Hi all, Searched a bunch hoping to find this already in the waterfowl forums, but no luck. Lots regarding chickens but nothing on geese. One of our Pilgrim clutches hatched about 4 weeks ago (9 out of 10 eggs hatched). After 2 days I found the runt in front of the barn by herself barely moving and abandoned. Knowing better, I took her to my wife who loved on her with the honey water & lots of cuddling. She perked up well and although not nearly as large as her brothers & sisters [so much for commercial feed being just as good as grass & roots I guess] is doing extremely well except for the fact that her beak is now noticably crooked (bottom & top are offset side-to-side). She lived inside in a dog kennel for the first week & would grab the bars & twist so I don't know if this may have caused the problem. She has no problems eating and seems to be a healthy, happy little girl. I know that with chickens, sissor-beak is usually caused by a deformity of the skull and it only worsens with time. Does anyone know if this is also true with geese? She has already become quite the pet, living in her wire cage under the stairs at night and free-ranging around the farm with us during the day. I told the wife to just name her Spackler after Bill Murray's charachter in Caddyshack since she bears an uncanny resemblance to him when she starts talking, and we'd watch her to see if things get worse or not. My concern is that if this is sissor/crooked beak like chickens get, I don't really want everyone getting more and more attached to Matilda just to have to put her down later when it progresses to the point that she is unable to eat. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.
You may have to keep food in a deep bowl for her as long as she is able to easily eat that way. She will stick her face in deeply and get food that way. Cross beak can be slight or severe, it is just hard to tell right away. You are obviously attached to the gosling, so my advice is to give her a chance. Please keep us updated! And how bout a pic?
