HELP!!! Goose down.

[Achaiawilson]

Hey! I’m a new owner of two Chinese geese, Gossy and Sassy. One slightly older than the other. I went out to the pen yesterday morning (Tuesday) and noticed that Gossy was down with her legs kicked out behind her. As a duck owner of four years I knew that this meant a Niacin deficiency. So I separated her and started pushing it niacin.After a couple of hours she was standing and eating, and last night when I put them up she was walking but a little wobbly. She was put in a separate cage inside the pen and when I went out this morning she was her normal self. Loud and up in my face. I let her out and she took off running to the swimming pool. Her, the chickens, and the ducks are free range on two acres of land. Well here we are a couple of hours later, I came out to give some fresh water and she’s back down. This time with a clear mucus coming from her mouth. I was sitting down beside her trying to check her legs and wings and she threw up on me. What do I do from here? Should I have kept her up longer to recover or am I missing something. Like I said first time goose owner but I’d consider myself a seasoned duck owner.

 

[Goosebaby]

How old is she?
What feed are they on?
How are the temps? Has it been suddenly hot?
Is there a chance she could have gotten ahold of any poisonous plants like moonflowers or anything else?

 

[Achaiawilson]

She’s four months old. They are on 22% show flock feed for waterfowl, with occasional cracked corn for treat. We’ve shot up from upper 70s lows 80s to mid 90s here in north Alabama with excessive humidity. She’s free range majority of the time so I have no idea what she could have got ahold of. She typically stays in the field which is cut weekly. Before this I noticed she would stay in the pool and sleep, something I assumed was because of the excessive heat. In the past hour she’s started having excess mucus and will not eat or drink.

 

[Goosebaby]

She’s four months old. They are on 22% show flock feed for waterfowl, with occasional cracked corn for treat. We’ve shot up from upper 70s lows 80s to mid 90s here in north Alabama with excessive humidity. She’s free range majority of the time so I have no idea what she could have got ahold of. She typically stays in the field which is cut weekly. Before this I noticed she would stay in the pool and sleep, something I assumed was because of the excessive heat. In the past hour she’s started having excess mucus and will not eat or drink.

Excess mucous from the mouth or the rear end?

 

[Goosebaby]

Also what de her droppings look like? Have you noticed any unusual colors like bright green, orange, red, pink, black, or mostly white? Have you noticed if they’ve changed in consistency, as in turned to mostly water with bubbles or are hard solid and crusty?

 

[Achaiawilson]

From the mouth. Her droppings have went from a solid consistency to more watery, but it still had a greenish brown color to it

 

[Goosebaby]

From the mouth. Her droppings have went from a solid consistency to more watery, but it still had a greenish brown color to it

She’s too young to be eggbound which was my first thought so what I think is going on is she has an upper respiratory infection with a possibility of an intestinal infection or parasite.
Sometimes if the lower intestine is inflamed it can slow down digestion and cause regurgitation while it also pushes on the lower airsacks causing airsaculitis and symptoms that appear to be an upper respiratory infection, like coughing and flinging mucous, if e.coli is involved it can actually permeate into the lower airsacks and spread into the lungs causing an upper and lower respiratory infection.

Upper respiratory infections tend to cause heavy mucous from the mouth and nares, it could be viral, bacterial, or fungal. High humidity environments raise the possibility of it being fungal but that can happen regardless, if you have any straw or compost she has access to that’s a common source. If it’s aspergillosis it’s better to treat it early when it’s suspected, once more obvious symptoms appear it becomes very hard to treat.

If a vet isn’t a possibility for you you can try treating based on some common issues like parasites and bacterial causes. If it’s fungal the only option of treating it is through a vet.

You can start her on a course of corid just in case coccidia is present.
SMZ TMP is a broad spectrum antiobiotic that will treat various upper respiratory and intestinal bugs https://okiedogsupply.com/search.php?search_query=SMZ TMP§ion=product

Baytril is another great option when it’s unclear what bacteria os to blame and will treat a number of issues https://birdpalproducts.com/products/enrofloxacin-10-liquid-for-birds?_pos=1&_sid=e74135219&_ss=r

For clostridium and giardia which is usually what’s responsible for inflamed intestines metronidazole and Tylosin/tylan generally work best.



