Ok so first of all I know I'm posting this under the emergency section of chickens, but I have Geese, Ducks, Chickens,Turkeys, guinea fowl this could pertain to any of them at any given time. You know what I mean birds occasionally get injured for one reason or another and a good plan for care is always a plus, and I'd like to work on mine. Basically I'd like some solid general advice. Now on to the issue at hand.
So our Ducks and Geese live in the same area, and have access to a natural pond while they are in there pen. The potion of the pen by their house is netted over, the portion over the pond is not, but the entire fence also has electric fence running around the outside of it. This has always served us well, providing that the electric fence is working correctly. So the normal routine when I leave for work, I turn the electric fence off, check over the flock and feed them. Around noon time my wife lets them (and the chickens) out to free range for the afternoon.
Today when I left for work all seemed well. A little afternoon I got call from my other half, letting me know that one of the gosling was injured. I have not seen the injuries yet so I will post an update to night if I see things differently than my wife but she says that it is a neck injury, and appears as a possible bite wound. When she found him he had gone into their (duck and Goose) house and was pretty out of it. She took him into our house, cleaned up the wound as best as possible and put him in a clean crate in the house. A few hours later she called me and said the gosling was much more alert than earlier, which of course is a good sign.
Honestly I have no idea what happened and may never know. In the past the only predator attacks we have had has been when the electric fence wasn't working and it happened at night. It is possible I suppose that something may have gotten in after I turned off the fence in the morning. She was thinking possibly a cat, as in feral house cat, which we do have a few of in the area and this gosling is the smallest. Other than that the only other thing I was thinking is if the gosling got it's head caught somehow, or if one of the other birds was picking on it, but she say it doesn't look like any of those.
4 paragraphs later and I'm getting to the question, I just felt the back story might be of value to some. So I need a care plan for this guy. She has cleaned it up already and says he has been drinking water. I'll look at it tonight, and apply some iodine and after that some triple. We'll keep him in the crate in the house until he is well enough to rejoin the flock. Any suggestions, as to what might help in this situation or what to do or not to do. Since he is more alert now, I'm thinking infection is the greatest concern at the moment. Through the years we have lost a few birds that clearly were attacked, a few days or a week later from what we suspected was infection. So reducing that risk is paramount to us. From a while back (when we had pigs) we have some injectable antibiotics, I can't remember if it is combiotic or penicillin, but I'll look and update when I get home. Is it ever appropriate to use an injectable antibiotic on a bird? Goose is about a month old. Advice appreciated.
So our Ducks and Geese live in the same area, and have access to a natural pond while they are in there pen. The potion of the pen by their house is netted over, the portion over the pond is not, but the entire fence also has electric fence running around the outside of it. This has always served us well, providing that the electric fence is working correctly. So the normal routine when I leave for work, I turn the electric fence off, check over the flock and feed them. Around noon time my wife lets them (and the chickens) out to free range for the afternoon.
Today when I left for work all seemed well. A little afternoon I got call from my other half, letting me know that one of the gosling was injured. I have not seen the injuries yet so I will post an update to night if I see things differently than my wife but she says that it is a neck injury, and appears as a possible bite wound. When she found him he had gone into their (duck and Goose) house and was pretty out of it. She took him into our house, cleaned up the wound as best as possible and put him in a clean crate in the house. A few hours later she called me and said the gosling was much more alert than earlier, which of course is a good sign.
Honestly I have no idea what happened and may never know. In the past the only predator attacks we have had has been when the electric fence wasn't working and it happened at night. It is possible I suppose that something may have gotten in after I turned off the fence in the morning. She was thinking possibly a cat, as in feral house cat, which we do have a few of in the area and this gosling is the smallest. Other than that the only other thing I was thinking is if the gosling got it's head caught somehow, or if one of the other birds was picking on it, but she say it doesn't look like any of those.
4 paragraphs later and I'm getting to the question, I just felt the back story might be of value to some. So I need a care plan for this guy. She has cleaned it up already and says he has been drinking water. I'll look at it tonight, and apply some iodine and after that some triple. We'll keep him in the crate in the house until he is well enough to rejoin the flock. Any suggestions, as to what might help in this situation or what to do or not to do. Since he is more alert now, I'm thinking infection is the greatest concern at the moment. Through the years we have lost a few birds that clearly were attacked, a few days or a week later from what we suspected was infection. So reducing that risk is paramount to us. From a while back (when we had pigs) we have some injectable antibiotics, I can't remember if it is combiotic or penicillin, but I'll look and update when I get home. Is it ever appropriate to use an injectable antibiotic on a bird? Goose is about a month old. Advice appreciated.
