Goosestep II

[jenncoo]

Hi, I'm new again (after about ten years). I posted this problem in the "health" section and it was suggested I come over here also. I have a four year old goose who has started walking with a strange gait. About a couple of months ago she started limping on one leg. It appeared to be her hip as I checked for bumblefoot, cuts etc. It was also intermittent and actually stopped for a while. The last couple of weeks she started walking with a stiff legged gait and on her tip toes. She looks uncomfortable and I have been waiting to see if it stops as the one legged problem did. As an aside she was eating feathers for a couple of weeks, but has now stopped so I was wondering if it could be a vitamin deficiency. Has anyone else seen this? Know what it is? I would really appreciate help. I intend taking her to the vet and xrayed as it appears to be a hip problem but would appreciate help from the experts here.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've heard of this but haven't experienced it with my 2. One just about 12 the other 7 it could be arthritis and or a nutritional deficiency. A vet visit and xrays would be good to rule out a tumor or arthritis. Talk with your vet about nutrition and vitamins. The B complex vitamins are really good for leg health we rec it a lot with goslings and ducklings if already have an issue and not very expensive so that maybe worth a try even though she is 4 yrs old doesn't mean she could be deficient in the B complex. TSC carries one for cattle that the dose would be 1ml daily. If arthritis or injury the vet can prescribe some thing for pain and inflammation. I hope once you have seen the vet you'll post back and let us know what he says. What do you feed?

 

[jenncoo]

Thank you so much for your reply Miss Lydia. Someone else over in the "health" section also suggested B, so it's definite I will be doing. I have a flock of 19 geese, Chinese and Sebastopol. they free range over an orchard and fields during the day and at day's end they are fed either Scratch Mix or Coarse Mash. Whoaa......as soon as I wrote Coarse Mash it dawned on me that it could have started at the same time as I switched from Scratch to Coarse. As far as I know the only real difference is that the Coarse mash has sunflower seeds and puts weight on them for winter (I'm in Australia). I wonder if that could have been a cause.? I will do some investigating and keep you informed. Thank you so much for bringing up their feed....well not literally