HELP! OMG My gosling can't walk all of a sudden!

[luvmydux]

I am freaking out, I have a 18 day old gosling that has been doing great, today seems unable to walk. One leg is backward and behind the gosling and the other is messed up. What do I do? It has been doing soooooo well!? What happened? I have another gosling that seems to be starting to do the same thing but is older - maybe like 6 -8 weeks old. They are being fed waterfowl feed by true blue and given fresh water in kiddie pools at least once if not twice daily. These are my first geese and it is making me really sad.....

 

[Kevin565]

Similar to this but backwards? Are you supplementing Niacin?

 

[luvmydux]

One leg is normal, the other backwards and uncoordinated. I have hobbled based on a self diagnosis of spraddle leg. This is soooo sad and hard to watch! I need to redo the hobble - it seems I have the legs too far apart. Where can I get said Niacin? Just a human product? I know it comes in a pill.....will it make the gosling hot and itchy? I have never heard of that, tell me more please.....

 

[Miss Lydia]

One leg is normal, the other backwards and uncoordinated. I have hobbled based on a self diagnosis of spraddle leg. This is soooo sad and hard to watch! I need to redo the hobble - it seems I have the legs too far apart. Where can I get said Niacin? Just a human product? I know it comes in a pill.....will it make the gosling hot and itchy? I have never heard of that, tell me more please.....

If concerned about the goslings reacting to the niacin get brewers yeast, not bakers yeast. sprinkle on their feed a tablespoon on top. each day. You not keeping them on anything slippery? they need to be kept on something that won't cause their feet to slip out from under them.

 

[luvmydux]

Any other ideas??? This isn't going well at all...... The hobble helps a tiny bit but he gets ahead of himself and the feet both go back. The bad leg moves but is cold. This is frustrating.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Time to see a Vet with this gosling. If you tried hobbles and niacin and selenium then a Vet is the next step needed here.

Clean the brooder completely out, wash everything rinse and dry completely and rebed with new everything.

Check the feed it can go bad, smell it, should not smell musty or stale.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i agree, you need a vet. That leg needs to be xrayed to see if there is a break or fracture. It may need a brace or cast set in order to heal. Or there could be a pinched nerve. Also, non-slippery surface is really important for geese. Non-skid shelf liner is a really good medium for kids.

 

[luvmydux]

Unfortunately a vet is out of the question. I am continuing with the hobble and the leg is no longer cold. It is doing a little better but not a lot better. It is going slow. I am pretty sure I caused this as it was on newspaper for bedding the first 16 days. After putting it outside in the chicken house for two days is when it couldn't walk, I think it couldn't get used to the rough floor (I will NEVER make that mistake again). I blame myself a lot, I have bedded chicks like that for a long time, I had no idea However, if there are still any other suggestions - I would be glad to consider. The leg is not broken, I am sure of that. I will keep updates coming. I am giving Niacin daily (PoultryDrench is the name of the stuff I think). I will not give up on this baby!

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Will have to go read, but poultry drench is not the same as adding niacin to the feed. Walgreens and CVS and walmart all have the niacin pills you can use.

 

[kimberly35042]

Do you think your chickens attacked it and caused it to hurt the leg? Can you bring back in the house in a small brooder to see if the leg will heal?

I could be way off base here, but I don't think spraddled legs would "start" at 18 days old. If it was running around fine on newspapers, seems like somehow it has hurt or broken its legs.

Have you put them in a tub of water to see if they can use the leg with no weight on it?

Just some suggestions....good luck!