Gosling will ONLY eat grass

[Goosebaby]

Little man or ma’am appears to be doing much better. I’ve seen some growth and actually eating more grain on his own. He just might make it after all.

On another note, I bought a pair of adult Buffs a little over a month ago. The gander’s feathers looked a bit rough and the seller said because the males have been fighting. Made sense as it was the start of breeding season and the seller has a large flock. Since then his feathers continue to get worse and I can’t tell if it’s a moult. I’m concerned because his neck has gotten patchy. Seems to be early for a moult. He acts fine otherwise. He came from a good environment with large acreage to roam and a pond. His lady has been sitting on a clutch for nearly a month. My other 2 Chinese geese look beautiful, no signs of moult.

Im not new to moulting chickens or ducks but this is my first year owning geese. Does this sound like A moult ?

When geese molt they’ll shed their flight feathers and other wing feathers with the body feathers being shed more gradually in some, others will shed them in a shorter time frame in large quantities. it’s usually when their breeding horomones dissipate. Many geese will shed their breast feathers during nesting season.
When geese molt it’s the wing feathers and outer body feathers that shed, their inner down still covers them to insulate them and will shed off very slowly, so it’s never normal to see bald spots of any goose.

Reasons for bald spots could be a mite infestation or attacks from other geese.

 

[Tacswa3]

When geese molt they’ll shed their flight feathers and other wing feathers with the body feathers being shed more gradually in some, others will shed them in a shorter time frame in large quantities. it’s usually when their breeding horomones dissipate. Many geese will shed their breast feathers during nesting season.
When geese molt it’s the wing feathers and outer body feathers that shed, their inner down still covers them to insulate them and will shed off very slowly, so it’s never normal to see bald spots of any goose.

Reasons for bald spots could be a mite infestation or attacks from other geese.

No attacks from other geese as the neck has gotten patchy after I’ve had him. I was afraid it could be mites. Can you dust them with a powder like chickens? Any others ways to treat for mites? He’s gonna put up a fight to be handled because he’s being super protective of his lady and he was not hand raised as a gosling. He’s wasn’t aggressive to begin with but like I said his lady his nesting.

 

[Goosebaby]

No attacks from other geese as the neck has gotten patchy after I’ve had him. I was afraid it could be mites. Can you dust them with a powder like chickens? Any others ways to treat for mites? He’s gonna put up a fight to be handled because he’s being super protective of his lady and he was not hand raised as a gosling. He’s wasn’t aggressive to begin with but like I said his lady his nesting.

I’m not sure about the powder but I’ve wormed my geese with ivermectin horse wormer, “a little bit about the size of a pea” and it had the effect of getting rid of any mites as well. It basically makes them repulsive to mites.
Keep in mind though that they didn’t have much of a mite issue, I’m not sure how well it would work on a bad case.
One way to give it is to put a pea sized bit of paste and stick your finger down their throat and smear it on the back of the tongue, or put it into a partially split grape and give it to them, he’ll probably spit it out if he notices the paste so the trick is to offer a second grape the second he has the medicated one in his mouth so he swallows it in anticipation of getting the second as soon as possible.