Before you put her on anything bring her inside and let her cool down for a few hours to see if her symptoms go away. High temperatures can cause airsacculitis too. The fact that she’s going off her legs is a really bad sign that can mean an infection that’s advancing but it can also be a symptom of heat exhaustion.

 

[Achaiawilson]

Okay! Thank you so very much! Do you think doxycycline would be suitable while I wait for the medication to come in?

 

[nao57]

Below is a cut and pasted comment I put up just today for treating a sick duckling on another page for niacin deficiency. You could look over it and try to adapt it for geese, with minor changes.... (because I haven't had geese... though most of it should be very similar to ducks but just 4% higher protein ratios, and a few other tweaks.)

............

What I would suggest is that you make a somewhat runny mix of scrambled eggs with SUGAR in it it, and some vitamin C to get their strength up.

Also have 2 water sources... 1 will be normal water (also replace and make sure its clean). And the second water source to have sugar and electrolyte solution in it.

If you are desperate you can even food them whisked runny yolk with a bit of sugar in it, but you don't want to do that very much without cooking it.

Treating for niacin deficiency is necessary also at this point also. You could also try to see how they react to live worms, like for fishing bait that are still alive until they get better.

A lot of places are having problems with their feed, such as milled feed, etc. If they think something is wrong with it there probably is. How does the bulk of your unused feed smell? Proceed to check and act is if more than just 1 problem is in play until you have eliminated other options.

Even if the problem is niacian deficiency, their bodies are under a lot of stress and breaking down. So these other tools suggested will help to get them through the stress forces on their bodies, and deal with malnutrition in general. (Malnutrition can mean not only niacin deficiency.) Also in animals, sometimes more than 1 nutrient controls how another bonds with the body. Example; people have found people who don't eat meat, have trouble getting calcium to bond with their bodies, even if they have enough calcium. So addressing malnutrition overall will help the niacin treatments to work.

....

Some ducklings will recover from niacin deficiency. Especially if you are at the 3 week old mark. Prior to the 3 weeks old mark the mortality rate is much higher. The older the fowl is the higher the probability of recovery being possible (but not guaranteed).

See if you can also put the sick animal in shade, that is roughly 70 to 75 degrees to reduce current stress during recovery.

 

[Goosebaby]

Below is a cut and pasted comment I put up just today for treating a sick duckling on another page for niacin deficiency. You could look over it and try to adapt it for geese, with minor changes.... (because I haven't had geese... though most of it should be very similar to ducks but just 4% higher protein ratios, and a few other tweaks.)

............

What I would suggest is that you make a somewhat runny mix of scrambled eggs with SUGAR in it it, and some vitamin C to get their strength up.

Also have 2 water sources... 1 will be normal water (also replace and make sure its clean). And the second water source to have sugar and electrolyte solution in it.

If you are desperate you can even food them whisked runny yolk with a bit of sugar in it, but you don't want to do that very much without cooking it.

Treating for niacin deficiency is necessary also at this point also. You could also try to see how they react to live worms, like for fishing bait that are still alive until they get better.

A lot of places are having problems with their feed, such as milled feed, etc. If they think something is wrong with it there probably is. How does the bulk of your unused feed smell? Proceed to check and act is if more than just 1 problem is in play until you have eliminated other options.

Even if the problem is niacian deficiency, their bodies are under a lot of stress and breaking down. So these other tools suggested will help to get them through the stress forces on their bodies, and deal with malnutrition in general. (Malnutrition can mean not only niacin deficiency.) Also in animals, sometimes more than 1 nutrient controls how another bonds with the body. Example; people have found people who don't eat meat, have trouble getting calcium to bond with their bodies, even if they have enough calcium. So addressing malnutrition overall will help the niacin treatments to work.

....

Some ducklings will recover from niacin deficiency. Especially if you are at the 3 week old mark. Prior to the 3 weeks old mark the mortality rate is much higher. The older the fowl is the higher the probability of recovery being possible (but not guaranteed).

See if you can also put the sick animal in shade, that is roughly 70 to 75 degrees to reduce current stress during recovery.

Niacin deficiency is a common cause of balance issues but so is a thiamine deficiency, or one of the other Bs. This is a reason why a B complex supplement is often better than just a niacin supplement as it has more than just niacin. Another option as a preventative supplement is nutritional yeast.