate something funny? Do you know how long they can go without food

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hopefully she’ll perk up with the treats then maybe you can get her back to eating by mixing treats into her feed then just back off on treats in her feed until she is back only eating her feed and treats are just 10% of her daily feed. They really can’t go long with out eating any chance you could have a vet look at her?

 

[goose321]

How long is not long? Today will be day 3 but she did eat a little yesterday. Also she seems in good spirits, she isnt lying down sleeping all day or anything like that. I can’t bring her to a vet unfortunately. I think that I will try to move her back out to the barn, do you think that would help?

 

[Miss Lydia]

It may have you ever thought she maybe lonely? Geese are flock animals if she was in the wild she’d been in a flock. Not saying you should go dump her off somewhere so she can be with other geese but they really do thrive when they can be around their own kind. Did you get her as a gosling? They really don’t like change so maybe putting her back where she is familiar may help her feel more st home. 3 days with out food is quite a while I would like for @casportpony advise on this since she has more experience. Maybe try making her feed soupy and see after you putting her back in the barn if she won’t eat. Use warm water and feed. Sometimes they will drink their feed when they won’t eat it.

 

[goose321]

Yes I had a duck for her and she got on with him quite well until we realized he was a boy. He has been gone for over a month now and she was doing great without him but I have been looking for a new duck to keep her company. I found one and am traveling up to collect it in the morning so am hoping that will help too. Also yes I hatched her out.