- Mar 22, 2018
- 19
- 32
- 89
I just wanted to leave this here after what happened last night. Hairy Vetch is toxic to geese. Our gander spent six hours violently vomiting every 8-12 minutes, like clockwork, last night. Would not eat, and would vomit ANY water he took in. His eyes became sunken, and were looking worse and worse by the hour. We were at a loss for a cause, and google isn’t much help for vomiting geese. After he recovered throughout the morning, we continued our search for the cause. Flowers! We have planted a “beneficial insect” (John Scheepers brand) mixed flower patch next to our greenhouse that is blocked off, but he can still get a head through and munch anything within reach. We didn’t think the mix was toxic, but after checking the pkg again, one plant name stood out in the mix- Hairy Vetch. Known for being toxic to cattle, but used as cover and foraging greens, it was hard to make a determination based off of the mixed google results. However, it was the only thing he’s had access to that could have caused the problem. We pulled all the vetch from the bed, and cut off his access completely, and we’ve had no problems since. I’m glad he made it. If you have a flock member vomiting, and you don’t know why, consider vetch as the cause, if they have any access to it at all.
