Help Anyone Up At 11:00pm????

[goosemama]

Just arrived home with 5 Pilgrim goslings two are l week old and 3 are l-l/2 weeks old. Transferred them to a clean cage w/heat lamp, water & 20% chick starter. Noticed the older 3 were pecking each other and had bare spots where they had pulled out feathers. Lady who we bought them from said it was from rubbing their heads on the cage (I don't think so now). The two males were really pulling feathers out of the female and she had no down at all. I transferred her to another cage so they wouldn't harrass her - she laid on her side limp so I took her out to hold her in a towel to warm her and she died in my arms. What has just happened????? Does anyone have any ideas? I am frantic.

 

[mljohnson05]

OMG i am so sorry, I would call the lay an let her know. Apparently there was something wrong with the female and the 2 males knew it and picked on her. My experience id that when they are all picking on 1 then here is usually something wrong with that 1.
She may have been sick to begin with and the stress of all the feather pulling put her over the edge. Check the others for lice, mites and worms.
Are any of the others weak, bleeding, not eating, or not pooping well?

You might want to let the seller know, cause if she was sick, they all may have issues
I am so sorry this happened to you

 

[goosemama]

Thanks so much for replying. I did call the lady but its ll:00 here and she had little children so no doubt they are in bed. She made the comment that the female "needed a bath as she was scruffy looking" I think it was more than that - will check her for lice etc. She is not fluffy at all very sparsely feathered. The two males have bald spots on top of their heads but are not attacking each other like they were picking on the female. The two younger ones seem ok featherwise but the one shakes his head rapidly then falls over but rights himself/ The remaining 4 have now settled down together and are quiet. Would I be able to see lice etc. on the dead female with a magnifying glass?

 

[goosemama]

Just checked the dead female and there are little beige colored pinheads all over the shafts of the feathers. Think this is lice isn't it? How do I treat the other 4 who are only l and 2 weeks old safely? Have never had this problem before.

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

I think they are the nits or eggs of lice. I'm not sure how you treat babies that young. I would call a vet. I'm sorry about the little female - it was just too much for her. She was under a great deal of stress before you even picked her up. The down feathers where pulled by the little males but also possibly chewed by the parasites.

Good luck with your new babies - keep us posted.

Joni

 

[mljohnson05]

FIRST, check to see if the others have any live or mites. If they do you need to treat them ASAP.
There are several ways. When younger I have used "poultry protector" that is a bit more easy on the system and is in spray form.
Then there is SEVIN dusting powder that you can get in your local garden section. With this it is important to not breath it in to much and to NOT get it in the eyes and ears of the birds. For ones this young and easier way to handle this is to put the dusting powder in a pantyhose and then powder then that way. You need to get on top of it, cause the lice and mites can be relentless and may nee a few treatments.

Also put some vitamins in their water for 2-3 days and give them a mixture of scrambled eggs with 2 tablespoons of buttermilk mixed in (this will help boost their immune system, and if they are really not going for it: then sprinkle some of their dry food on it and they will eat it )

Hope this helps and Best Wishes

--laura--

 

[goosemama]

Don't think it was lice or mites after all. I checked them all with a cat flea comb and magnifying glass and could find no live bugs. Think what I was seeing was the chick crumbles on the floor she laid in after jumping in the small water dish. The lady I bought them from thought she may have drowned in the bit of water she jumped into as she still uses chick founts for the bigger geese as well. I blame myself too as the water was straight from the tap (not lukewarm). But don't know why they were picking feathers from each other unless it was crowded conditions and boredom at their original home. The two males have settled down and don't seem to be pecking as much - perhaps the stress of the hour trip and new surroundings set off the pecking incident in full swing - they seem calmer today. I didn't have buttermilk but put some hardboiled egg grated on top of yogurt and hope that will help and strengthen them. I picked tender grass for them this morning and they loved it. Thanks so much for your advice and good tips. I appreciate it.

 

[Denninmi]

Geese just naturally pick constantly, it's innate behavior as grazers. I have 3 I hatched, about a 10 day age spread, and I keep them in separate brooders because they want to nibble each other. They also like to nibble me, which is cute but somewhat painful.

If they have a bigger area and ample room to escape each other's advanced that may work. You might possibly try an anti-picking feather spray from the pet store or feed store on the worst areas such as the back or top of the head, but I don't know if it would work with a dedicated feather picker.

 

[Goosehaven]

You were right that crowded quarters cause them to want to pick at each other. If they were picking down out at this stage, its likely when their feathers start coming in the same ones will want to pick those out if still in close quarters. Some are always worse than others. Once they start they almost get obsessed with it. I have had to seperate many goslings( the ones that pick on the others) while they are in their brooding area. They all stop doing that once they get into more space. Good luck with your new geese. That was definitely a traumatic beginning for you

Hope everything went better today.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Sorry that I didn't see your email until last night. I see that you have ruled out lice, I thought it was unlikely but it does happen sometimes when they are hatched and brooded by a bird since they don't always manage to keep themselves clean when they are brooding. Yes birds will drive out or kill sick birds. Survial tells them to since a sick bird is likely to atract preditors.
Is there any chance that the birds got dehydrated on the trip to your home? Both dehydration and too rapid rehydration can cause death in birds of that age (day olds are usually not a problem) at 1-2 (and longer) weeks they are growing like weeds and need to drink often. If dehydrated they must be rehrdrated slowly, if left to themselves they tend to drink too much, too fast. Usually this results in "water drunk" since they act like drunks. stagering and falling down unable to get up. I have never seen this described in books but other waterfowl people have confirmed the condition and have reported deaths. This is one of those things like when raised by parents that free range goslings are "walked to death" it is thought that it is not the walking that does them in but the lack of water that they can reach while on the march.
So Sorry for your loss
Do not be too much concerned about the color of Pilgrim goslings they often don't show their true colors until they get their adult feathers baby feathers can be confusing. I had a young gander that only had a big grey spot on his head the under the wing feathers were all white, I called him Spot. When he molted into adult feathers the spot was gone and he had a little bit of grey on his back covered by folded wings just like his father. Everybody looked at me funny when I would call him Spot but that was the only name he would respond too. Thats why I like to see the parents when buying young Pilgrims...~gd