Goose stopped flying?

[Kate007]

Last spring I got 3 sabastopol geese (gender still unknown), one does not have curly feathers and has had a bit of a rough year. Got injured by a hawk when a few months old and had to spend a month inside recovering but seemed fine other than being very afraid and submissive to the rest of the flock.

Usually I let them out of the coop every morning and the geese would all fly just hardly off the ground straight across our field. One day the non curly goose just stopped flying with the others. I inspected its wings they are totally fine, I've seen it stretch out and flap its wings it just won't fly. The reason this seems weird now is its been 4 months since she stopped flying and when the other geese fly off without her she yells at them like she is worried they will leave her behind.. so why won't she just fly with them!?

Side note this same goose had a rough December, I think she was getting too cold and not preening enough because she kept getting wet feather and needing to come in the house for some TLC. She would get to the point of just sitting on the ground unable to get up which I attributed to the extra weight of her feathers being water logged. She seems fine now that it's not as rainy and I increased her vitamins and food intake, but this poor goose just has had such a bum year.

I almost wonder if she might be depressed and not wanting to fly? Is that a thing?

Picture was when I first brought her in to dry out and warm up

 

[GranderTheGander]

Is it possible she still has an internal infection from the hawk attack? Has she ever been put on antibiotics? Not preening and being cold can be signs of illness. Physical weakness seems more likely to be the cause of ceasing to fly than depression. She sounds like she doesn't have the strength to fly. Obviously, she wants to go with the others, but can't do so.

 

[Goosebaby]

It could be depression, though depression in birds, depressed behavior, is a symptom of illness. She could have an underlying chronic condition that hasn’t presented itself yet, also she might not be able to cope with cold weather because of it or a previous injury. Geese have to be in top shape to handle the cold, if she has been fighting something else, the cold will just exasperate her issues and keep wearing her down.
You might end up with a nightly House goose until spring when her body finally gets a chance to fight whatever it is rather than fight to keep warm and keep weight on.

 

[Kate007]

I hadn't thought of infection but that very well could be the etiology here. Worms came to mind at first but I deworm them all in spring and fall, these have all only had one dose so far because they were too young last spring. Nothing strange to note about her poops either.

After her hawk attack (im really assuming that it was a hawk here as i just found her laying on her back with the wounds on her back and tail), she didnt have any systemic abx. I was cleaning it daily using diluted iodine, medihoney at first then later abx ointment once healing started. she did well and didnt show any signs of outward infection, at the time i was more worried she would go into shock from it all. She healed well an eventually went back out with the others and was normal up until the last month or two. When I first noticed her declining again my first thought was she may not be eating enough, having to compete with the others for food, so I put out a bunch more food areas and have been watching to make sure she is eating well, she is but she is still much smaller than the others.

If it were an internal infection or defect what other symptoms would she show? Would you treat with wide spectrum at home?

She definitely doesn't cope well with the cold, even just watching them all this morning in their pools cleaning, she is so slow moving compared to the rest and its not even frosty out.

Pictures of her wounds at first and once healing well for reference.

 

[GranderTheGander]

You certainly did a lot to heal her. I'm still wondering, though, if she acquired some type of bacterial infection from the attack, where an antibiotic would be needed to clear it up. More knowledgeable individuals here will have to give you good advice about antibiotic treatment.

 

[Goosebaby]

@casportpony has the most knowledge about antibiotics.

If you can’t be seen by a vet you can get fish antibiotics, they’re pretty much the same. https://www.countrysidepet.com/collections/fish

You could also try some natural remedies along with antibiotics, oregano oil, fresh lemon juice, and probiotics to boost the immune system, maybe you could get some corid and dose everyone on the chance coccidia is going around. B vitamins to give her a boost “not while she’s taking the corid.”

 

[GranderTheGander]

By the way, Kate 007, why did you assume it was a hawk, as opposed to anything else? I think if a hawk had grabbed her, she would have been torn open by the hawk's claws. The injury looks more like something tried to grab her from behind, like a cat or small wild animal, although it seems like a small wild animal would have dragged her off.

 

[Kate007]

Well my other thought was a racoon, but it was the middle of the day and typically the only predator's we see through the day is hawks. Honestly I have no idea what grabbed her, there weren't any punctures which like you said would be expected from an above attack. There wasn't really any blood when I found her either so it was like something had pulled all her feathers out in those areas then just left her there. It probably was something more like a racoon but I figured a racoon wouldn't have left her there, we had a few ducklings disappear from their area outside as well around that time and they were fully enclosed and top covered no holes in the ground around their pen. I feel like racoons usually take their food to go, but maybe something spooked it off and left her there.

 

[GranderTheGander]

Years ago, I went outside early one morning and startled a marsh hawk that had just grabbed a pigeon. My presence made the hawk drop the bird, and I went to pick it up, happily seeing it was still alive. Suddenly, though, blood started pouring out of the poor bird where the hawk had grabbed it on the sides. For the first time in my life, I almost fainted. I'm not a morning person! That's how I always think of hawk wounds--deep and bloody.

Were the goslings enclosed, too? If so, could something have grabbed her through the fencing, but couldn't pull her through? If not, maybe the predator was startled by something and quickly fled. Raccoons can be out during the day, especially if they have kits to feed.

 

[Kate007]

Oh my gosh that would scar me for life!

So the ducklings were spending the day outside but locked in a dog kennel type area and inside the house at night, the holes in the kennel sides would have been just barely big enough for them to get through if they really really tried. So i looked all over thinking something scared it and it ran out some how, but after not finding them anywhere (2 went missing one each day for 2 days in a row), I figured it was probably a raccoon was able to reach in and grab them. There was no evidence anywhere of where they took them, no blood or feathers, but those baby ducks are travel size so probably just pulled it out and ran off with it

The goslings on the other hand were a bit older so they were at the stage where I was letting them out to graze with the rest of the ducks in the morning free range for an hour or two then back inside for a break and out again in the afternoon. The attack happened sometime during their morning graze and the rest of the ducks and other goslings were fine. I was surprised too because usually when something is wrong the ducks make sounds like crazy and i didn't hear anything so I only noticed that one was missing when I came out to bring them back inside and had to search everywhere to find her.