Malnourished goose or just scruffy?

[starrymutt]

My first goose (and my favorite but sshh) Ella seems to appear pretty small and scruffy compared to her siblings (who are only a couple weeks younger). She's eating fine, if not wanting more than normal, but she's on the low end of the pecking order I think (she used to be the boss). Her behavior changed a bit too, she's not as friendly towards me anymore. She used to come right up to me for cuddles but not just looks and walks away, won't let me touch her. She strays from the flock sometimes.

I think they're all going through their first moult though so that might be affecting her. Does she look okay?

(Front, far left)

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

My geese have been molting. Have you noticed a lot of feathers on the ground?

 

[Goosebaby]

My first goose (and my favorite but sshh) Ella seems to appear pretty small and scruffy compared to her siblings (who are only a couple weeks younger). She's eating fine, if not wanting more than normal, but she's on the low end of the pecking order I think (she used to be the boss). Her behavior changed a bit too, she's not as friendly towards me anymore. She used to come right up to me for cuddles but not just looks and walks away, won't let me touch her. She strays from the flock sometimes.

I think they're all going through their first moult though so that might be affecting her. Does she look okay?

View attachment 3919946View attachment 3919947
(Front, far left)

What feed are they on?

Her plumage looks fine, they’re typical funky baby feathers and will be more normal next year after her first true molt. Her behavior is more of a concern, sudden submissive behavior is a sign she could be feeling sick, but that could just be from dealing with spicy siblings.
How many weeks younger are they to her?
Is she eating normally?

 

[starrymutt]

What feed are they on?

Her plumage looks fine, they’re typical funky baby feathers and will be more normal next year after her first true molt. Her behavior is more of a concern, sudden submissive behavior is a sign she could be feeling sick, but that could just be from dealing with spicy siblings.
How many weeks younger are they to her?
Is she eating normally?

They're on Dumor Duck All Life stages feed.

What age do they go through their first true molt? I think this might be what this is.

She seems to be eating normal. Her siblings are only about a couple weeks younger but are ironically much bigger than her and Forrest (gander) is a bit bossy, so I'm wondering if she's not getting enough. Although they now have two new siblings who are about a few months younger, but they don't seem to be a problem.

 

[Goosebaby]

How old is she? Where did you get her from? Does she have the same parents or are they sourced from different places?

Their first true molt will be sometime after spring as 1 year olds, so sometime next summer. Before that through they may lose some shaggy baby feathers and have more of an appearance of normal adult feathers.

 

[starrymutt]

How old is she? Where did you get her from? Does she have the same parents or are they sourced from different places?

Their first true molt will be sometime after spring as 1 year olds, so sometime next summer. Before that through they may lose some shaggy baby feathers and have more of an appearance of normal adult feathers.

She's 5-6 months old. My friend hatched her for me and I raised her from a week old, her siblings (two 4-5 months and two 7 week olds) were hatched by me and they all have the same parents.

She's molting so much now and seems very scruffy. They all are but Ella seems to be shedding rapidly, like I pet her and feathers just come off. Could this be a baby molt vs their first true molt?

 

[Goosebaby]

She's 5-6 months old. My friend hatched her for me and I raised her from a week old, her siblings (two 4-5 months and two 7 week olds) were hatched by me and they all have the same parents.

She's molting so much now and seems very scruffy. They all are but Ella seems to be shedding rapidly, like I pet her and feathers just come off. Could this be a baby molt vs their first true molt?

She might be having a baby molt, she is a little delayed compared to what my geese were when they were at that age. 4 months is when they started losing the shabby baby look.
You could try switching their feed to another 22% feed. Dumor isn’t always the best quality, that can be true for every brand because different batches can vary, but I haven’t had the best luck with dumor in the past.