Gander has either crop bind or sour crop- throwing up- advice please?

[livininbrazil]

I will get rid of the old pile of shavings but at night he gets locked up in his coop (he would be eaten by coyotes otherwise) and he has to be on shavings there. Otherwise the wood will rot from all the moisture.

Not sure I can do that. He has to use a metal bucket, which I've heard will leach when it comes into contact with the vinegar. Originally he had plastic buckets, but he chewed on and ate the handle

so I switched him to metal.

I looked, nothing. I have never seen worms in the poops of either the geese or the ducks.

Here is a not-so-high quality picture of his biggest poop. It's dark grey, but there's nothing big or blocky. I think it's just his regular food mixed with the egg(s) he ate.



Mine do, too. He eats the little pebbles from it, and also the dirt. He just really likes that one pile of shavings for some reason.

She's being her normal bossy self, honking at the ducks, cleaning herself, stomping around and looking for food. Yesterday, when her mate was sick, she kept yelling at him and trying to get him to follow her. They like to graze together.

Well she´ll be a great incentive to get him back to normal. And great if you keep him off those old shavings. That photo looks like what I imagine would be from the old pile of wood shavings? Or, maybe the pellets, then. Ideally goose poop would be dark green, almost to black, and when it´s dried, it´s just a lot of grass. That´s the ideal.
Some people use like a lino or plastic flooring so they can hose it down. Hay could be used as well, of course. It´s just that if you know he´s eating the old shavings, he could be having a nibble during the night at the ones he sleeps on. Just a thought.
He ate the handle?! he should have died already!

Seriously, it really is worth giving him a good plastic bucket so you can give him ACV. Maybe just one to put water with the vinegar in for him to get it fresh, and then take it away again? Or you could do what I do...once they´re starting to get brittle, get another.
My young geese are terrible nibblers, but none of them has actually eaten a bowl yet!

so pleased he´s on the mend.

 

[DurhamDuck]

Quote: Yeah, I know what you're saying. We tried straw and it got moldy in just a few days (very moist, very hot summers here). Also he tried to eat it. As far as plastic goes, I don't know. When he was just a gosling, we had him on plastic with some newspaper on top to give him traction (just plastic made him slip and fall) but he chewed on both the plastic and paper. I think we are stuck with shavings. He doesn't eat them when they're big and fresh- it's only once they turn into compost that he likes to eat them.

Quote: Yeah. I saw it was broken, but assumed he had just broke it off- not actually eaten it. Then I saw little bits of plastic in his poop, yellow like the bucket, but a little lighter from digestion. I am not sure how he was not poisoned or punctured from that experience.

The kind of pellet bag I get has a blue plastic handle for carrying it. I have to immediately put it into my pocket and throw it out after opening the bag, or he will eat that and poop it out too. Then I have to fish the floating pieces out of the pond so he or another bird doesn't swallow it again.

He chews on everything. His grazing instinct is insane. I have to keep the wheelbarrow out of his yard, or he'll chew on the handles (his mate does this too). I also occasionally have to shoo him away and distract him from his own coop, because he tries to eat the shingles off the side of it (his mate is worse when it comes to this). In the shed/coop where he sleeps at night, there is an old shelf for holding things- buckets, bits of rope, etc. Anyway, he and his mate chewed through one corner of the bottom shelf and destroyed it. So I need to get it out of there soon. (It is not in the reach of him at night when he is locked in his area, but sometimes he walks into the shed during the day). If I thought some more, maybe I would remember other things he has eaten.

Basically, he eats everything. (His mate will actually pluck thorns off a thorny vine and eat them like potato chips!) I don't know why. He is fat with big lobes on his belly. They are not starving. I feed them pellets and corn in the morning and at night, and all day they graze. I give them treats often- watermelon, peas, dandelions, even plums.

My geese are like goats. They get into trouble and chew on everything. His pond and pasture has to be immaculate. Every time it is not, he eats something. Once he ripped my sister's bracelet off her wrist- he would have swallowed it but I grabbed his neck and pulled it out of his mouth. After that there is a no jewelry rule.

Frankly, I don't know how he's still alive three years later! Must be a miracle!

I will see about that ACV. I have seen it in the store but not the organic, raw kind. I have heard that if it is not that kind it is often mixed with other vinegars and not really beneficial. I do have some plastic buckets I can let him use with supervision (I let the ducks use those).

Thank you for your advice.

 

[livininbrazil]

Yeah, I know what you're saying. We tried straw and it got moldy in just a few days (very moist, very hot summers here). Also he tried to eat it. As far as plastic goes, I don't know. When he was just a gosling, we had him on plastic with some newspaper on top to give him traction (just plastic made him slip and fall) but he chewed on both the plastic and paper. I think we are stuck with shavings. He doesn't eat them when they're big and fresh- it's only once they turn into compost that he likes to eat them.

Yeah. I saw it was broken, but assumed he had just broke it off- not actually eaten it. Then I saw little bits of plastic in his poop, yellow like the bucket, but a little lighter from digestion. I am not sure how he was not poisoned or punctured from that experience.

The kind of pellet bag I get has a blue plastic handle for carrying it. I have to immediately put it into my pocket and throw it out after opening the bag, or he will eat that and poop it out too. Then I have to fish the floating pieces out of the pond so he or another bird doesn't swallow it again.

He chews on everything. His grazing instinct is insane. I have to keep the wheelbarrow out of his yard, or he'll chew on the handles (his mate does this too). I also occasionally have to shoo him away and distract him from his own coop, because he tries to eat the shingles off the side of it (his mate is worse when it comes to this). In the shed/coop where he sleeps at night, there is an old shelf for holding things- buckets, bits of rope, etc. Anyway, he and his mate chewed through one corner of the bottom shelf and destroyed it. So I need to get it out of there soon. (It is not in the reach of him at night when he is locked in his area, but sometimes he walks into the shed during the day). If I thought some more, maybe I would remember other things he has eaten.

Basically, he eats everything. (His mate will actually pluck thorns off a thorny vine and eat them like potato chips!) I don't know why. He is fat with big lobes on his belly. They are not starving. I feed them pellets and corn in the morning and at night, and all day they graze. I give them treats often- watermelon, peas, dandelions, even plums.

My geese are like goats. They get into trouble and chew on everything. His pond and pasture has to be immaculate. Every time it is not, he eats something. Once he ripped my sister's bracelet off her wrist- he would have swallowed it but I grabbed his neck and pulled it out of his mouth. After that there is a no jewelry rule.

Frankly, I don't know how he's still alive three years later! Must be a miracle!

I will see about that ACV. I have seen it in the store but not the organic, raw kind. I have heard that if it is not that kind it is often mixed with other vinegars and not really beneficial. I do have some plastic buckets I can let him use with supervision (I let the ducks use those).

Thank you for your advice.

You´re welcome, but i´m sat here really laughing at your description of your geese. Crazy birds!
Re. ACV, as I said, the stuff I can get here from the supermarket is just normal, but even if it isn´t as good as you guys can get, it still does work. i drink it when I have a sore throat, too, and it´s really good.
meanwhile, all the best with your crazy gander.