feeling pretty sad...Dealing with a goose injury tonight. Doing my regular daily rounds and noticed Gracie, my adult Buff American goose hen was missing. Finally heard her in the unclaimed portion of the property. I saw her neck looked dark. When I got to her, I just cried. Gracie appears to have caught her neck in something. She has her neck completely bare to the flesh, no skin. I have only seen an injury this severe one other time in all the years I have kept birds. Will not post pictures its very upsetting. She is in the spare bathroom tub now. We have started baby aspirin, oxytetracycline and electrolites. Blukote on her neck.
I know she's in pain, and am checking on her hourly. She is drinking but will not eat. Just sick over it.
My American Buff are timid, wary with people so its been a big challenge already trying to care for her. She is drinking the water at least so the medication is getting into her. I try to human imprint every bird I own for this very reason.. emergencies. The ones I take in as adults are so much more a challenge.
All my girls enjoying their new perch!!! Slowly but surely the remodeling is coming together!!
Quote: Agreed. She is calmed down a lot and am hoping its because she realizes I want to help. If not I fear the worst. I am at the point where I may be hiring someone to come in and remove all this junk Dad has on this land. We have about 3 acres cleaned up.. The other 2 acres has so much junk and metal.. I just know Gracie traveled too far, and saw something. Geese love new fresh greens.. and got hurt.
I love silkies they just won't thrive here. Thanks for talking to your vet. I hope you are able to settle down soon to a calm flock and no issues.@jchny2000 I'm so sorry to hear about Gracie! Poor girl! I just did some searches about goose injuries, and it sounds like you know what you are doing. On an avian veterinary site, she says that an aspirin dose for a goose follows the same guidelines as chickens: 25 mg per pound of body weight. I'm sure you already know that, but it may help others who have geese. I wish there was something I could do!
I brought Lacy to my veterinarian today. He "suspects" CRD and prescribed Tylan for her and for the rest of my flock.
@chick rookie ~ It doesn't matter if Lacy had it when I got her from you because Screech had "indications" of CRD, which means the rest of my five girls surely have it.
Dr. Lossie from Purdue recently sent me this info that I posted before, but doesn't hurt to post again...
Mycoplasma (MG) or Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD), is very common in backyard flocks, and birds can harbor the bacteria without showing clinical signs. They tend to show signs during periods of stress. The bacteria can never really be completely removed from the birds (it just hangs around in the sinuses and respiratory tract), but it is treatable with antibiotics (Tylan is the treatment of choice). Unless you are selling hatching eggs or plan on trading the birds with others (making it possible to spread to other flocks), I would not worry much unless other birds begin to show signs.
Anyway, hopefully Lacy will improve. She has the occasional rattle and yesterday started occasionally sneezing. Other than that, she's eating and drinking—oh, and I've tried three different natural brands of dry cat food that I've broken up into smaller pieces. She is not interested, and neither are my outside flock! I've tried cat food in the past, and they've turned up their noses! Lacy and the others had a snack today of little pieces of chicken and mozzarella cheese shreds, so that provided some extra protein. They eat their all-flock food, and the usual treats they receive daily (I rotate) may include sunflower kernels and safflower seeds from TSC—they don't like the ones from RK!, freeze dried mealworms, chopped mixed nuts with no salt, flaxseed, chopped grapes and blueberries, chopped romaine, kale, spinach, mozzarella cheese shreds, and sometimes cooked chicken or scrambled eggs. They also like salmon (my DH's grilling specialty). If anyone has other ideas for afternoon snacks -lol-, please post. Despite their menu of treats, many times they look at me like, "You're giving us this same ol' stuff again?!"
Lacy is still being broody. However, she laid an egg today! I didn't think broodies laid. I guess she wanted something to actually sit on although I took it away to discourage her broodiness. She was more fun before she hunkered down! I guess it's good that she rests more, though. Although she does the broody warning screech, she lets me move her around when needed. The vet said if all goes well, she can join the rest of my flock in a week!
I'm still pitching all eggs from worming, and now I have to add at least another week of pitching eggs because of Tylan! I don't like meds that go in daily water because there's no way to know who gets it and how much. And with all of the rain we've had, it's impossible to get rid of puddles.
It's fun to see all of the spring baby photos!
@ellymayRans ~ You must be in heaven with all those adorable ducklings!
@pipdzipdnreadytogo
I'm so jealous! I want Marge and her babies!
@Mishlerfarm24
I love this photo of your girls on the perch. They look so nice and orderly, but I wonder how much time they spent bickering before settling on a spot!
@Leahs Mom
I have a lone Blue Silkie, Smalty, since my other was murdered by a raccoon. Smalty holds her own with the others even though she's at the bottom of the pecking order. She's been broody several times, but just lasts a week or so —not reliable. And she doesn't do well in extreme cold, especially since she doesn't have anyone to cuddle up with. Silkies like to cuddle so you need to get a pile of silkies! Haha
Yes...
