HELP!!! Goose at piece of paper towel!!!

[echix]

Was feeding geeses and one of the greedy ones reached up and nipped off about a 1 in by 1/2" piece of the paper towel in my hand.

I know paper towels aren't as disolvable as toilet paper and am now worried!!! It seems like it would just pass through her without issue... it was only 1" by about 1/2" - she just took a bite / nip out of the paper towel in my hand!!

HELP - should I be worried???

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If they're not babies I wouldn't worry at all.

 

[pete55]

x 2

 

[echix]

Ok that was 2 days ago.... now one of my "twins" they are both big grey toulouse looking/pilgrim femals looking gooses, 2 just alike hatched --- they have a brown stripe down back of their neck, like a chineese goose does.... anyway I noticed she (not sure if she was the twin that snatched the small piece of paper) was acting normal and standing there but the stripe was down the side of her neck and she was acting normal preening and held her head up but stripe was cureved over and down the side of her neck.... not down the back like she had shifted the skin on her neck or twisted it around.... I moved her around a bit and it went back to the back of her neck... then made her walk for a bit and it stayed there... then she went back to group and it curved around again as she stood there.... no other weird movements.....

IS THIS SOMETHING OF CONCERN????

 

[pete55]

I cant be sure, doesnt sound too serious but do observe for twisting movements of the whole neck.

Pete

 

[echix]

Thanks as always Pete! What would it mean if she is "rolling" or "twisting" that neck around or back and forth? It is shifted from top to bottm like from the back of her head all the way down to her body.. the stripe just goes down the side of her neck instead of down the back like normal = even this morning it was normal. I watch them closely... a lot of time invested in this flock.

I just noticed it so I'll go back out and check on her again.... I've never seen her or any of them do that... she's about 5 months old.

 

[pete55]

Possibly toxins, just ensure she has access to lots of clean, fresh water which should help flush her system. I've got to go as its twilight and put the geese away before any foxes show up!

I'll be online tomorrow morning and I'll check this post for any updates.

Pete

 

[roboboy]

I'm guessing that she's fine and you have nothing to worry about. I'm guessing your toulouse have some african in them to cause the stripe and when geese are preening or cold they don't hold their necks all the way out. This for whatever reason must cause the attachments between the muscles and the skin to relax and it appears to slide to one side. I only notice this in my african geese, because they have the indicating stripe that runs down their neck. Only if she is constanly holding her neck in and not extending it would I be worried, because that could be a sign she is sick.

 

[pete55]

Good Morning - any update on how she is?

Pete

 

[Kim65]

My gander Petey almost ate a plastic grocery bag. The only reason it didn't go down the whole way is because he swallowed it from the top down and the air trapped in the bag made a big "balloon", which was an interesting thing to see coming out of a goose's mouth

.

I try to keep the yard picked up but they have a huge area to roam and it's not always as inedibles-free as I'd like. I know they've eaten styrofoam, bits of plastic and glass (dulled, the previous owners buried their garbage grrrrrr), and the goose ate a small button before I could snatch it out of her mouth. Petey ate most of a corncob and had a large lump in his neck for about a half an hour before it went down all the way.

They poop so frequently, and eat and drink so much, that stuff moves through their systems in only a few hours, from the bill to the back door. I think this protects them somewhat from foreign objects, although metal objects can and will get stuck in the gizzard with the gizzard grit and cause heavy metal poisoning (hardware disease). Nails, wires, staples and coins are especially important to keep picked up around geese and ducks.

I think a goose could probably eat a LOT of paper towel material and be OK.

When Petey swallowed the piece of corncob (it was large, maybe an inch and a half long and an inch wide) he craned his neck, twisted it, opened his bill over and over, and drank a lot of water until it went down. I was a mess for the rest of the day until I realized he was FINE.