Gander not eating

[gardenfairy]

I have a two and a half year old American Buff gander who mostly stopped eating five days ago. He’s been acting completely normal - still swimming, preening, cuddling and all that - so if we’d been going off behavior alone, I would’ve said he was fine. We only know he hasn’t been eating because he’s in a separate enclosure from our girls. His food has been mostly untouched and his run clean of poop when we're usually cleaning out a bucketful every morning.

One lab did a fecal floatation and another avian vet did a direct fecal exam and both came back clean. He has been examined by an avian vet who also did x-rays since we thought it might be a partial blockage. They couldn’t see into the gizzard, but everything else looked clear.

He’s passing very little that’s solid, but what he is passing is proportional to the very small amount of food he’s eating, and liquid is moving through him fine (he is still drinking) so I’m having a hard time believing it’s a blockage of any sort at this point. He's just not interested in food.

The vet thought he maybe ate something to irritate his gizzard. I might have believed that of the girls because they do have full access to the orchard, but since he’s in an enclosed run, I have no idea what he could have possibly eaten.

Right now, we’re syringe feeding him Critical Care, Probiocin and Metoclopramide. He's acting more low key at this point, but still mostly normal, although he has suddenly lost the waterproof-ness of his feathers.

Like tonight, he was taking a bath in his pool and came out soaking wet. He has constant access to water and his feathers are never dirty - the vet had even commented that they looked like they were in good condition. He's part way through a molt and I'm not sure if the lack of food could be affecting his ability to produce oil to keep the feathers waterproof or if that could be indicative of an underlying condition that has nothing to do with the digestive track.

Monday, the vet who saw him is going to forward his x-rays and info to another avian specialist, but we’ve been talking to various vets for the last several days and still have no clue what’s going on.

Have any of you ever seen anything similar with one of your geese?

 

[livininbrazil]

I have a two and a half year old American Buff gander who mostly stopped eating five days ago. He’s been acting completely normal - still swimming, preening, cuddling and all that - so if we’d been going off behavior alone, I would’ve said he was fine. We only know he hasn’t been eating because he’s in a separate enclosure from our girls. His food has been mostly untouched and his run clean of poop when we're usually cleaning out a bucketful every morning.

One lab did a fecal floatation and another avian vet did a direct fecal exam and both came back clean. He has been examined by an avian vet who also did x-rays since we thought it might be a partial blockage. They couldn’t see into the gizzard, but everything else looked clear.

He’s passing very little that’s solid, but what he is passing is proportional to the very small amount of food he’s eating, and liquid is moving through him fine (he is still drinking) so I’m having a hard time believing it’s a blockage of any sort at this point. He's just not interested in food.

The vet thought he maybe ate something to irritate his gizzard. I might have believed that of the girls because they do have full access to the orchard, but since he’s in an enclosed run, I have no idea what he could have possibly eaten.

Right now, we’re syringe feeding him Critical Care, Probiocin and Metoclopramide. He's acting more low key at this point, but still mostly normal, although he has suddenly lost the waterproof-ness of his feathers.

Like tonight, he was taking a bath in his pool and came out soaking wet. He has constant access to water and his feathers are never dirty - the vet had even commented that they looked like they were in good condition. He's part way through a molt and I'm not sure if the lack of food could be affecting his ability to produce oil to keep the feathers waterproof or if that could be indicative of an underlying condition that has nothing to do with the digestive track.

Monday, the vet who saw him is going to forward his x-rays and info to another avian specialist, but we’ve been talking to various vets for the last several days and still have no clue what’s going on.

Have any of you ever seen anything similar with one of your geese?

Sorry to hear the problem hasn´t been sorted yet. I can only think of either a gizzard problem, like worms, or maybe he´s just really sad wanting to be with his female? What have you been feeding him? Why isn´t he with the females free-ranging? Does he have grit? etc...

 

[gardenfairy]

Thanks for your reply. He’s not in with the females because we don’t want the fertilized eggs/goslings/aggression associated with a mated pair. We got goslings that were all sexed as females and one ended up being a gander.

He’s not physically in with the females, but his enclosure is directly connected with theirs and he sleeps in the same house as them just with a divider. He can see the other geese and we’re out in the field most of the day so he’s not alone by any means, and has never shown any signs of depression - he's always active and busy doing his own business.

He eats the same grains as our other geese (Scratch and Peck Naturally Free with a brewer's yeast supplement) and does have access to grit and sand.

 

[livininbrazil]

Thanks for your reply. He’s not in with the females because we don’t want the fertilized eggs/goslings/aggression associated with a mated pair. We got goslings that were all sexed as females and one ended up being a gander.

He’s not physically in with the females, but his enclosure is directly connected with theirs and he sleeps in the same house as them just with a divider. He can see the other geese and we’re out in the field most of the day so he’s not alone by any means, and has never shown any signs of depression - he's always active and busy doing his own business.

He eats the same grains as our other geese (Scratch and Peck Naturally Free with a brewer's yeast supplement) and does have access to grit and sand.

Sounds like you´re taking good care of him, even though you didn´t really want him. What will you do with him, then? Can you find him a home? You can always keep him with a female, you don´t have to breed them. fertilised eggs can be eaten too.

Otherwise, I can´t think of much myself. I assume he´s on grass in his pen, and that he gets plenty of greens?
Where abouts are you? Isn´t breeding season finished where you are? Have your females finished laying now? If so, you could let him have a female for company and see if it helps.
Another thing I do if my birds aren´t themselves, is float some lettuce in a bucket of water with a little apple cider vinegar. It often gets them eating again. they love to eat things in water.
I hope he starts eating soon. Have you wormed him now?