How to teach gosling to eat / drink?

[adrian]

I will remember to keep all of that in mind. Thank you for reassuring me yet again. I think the phobia comes from losing a little duckling when he refused to eat his food. We don't know what was wrong with the baby, but the lack of eating was just a symptom. From what I can hear, her breathing is still crackling but sometimes it doesn't, or isn't as loud. Yet, she has a lot of energy and often jumps up on me when she wants attention (which is constantly).

I will keep my sanity in tact and cut up some greens for her tomorrow.

Edit: I should probably ask about the size of the crumbles... They seem rather large for the baby's small beak. It's specifically a starter feed meant for waterfowl, though.

 

[goosedragon]

Have you ever had a goose raising goslings? They are Never apart!
No putting baby down for its (or your) nap. Let a gosling make a distress call, Mama, Daddy, and in most cases some of the flock will come tearing to see what is wrong.
If you really think the crumbles are too large crush them down to the size you think is best, but you will be surprised of what they manage to swallow. In my area there is no waterfowl crumbles available so I end up crushing pellets down to size, by the time they are 2 weeks old they are eating whole pellets.

 

[adrian]

There are no geese to raise the gosling, if that is what you mean to say... Day 2 starts today and still no interest in eating. Not even grass and greens. And when she bites at them, she never manages to break them. Yet again, loves water, but nothing else.

Is she a goner?

 

[goosedragon]

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Sorry what I meant was that her calling for attention is the normal thing for a lone gosling, you don't get that when there is a goose on the spot. I wouldn't give up yet shipped goslings usually go 3 days and sometimes 4 days without any food and no harm done.

 

[adrian]

The only problem is, I did my research and found out that this breed of goose, as goslings, primarily feeds off of insects, not grasses and grains... So now I know why she has so little interest in everything I try to feed her, and I'm horrified because I don't know how to get live bugs, and it's cold here in Canada so there are hardly any outside that she could catch... I did save her from inevitable death but maybe there's just no escaping it.

I don't know what to do. How does one feed a baby that eats bugs?

 

[Windchyme]

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Pet stores carry crickets and meal worms and bait shops have earthworms here in the states. I would even try to get her to take raw chicken pieces, maybe shrimp/fish pieces that you wiggle to get her attention, any lean meat. That kind of research would have been valuable BEFORE you decided to bring them into the world.

I would also keep up with the prepared food, if they eat it as adults there's a chance they can eat it as babies. I'd feed her game bird food though with wheat germ added if possible, you want her protien level up if she is a meat eater. Another idea is milk...it has lots of protien and she can drink it or eat it soaked in the bird food, I don't know if it will go over well with her system though- it might be ok. I am in totally unfamiliar territory now. The other option is to see if there is a wildlife rescue near you that can take the babies and who are equipped for the special food needs.

 

[adrian]

Well, I knew that snow geese ate some bugs but also had heard they ate grasses. They don't eat bugs as adults, just for the first two weeks of their life. In that case it may be possible to feed her grains and grasses before that period. I had no choice but to hatch her or let her die, and I am willing to do whatever it takes. I do have a feeding tube and syringe I use to feed injured birds or birds that can't be hand-fed, and if necessary I'll get her nutrition that way.

So far, she'll eat crumble if I put it in her mouth, but not otherwise. It's really strange that they only eat bugs for 2 weeks and then move onto solely grasses and plants. It must mean there is some hope.

 

[Windchyme]

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Yes there is if you have a chance of getting food down her. If they survive on grasses as adults she should be able to manage on the feed but get her some high protien something to get down her face too. Wheat germ is supposed to be high in protien and you can get that at the grocery store. You may find that as you get her to eat the crumble and she finds out it makes her tummy full and she feels better she may decide to eat it on her own. Theres a chance anyway. It is highly possible that since they eat bugs the first 2 weeks that she is keyed to go after things that move. I'd try wiggling some food item in front of her and see if she has an interest in moving things. Too bad I can't ship you some of the million of flies I have around here. That is another idea, a fly trap that the flies can get in but not out (assuming you have flies there right now). They are easy to attract and catch if they are around.

 

[adrian]

She definitely has an interest in movings things. She keeps trying to eat the mouse cursor on my screen. I really don't know what to do except keep trying to get the food down and possibly go buy some small crickets. There aren't many flies here. It's a pretty bad year.

Oh, and I have some pilgrim goslings that are just starting to hatch - if she went with them, might she learn to eat what they do?

 

[Windchyme]

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She needs company anyway, geese don't like to be alone, I would put her with them and give it a try. I know with ducklings and goslings sometimes I'll put an older bird (chicken, duck, gosling...doesn't matter) with them as the older bird will teach them what to eat alot quicker then I can. It can't hurt to try.