Lethargic Goose - Was Goose w/ Swollen Eye

[cmcm]

Hi Everyone,
A few days ago I posted a question about my male brown Chinese goose who had a swollen eye area. The swelling went down the next day, but I noticed that since then he has been kind of lethargic. I haven't seen him eat - but I'm not with the geese all day, and he seems to just sort of stand around and looks spaced out and doesn't really move as quickly. We have one other goose - his female partner - and she is fine...eating like crazy and laying and egg every other day.

In the other post it was discussed that the swelling on his eye could have been a yellow jacket or other bee sting. Could this lethargy be part of the recovery from that? Or is there a bigger concern? I read online that worms can cause lethargy and I haven't checked the poop yet. But I will as soon as he does.

Thanks so much everyone for your replies. You're always so much help!

Carol

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Poor goose. I'm stumped by this. Check for worms and other parasites. I don't think geese are as susceptible to respiratory infections as chickens, but his symptoms do make me wonder.

 

[cmcm]

I looked at the fresh poop in their pen and there were no visible worms. But since he hasn't eaten much in the last 2 days I don't know if it was his poop or her's. I'm going to give him some polyvisol and see if that helps. It seems like it's related to the swollen eye thing since it happened in conjunction with that. I'm hoping that it's just the effect of the venom going through his system.

Thanks for your reply, scratch'n'peck!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
Geese are prone to Aspergillous[sp] which is phenumonia[sp] is the bedding in your goose house moldy if so you might want to look into an antibiotic for him. I'm sure you probably take excellent care of your geese but sometimes mold can be around without us knowing. Will he let you listen to his lungs? does he seem to be breathing normal? If he got stung several times he could be feeling the affects of the venom, but better to be safe than sorry.

 

[cmcm]

I checked their night time house - which is a wooden house with a screened door - and I didn't see any mold - and their bedding is replaced every day or every other day - depending on how dirty it gets - but I've never seen mold in that either. During the day they go out to a shallow pond area. It is a large (maybe 1/2 acre) pond that is fed by a spring - but is mostly stagnant, and we let them swim in there once a day - but we live right on a road - so we have them penned into an area where the pond goes over a dam (beaver) and eventually out a drainage pipe that is covered with mesh. The pond in that area is about 3 inches deep and at this time of year the water moves very slowly. I've seen people mention on here that stagnant water can be a problem - is this the kind of stagnant water? Or like water sitting in a tire kind of stagnant water. There are tons of tad poles and frogs and fish and salamanders in the pond - so the water seems fine.

Anyway, I held him up to me but couldn't detect any breathing difficulty.

I gave him the liquid vitamins earlier, but just went ahead and gave him some Duramycin cause he really does seem different - and isn't eating any time I see him. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I don't want to give it to the female since she's laying eggs right now (and is eating like a horse and squawking like nobodies business!) - so I mixed up 1/2 tsp in a quart and gave him some through a syringe type apparatus.

I was thinking I would give it to him about 3 times a day. The syringe thing holds about 1/4 cup. Hopefully this will knock whatever he's got out.

At night I think I'm going to put the vitamins in the water and some raw apple cider vinegar.

Also, I noticed when I picked him up a bunch of feathers just came out in my hand - so I'm guessing he's molting.

If anyone else has any ideas I'd love to hear them. Or any comments on my plan.

Thanks so much for your replies!!

Carol

 

[cmcm]

I've been researching goose diseases all morning - and there are so many on the extension sites - but then when I read the forums a lot of folks say that geese hardly ever get sick. It's very confusing.

My male goose is still not doing very well. He doesn't seem to be eating or drinking at all. He is still walking around and stands with his head high, but he just seems off. When I took them in the pond to swim yesterday he wouldn't dunk his head all the way in the water and I couldn't tell if it was because he didn't want to get his head we or if it was too much effort.

Does anyone know what might cause a goose to stop eating and drinking? He was perfectly fine up until he had the swelling on his one eye, and since then - for the last 2 days - he has been different - not eating, standing still a lot, not much energy. Last night he even stopped following his hot mama around when I let them out to graze. He just let her wander off and stood in one spot - which is very unusual.

Can botulism cause this behavior. Would shallow pond water develop botulism? He's not lurching or shaking or anything like that. He almost seems depressed.

Plus he seems to be molting. Do geese ever stop eating when they molt?

I started giving him Duramycin last night directly, and again this morning. I'm going to give him some vitamins directly today too, since I can't be sure he is drinking the water I put the vitamins in last night.

If it is something in the pond water, wouldn't the female be acting the same way?

I will probably call a vet tomorrow if he isn't better.

Thanks again,
Carol

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
When my gander molts he does lay around and act depressed. Last year when he went through molt I was really worried about him till I realized it was the molt that was making him act like he was, as far as eating and drinking I'm not sure if he was off of that, but he did stay off to himself alot. and he did the same this year. I used Poultry drench in his water to help him some. Still if your not sure and you have a vet that knows about geese I'd place a call sure can't hurt.

 

[The goose girl]

My goose is molting and he's eating like a combine.

If your goose has totally stopped eating I think it's a good idea to take him to the vet. That is definitely not normal behaviour. And if he has stopped drinking you should give him water via the syringe. They can quickly dehydrate.

If the pond water isn't rotten (bugs, frogs etc. are living in it) it should be fine. Salamanders are usually very touchy about their water quality. If he has caught botulism it might be that he found some larger dead animal in it or near it. Have you checked for drowned frogs, hedgehogs or something like that?

I'm hoping the best for him.

 

[cmcm]

I just wanted to post an update on my little guy. He's doing great! I gave him the antibiotics every day for 5 days, plus vitamins in their water (which I'm going to continue to do until the female stops laying), and over the last 2 days he has really improved. I don't know if there was really any infection or need for the antibiotics - or if it was just sad-sackery due to molting - cause he is definitely molting - and does seem to want to go off on his own a lot. Either way he is now eating and drinking and diving in the pond and run-flying.

Thanks for the suggestions and support!

Carol

 

[The goose girl]