- Jul 14, 2011
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Our year-old African geese laid eggs and hatched two successfully for the first time! After the babies hatched, we brought them inside to be hand raised.
Baby number one, a male named Dumpling, hatched 2 days before the other. Dumpling was doing wonderfully until he hit about a week to a week and a half old. He seems unwilling or unable to walk. He was doing fine, walking and running like a pro, and overnight all he wants to do is lay down. He'll stand, wobble, one or both legs will splay to the side, and he'll sink into a laying position. He used to enjoy swimming, but now his legs splay to the sides and he panics, unable to swim. He will only take a few wobbly steps at a time before falling or laying down. Even if I (who he has imprinted on) walk away from him, he wont walk very far to follow me. He'll take a few wobbly steps, fall over, and start crying. He used to chase me all around without any problems. He's eating and drinking fine. I don't know for sure what he's being fed - my mom is in charge of that, but I know its the same thing we feed our adult geese and adult chickens - I would assume its something to promote egg laying. Its not pellets, its small pieces. The word "crumble" comes to mind. Mom and Dad are pretty sure the fact that they've been providing adult food as opposed to baby waterfowl food that has caused this problem, but they want me to get opinions of people who know more about raising goslings.
Baby number two is a female named Pudding. We believe she hatched prematurely. After she was completely out of the egg, she was still attached to the bloody egg membrane by her umbilical cord, which we cut as per instructed by a website. Her egg tooth was barely developed, the yolk sack seemed to be barely absorbed into her (she had a very large pink lump on her stomach that took up most of her stomach that got smaller over the next few days) and she has a very slight underbite (her lower beak is longer than her upper beak - very slightly, but noticeable if you look for it, even moreso if you compare her beak to Dumpling's). We don't think the underbite has anything to do with hatching early, though. She was much smaller than Dumpling when he hatched. It seems like she isn't growing much, but that might be because Dumpling is two days older than her and much bigger. Does it sound like she hatched prematurely?
Their temperature was kept at 90 degrees F for the first week, and mom instructed me to keep their temp at 80 degrees now that they're a little older.
Thanks in advance for any help! Hopefully little Dumpling's problem is something that can be fixed
Baby number one, a male named Dumpling, hatched 2 days before the other. Dumpling was doing wonderfully until he hit about a week to a week and a half old. He seems unwilling or unable to walk. He was doing fine, walking and running like a pro, and overnight all he wants to do is lay down. He'll stand, wobble, one or both legs will splay to the side, and he'll sink into a laying position. He used to enjoy swimming, but now his legs splay to the sides and he panics, unable to swim. He will only take a few wobbly steps at a time before falling or laying down. Even if I (who he has imprinted on) walk away from him, he wont walk very far to follow me. He'll take a few wobbly steps, fall over, and start crying. He used to chase me all around without any problems. He's eating and drinking fine. I don't know for sure what he's being fed - my mom is in charge of that, but I know its the same thing we feed our adult geese and adult chickens - I would assume its something to promote egg laying. Its not pellets, its small pieces. The word "crumble" comes to mind. Mom and Dad are pretty sure the fact that they've been providing adult food as opposed to baby waterfowl food that has caused this problem, but they want me to get opinions of people who know more about raising goslings.
Baby number two is a female named Pudding. We believe she hatched prematurely. After she was completely out of the egg, she was still attached to the bloody egg membrane by her umbilical cord, which we cut as per instructed by a website. Her egg tooth was barely developed, the yolk sack seemed to be barely absorbed into her (she had a very large pink lump on her stomach that took up most of her stomach that got smaller over the next few days) and she has a very slight underbite (her lower beak is longer than her upper beak - very slightly, but noticeable if you look for it, even moreso if you compare her beak to Dumpling's). We don't think the underbite has anything to do with hatching early, though. She was much smaller than Dumpling when he hatched. It seems like she isn't growing much, but that might be because Dumpling is two days older than her and much bigger. Does it sound like she hatched prematurely?
Their temperature was kept at 90 degrees F for the first week, and mom instructed me to keep their temp at 80 degrees now that they're a little older.
Thanks in advance for any help! Hopefully little Dumpling's problem is something that can be fixed
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