Help!! Injuried Goose

[farmchick897]

Thanks for all the information and responses, I think it's great to have this resource available to everyone. It can be somewhat overwhelming to have an injuried animal like this and I second guess my decision to help her, so all of you have really helped me keep going with the treatment.
I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, but I'm feeling very optimistic about her recovery. She doesn't appear to be going down-hill, so that leaves only one road huh?

We have a vacation planned this coming week though, so my mom will have to take over. I can probably get her to put ointment on the foot but I'm not so sure she will be up to twice per day baths and maggot inspections. LOL. So before we leave on Monday, I will clean her all up and pack all her chest wounds with ointment and hope for the best.

Oh, I really don't think the chest holes are bite wounds, the position of them, the depth.. etc.. It seems more like the chest got irritated from laying on marshy, hot, poopy ground and it became the perfect breeding ground for flies and maggots. I really think she was laying there starting to rot because her foot hurt to move. The wounds do not seem deep but rather breaks in the skin where maggots starting eating away. I know we have snapping turtles in the pond (see above picture), so when we get back from WV I will personally sit by the pond and fish for them with my rifle.

 

[Jenifer Kraus]

You are such a great nurse to your goose and I know shes going to be just fine. A friend of mine checked with the fish and game about trapping the snapping Turtles as they were eating all the little wood ducks and I should ask him how that is going and how to build one. Devils arn't they . Have fun on your trip.

 

[farmchick897]

Just an update on the injured goose. She is still alive and the foot looks awful, you can see exposed bone on the toes. But it doesn't look infected and I've been putting Iodine and ointment on it. She just started putting it down to limp to the other foot before she was just hopping around on the one foot. She's eating good and doesn't appear to be in pain or depressed, so all I can do is hope she recovers.

 

[skyjams]

Something similar happened to a runner duck this summer. A snapper bit her thigh, didnt find her til late in the day, by then she was covered with flies, then maggots. I thought I had gotten all of them off, bought some blue kote fly spray. i thought the maggots were gone, but they had moved to another area. i finally had to put her down. please check all over her for maggotts. i used injectable penicillen for the wound & it was ok, it was the maggots that were the problem. i hope you have good luck with her.
i killed 7 snappers last year & 2 this year. i used a live catch trap cage , tied chicken backs in the back, then placed it in the water. also i used treble hooks on steel fishing line, baited with chicken, tied a empty bottle as a float tied to shore & caught several that way.

 

[Kim65]

Thanks for the update!! I was wondering about her. You've done a great job. I think by this point, she's just going to get better, however slowly. Esp if she's putting weight on that foot.

I have a chicken who had the ENTIRE skin flayed off of her back by an angry turkey. Her back looked like a skinned chicken back from Safeway. He also pecked the top and side of her head, broke her jaw and bit off most of her comb. That was two months ago (more I think). Skin has grown back and feathers are creeping up the sides, I see new feathers growing in every time I look at her. I still can't believe it. Their capacity for healing is amazing.

If she's eating and drinking, she's not depressed. I'd watch her foot though, and apply antibiotic creams, give her extra protein treats (my geese love dog food) so her tissues will have plenty of protein for healing. Just a handfull of dogfood daily, or cat food. It's not good for them otherwise, but this little gal will use it for healing

 

[farmchick897]

After that post, I went and checked her over real good for maggots and she looks good. Wounds on her chest have completely healed the feathers need some work growing back and she does still have an oily, diesel fuel smell.

But with that said, I would never again hesitate putting diesel fuel on maggots, because I saw first hand how quickly and effectively it worked. I might even pour it on me if I ever fall into that situation (hopefully not).

I will try and get some pics today of her foot to post.

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

Farmchick...so glad to hear she is still with us and on the road to recovery. Thanks for the update. You've done an awesome job! I hope she continues to improve - Keep us posted.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

I just stumbled across your thread here, I thought I'd offer a trap idea I use to get turtles out of my pond, I caught 125 one year like this
Take any kind of tub of a good size that has slick or smooth sides so the turtle can't get a foothold on it from the inside and either fill it part way with water or make holes in the sides near the bottom so it can take on water, set it in the water with the top 4 to 6 inches above the water level and place a board across the middle of it and make it so the turttles can climb up to it (I use a second board attached at an angle on each end like ramps), Locate it in an area where the turtles will climb on it and sun themselves when they dive back in the water they will fall into the tub and can't get out. you can then collect them and relocate them to another pond stream or lake etc. I use half a 55gal drum cut crossways (not like a trough would be) and I also have a couple old bathtubs with a 1"X6" across them long ways these catch a lot more turtles than the half drum but I have a lot of turtles in the pond LOL .
Another way is to use a 3 foot long cage with a door centered on each end hinged at the top so it opens to the inside of the cage put a bait (liver or fish) in a can poked full of holes tied to the inside center top of the cage the turtles will push the door open and enter but can't get out as the door will fall back shut this one works best for snapping turtles since they don't sun themselves as much as sliders and other aquatic turtles do if you have the cage completely submerged the turtle will drown I use a narrow gallon jug tied to each side to float the cage so it don't drown them. The snapping turtles are also good to eat

 

[farmchick897]

Finially got a picture! Looks bad huh! Exposed bone on her toe too, should I be concerned? Ideally it would be amputated, but that's not on my scope of skills.

But she is getting along fine and is even hard to catch and her chest and maggots are long gone.

 

[[email protected]]

well, can you wrap it just to keep dirt and stuff out? if he is walking on it, that's a great sign, I think you have done a fabulous job, mamma~ jennifer