Goslings dying, could this be mites or viral?

[HeatherLynn]

Ok ordered by mail 6 goslings. The hatchery we usually drive to closed down. They seemed very healthy. We have had them roughly 4 weeks. a week ago one died. It had struggled a little bit with cold sensitivity. Constantly got wet no matter what kind of waterer we used and then could not cope with the chill. Saved it twice and then one day it died suddenly. An hour before it was healthy, eating, and sunning and then it was dead. Now one of the larger, more robust ones has done the same. No apparent reason. No marks on its body. No breathing difficulties. Was eating and drinking fine.

The only thing I do notice is there are red scales on the bottom of its feet. The others have the same. They get daily bedding changes. On messy days more than that. They are not on wire or anything that should harm their feet. Any ideas. All the others have the same just not as much of it.

Any clues as to what I should do next would be appreciated. Going to the farm store now to look for something to deal with mites and lice and antibiotics for their water as a just in case. I have never had this much trouble with any of the geese we have raised and am at a loss.

 

[Kim65]

That's so sad

goslings are usually very hardy. It could be as simple as the batch you have are not "thrifty" because of some genetic abnormality. Geese do not usually die easily unless there is something wrong with their ENVIRONMENT, or like I said before, they are sickly from hatch.

What are you feeding them? How old are they? What kind of watering set up do you have? It sounds like you keep the bedding clean (a job in itself).

What does their poop look like? It should be formed and solid with some white on it, and now and then a big giant splat of stinky brown (normal).

I would not think it is mites, at least not mites actually killing them. Viruses? I don't know about that. If it were a virus or bacteria, they'd all have gotten sick at roughly the same time, not spaced apart like this.

I had a batch of polish chicks I got from a guy on Craigslist. Within six weeks, I lost ten of the twelves. Every few days, another one dead. Two survived (roosters, of course) and I tried EVERYTHING. The only answer that I could come up with was they were a sickly batch of chicks. I've never had that experience before, and I'm not perfect or OCD (well, too much) about their care. Decently clean environ, fresh water and food 24/7 . Brooded in my bedroom, so no outside goobers to infect them.

I'm so sorry you've had trouble. I would just be a mess.

Think: environmental problems causing this OR just the bad luck of a sickly hatch. hugs for your troubles

 

[HeatherLynn]

The poop seems to be normal. I am using a large chick waterer for them and then also they have a small dish they can stand in and wash themselves( in hopes they would stop trying in their waterer). I got starter feed specific to gamebirds/geese/ducks from orchlen.

I think the red on the feet might be from standing in the wet too much but not sure how to fix this. They tend to do this best to make a muddy mess as often as possible. Going to put some vaseline on their feet today and take away the bath dish for a day or two so they can't make such a wet mess. Just praying this is not viral because they are housed right beside my baby chicks.

 

[Kim65]

I really doubt it's viral, like I said, they ALL would be sick at about the same time. That's how viruses work, they infect everyone at once.

When you say a chick waterer, is it deep enough they can put their whole bill underwater? I'm picturing those typical chick waterers that are only a half and inch deep. Since you have ducklings too, I'm sure you are doing this right (brooding them is about the same).

Vaseline is a good idea on the feet, if it is mites causing the redness they'll get suffocated by the vaseline. But mites won't kill a gosling.

My best guess is the sickly goslings were hatched with something "wrong" with them on the inside. I can't see where you are doing anything wrong. If the ducklings next door are thriving, then I can't see what else it could be. I sincerely hope there are no more losses.