Goose cannot stand up

[soulshineacres]

Hello we have an 8 month old female Sebastopol goose that can no longer stand up. She started to get weak legs about a month ago. She would lay down and then not be able to get back up. It did seem to coincide with the cold. We brought her in, gave her plenty of vitamins and brewers yeast, and after a few days she would be able to stand again. After being outside for a couple days, it would happen again. The last time this happened it took a full week to get her back on her feet, but she looked really good. Went outside for one night and has not stood back up since. It has been two weeks. She tries to stand all day long but cannot fully straighten her legs while trying. She has been fed flock maintainer which has niacin and been given extra brewers yeast on top. Thought I would give this a try to see if anybody has any ideas.

 

[Goosebaby]

What breed is she? Does she feel underweight? does her keel feel like it frotrudes far out from her body and feels like a thin blade?
What do her her droppings look like?

Flock maintainer is only 16 protein, from my expierience that is far too little protein for a goose in winter, she could be emaciated as a result and has no strength to stand. If she’s underweight I would get her some Purina game bird start, it’s 30% protein and keep her on it until she’s recovered, then put her on a 20% feed, nutrena all flock or Purina flock raiser are two options that work well. Definitly keep her inside somewhere warm until she’s walking and put on a little weight, then gradually move her back outside.

 

[Goosebaby]

If she isn’t underweight it could be any number of things, vitamin deficiency could still be possible, niacin isn’t the only B vitamin they need and other vitamins also. Usually brewers yeast is an excellent source of the Bs, but not always, for some reason it isn’t always enough, maybe it’s an old batch or ?
A multivitamin mix could help, rooster booster poultry cell is great, don’t bother with the sav-a-chicks, those are a gimmick.

There’s also low level exposure to botulism, if there’s any rotting vegetation or dirty stagnant water or puddles she’s getting into that would be a likely source. Botulism I’m pretty sure was the culprit when my own gander lost his ability to walk, and it was a recurring thing. The only thing you can do with that is give activated charcoal and lots of TLC. Antibiotics can kill the bacteria pretty quick but it can release more of the toxins into the blood stream which can be fatal. Trans alanyl glutamine can actually neutralize clostridium toxins but it easily over stimulated the pancreas so it requires low dosages.
There is actually an antidote for botulism toxins but only a vet can prescribe it.

 

[Goosebaby]

Also dry cat food will work in a pinch for a protein boost, mixing it with water can encourage her to eat it if she’s never tried it.

 

[soulshineacres]

She is smaller but not emaciated. She is very strong and tries all day and night to stand. She throws a "fit" if you will each time she tries. Where she yells and flops around. It almost looks like a seizure but it only happens when she tries to stand. We have 12 other geese that are doing really well on the flock maintainer and no signs of any issues. We have been feeding her 20 percent feed for the last 3 weeks. We have been giving rooster booster and poultry cell as well.

 

[Goosebaby]

She is smaller but not emaciated. She is very strong and tries all day and night to stand. She throws a "fit" if you will each time she tries. Where she yells and flops around. It almost looks like a seizure but it only happens when she tries to stand. We have 12 other geese that are doing really well on the flock maintainer and no signs of any issues. We have been feeding her 20 percent feed for the last 3 weeks. We have been giving rooster booster and poultry cell as well.

That scratches out that possibility then.

That leaves brain injury, bacterial infection, virus, or parasites.

Safeguard goat or horse dewormer will work on most parasites and giardia to some extent. It won’t hurt to try worming her.

You could also try prutting her on antibiotics, penicillin, amoxicillin, SMZTMP, or baytril are good broad spectrum antibiotics. If she has one of the clostridium species or giardia metronidazole would be more effective. Fish antibiotics aren’t any different than human antibiotics but they can be bought without a prescription, another source of over the counter antibiotics are those marketed to pigeons.

 

[soulshineacres]

We have fenbendazole for poultry that we can worm her with. The only antibiotic I have is tylan 50 from tractor supply. I also have acidified copper sulfate which I have had good luck with on chicken. We have treated her with oregano as well. She has also had another issue from just a couple months old where she couldn't hold her wings up all the way..not angel wing, just dropped. Never seen it before. And then when all of this started the other geese started picking on her and attacking her so we had to separate her. But her legs were becoming weak before that..but it does seem maybe related to nerve damage? She was the biggest gosling when we got her even though they all hatched within a day or two.

 

[Goosebaby]

Tylan will work well on clostridium, mycoplasma, and a number of other issues, the oregano won’t help her beat an illness alone but it will help boost her immune system. I have no expierience with with copper sulfate so I can’t advise anything with that.
Her larger size gives her a higher nutritional need than the others, so she could be more prone to deficiencies and illness as a result of that, especially if she’s more timid because she’ll get bullied out of her share. The drooping wings could be a symptom of vitamin deficiency, those can take days of treatment before results show. Besides that if she has a congenital issue with her nervous system there isn’t much you can do, B vitamins and E can help with that but only so much.

Something else I thought of, does she have oyster shell? If she is calcium deficient it can cause laying issues, if she can’t oass an egg it can put pressure on her cystic nerve which will temporarily paralyze her legs partially or completly. Tumors unfortunatly will also do that.

 

[Goosebaby]

Looking around more, drooping wings can also be a pyradoxine deficiency, pyradoxine is one of the Bs (B6) so if you can get liquid B complex that will give her a more concentrated dose of that and the other Bs. Maybe also up here dose of the rooster booster also because if they’re deficient in one thing, they’re usually deficient in many things.
Calcium also, broken eggshells or oyster shell given free choice, they can go off their legs without enough calcium.

Drooping wings can also be caused by botulism. Usually by the time it’s affecting their wings it will affect their ability to hold their head up and breath though so it’s doubtful botulism caused that, but not every case is the same.

Zinc or lead poisoning are another possibility. Zinc can be treated, it’s possible to treat lead poisoning, but it’s very difficult and expensive.

 

[Goosebaby]

At this point I would worm her, out her on antibiotics, and drench her with vitamins. If there is no change you could try switcher her antibiotic to metronidazole.