gosling convulses after drinking! HELP!!!

[Serina81]

I'm very concerned about one of my male goslings. Whenever he gets some water he throws his head back and falls all over the place almost convulsing. I'm even afraid of him hurting himself he throws himself around so hard. The water just comes out his nose and I don't think he's getting any of it down judging by how often he comes back to the water compared to the rest of them. He is still grazing, but I don't know if he's eating or just picking at stuff. He's still active and seems otherwise perfectly healthy. Any ideas what's going on? I heard they can get throat worms, could that be the problem? I need some quick help. A baby can only survive so long without water!

 

[sparkles2307]

No idea! Poor lil guy! Good luck!

 

[GardienneWings]

I have had this with 2 goslings this year and several ducklings last year. It always seems to happen when (for wahtever reason) their water goes empty and is then refilled. A duck person told me they drink too much water and it backs up into their lungs. With mine some servived but most did not even if I tried to assist them when it happened. Now if they are without water we put the full waterer down then remove it then put it back, etc so they drink their fill over 10-15 mins instead of all at once.

Val

 

[Windchyme]

Quote:
I have heard they need water to wash food down and if they don't have it they can choke on food.

 

[goosedragon]

Try checking his throat He might have something stuck in it. It might be something he shouldn't have eaten like wire, nails, or screws or it may be a compacted mass of graze (more likely graze since the hardware would not prevent him getting water) Often a mass like this can be moved up the throat and out by inverting him and gently messaging his neck so the mass moves towards his beak. The mass usually can be felt as a lump in the throat. Prepare your self because it is about a 50-50 chance that you will be able to help. Throat worms usually take months to build up to the point where they would block the throat. Good Luck!

 

[Serina81]

I took him to the vet and he felt the gosling but didn't feel anything. He also didn't see anything when he looked down his throat. He offered to x-ray him, but it was going to be $200 and I could buy 20 of them for that price. I felt horrible, but he's not a pet, he's a farm animal. The vet also suspects that it's a neurological issue. Since this morning, the gosling was able to get food down without a problem. However, when he drinks he still does his acrobatics.

I suppose the problem could be from the water issue, but he doesn't cough or wheeze or show any other symptoms of having water on the lungs. It's really strange...

 

[Windchyme]

Quote:
I agree, especially in this economy about the vet. I do what I can and make them as comfortable as I can but I know I just don't have hundreds of dollars floating around to treat my dog let alone one of my birds who I consider my pets as well as livestock. You just do the best you can do and mother nature decides the rest. I hope he turns out ok.

 

[adrian]

I agree that sometimes vet bills are really steep. I recently had a dog go under the knife so that she could have a bladder stone removed... That, and spaying. Luckily I have a credit card that the vet accepts, but it was the upwards of a thousand dollars. Now that is a lot. And 200 is a lot for an X-ray. I have a lot of birds and avian veterinarians charge an arm and a leg just to do tests on birds. So even if they are precious to me, and unless the situation is life / death, generally care possible from the home is enough to get them back in health... I hope your little gosling is alright despite this peculiar condition.

Hopefully it has not swallowed anything metallic.
I do know that heavy metal poisoning can cause such neurological problems, as well as potentially poisoning. When did this problem occur, and has the baby had access to medicated chick starter, or anything bad to eat (metal, poisonous plants, etc)?

 

[Serina81]

Thanks for your kind wishes! I don't think he's been exposed to anything harmful in the environment, but I have thought of that. I'm going to keep him inside for a couple days and see if that makes a difference. But if he was poisoned in some way, the symptoms should be constant and not just when he's drinking.

I don't think the chicken starter is medicated. The breeder, Tom Walker, asked me the same thing and I checked earlier. It doesn't say medicated on the bag or label and I specified I wanted non-medicated at the feed bin. Just to be on the safe side, I purchased a new bag of grower feed, which Dr. Walker recommends anyway. No chance of that being medicated. What are the symptoms of medication overdose? Again, if this was what had happened, I'd expect the symptoms to be consistent.

I noticed a little bit of strangeness with the gosling when I first got him. He was a few days old. He yawned a lot, probably after drinking but I hadn't noticed the connection yet. He also turned into a bobble head doll when he started getting sleepy. The other babies would set their heads in one spot and they'd stay there. He can't seem to hold his head up while he's asleep. Of course I just thought that was his unique self and not a problem, but the yawning/drinking/convulsion thing got worse and worse everyday until today I knew there was definitely something wrong. I'm just hoping it doesn't continue to get even worse.

 

[adrian]

The fact that it is worsening is worrying for me... The fact that it is not consistent makes me believe it is something directly related to the throat, and drinking, as it seems the symptoms only occur when the baby drinks. You are correct that were it poisoning of any sort, the baby would be convulsing often and not just after drinking.

It is likely a genetic problem and either the baby will die, recover, or live out his life with the problem... It's a waiting game, and quite terrifying to live through.

Yet again, warm wishes for the baby's recovery. I just hope it is not fatal. Lots of birds live happy lives with a disability.