Help! He's ripping out all of her feathers!

[LLCoyote]

Ok I'm having a couple of problems with my goslings which are nearly six weeks old. One, they have blood quills, and I've taken them most off of grain (they still get some at night) and they're on almost all grass. I heard blood quills were normal at five weeks but I'm getting worried and I don't know how to correct them before they become angel wing.

My biggest problem though is that my young gander (I bought them as a pair as babies) is ripping out the feathers of my girl!!!! She's ratty looking and some spots she even bleeds from! I think he does it at night when I put them up. I can't leave them outside at night can I? They're in a really big pen at night, about half the size of a horse stall, and during the day they have grass to eat outside, a pool, and it's only a bit larger than the inside pen. I don't know what to do. I couldn't bare to get rid of either of them, one because I thought you were supposed to keep geese in pairs and two I've worked my butt off on these little boogers and I love them. Besides, no one around here would want him, and I don't want him eaten.

I'm afraid to put her in the duck pen because my ducks (though I was promised WHQ ducks were docile and sweet) are mean as crap. They won't share their pool, they'll chase my geese and are not friendly at all. Right now there is a divider in the horse stall so the geese are near the ducks (I was hoping they'd get used to each other in time) can you guys help me before he seriously hurts her????

 

[Jen C]

It is not all that uncommon for goslings to do this. It could be a sign that he is lacking protein in his diet but often times it is just boredom. The good news is that he will eventually grow out of it. The bad news is that they can be very persistent about it while those new feathers are growing in. He may back off if he had something else to chew on at night like lettuce, cut grass, or hay. If he keeps it up then you may have to separate them at night for a while. If necessary you could even place one of the in a large dog crate at night (inside the pen) just to keep him from picking at her. I would not recommend leaving them outside as they are still very vulnerable to predators. Typically once they are all feathered out the problem tends to go away.

 

[LadyHayleyHalo1]

HI there, several years ago I had 4 goslings, three of them plucked the one bald. That poor baby could hardly walk. My solution .....I made housecoats out of old shirts, put Neosporin and Hydrocortisone in a small cup mixed them together, gently rub it onto the body and covered it with the housecoat. I did this several times a day, each time changing the housecoat. The goseling wore her coats for three weeks, until her feathers came back in nicely. I did keep them seperated by a fence, but they were still all together. Hope this works for you, any questions, I will gladly answer. My best to you and yours. LadyHayleyHalo