Mint green poop (duck or goose)- What could it mean?

[Free Spirit]

I'm not sure what to make of it.

Yesterday's temporary panic was finding blood around the coop. It seems that one of my geese (Blackfoot) had cut herself on something and flung tiny droplets of blood everywhere. It was nothing serious and I couldn't find the wound. Since I noticed it "after" I let them out and she managed to wash herself in the tub before I could coral her. I'm thinking it was nothing and didn't worry much about it. It may or may not be related to what follows.

Today I let them out and go in to collect duck eggs and find a pile of Minty green (not neon or bright green) poop - normal texture and not diarrhea. More like this color. The entire flock was happy to be out and running around like it was Christmas morning. Nobody looked odd or unusual. So I've been watching them from my window most of the morning trying to pinpoint who the mint green poop came from.

Blackfoot is starting to take more naps than the rest. Standing on one leg with her head tucked in her wings. When I go into the pen she looks up and runs away and yells at me as per her usual ornery self. Blackfoot is the Alpha waterfowl in the pen. But she is the only one acting the most odd and it's very subtle. I saw her poop but it was pretty normal. I did finally get her isolated with fresh water with some Braggs ACV added and some regular feed. She is eating and drinking (normally as far as I can tell). Currently she is either pacing to get out or napping (slightly more than usual).

When I went back out there to try to coral her I did notice more of the minty green poop in the pen and still don't really know who it's coming from. There has been a lot of fresh poop this morning (no surprise... they're ducks, lol) that all looks very normal so I believe it is only one bird - I just don't know which one or if it's from a Duck or Goose.

For the past three and a half weeks I've been giving them all some sprouted wheat grass, BOSS, and a small amount of sprouted radish and broccoli each morning. Because the run has now turned to dirt and I wanted to get them some fresh greens. It all total weighs less than 12 ounces spread out to 7 birds. This is in addition to their regular feed. I'm very careful with the sprouting so that there is zero bacterial growth (if I'm not willing to eat it then I won't feed it). It's fresh, smells sweet like fresh grass, and tastes great to me.

Could this abnormal poop color be from:

Diet, too much protein from the wheat? Do I need to stop with the morning sprouts?
Needing to be wormed? Should I run to TSC and gets some Safeguard and worm everybody?
Could one of them have an infection I'm not seeing?
Or am I overlooking something?

Any suggestions to watch for or begin doing? Or is this perfectly normal and I'm concerned for no reason?

TIA
-Free Spirit

P.S. Sorry no pictures, still have to get a new camera. Told my DH today to order one as soon as possible (he wants a particular one and it's only available online). I hope to have one before the end of the month so I can use it for situations like this.

 

[casportpony]

Can you feed them nothing but crumbles for 24 hours? If the color disappears, I'd just keep a close eye on them, but if it doesn't I'd say there is a problem.

-Kathy

 

[Free Spirit]

Can do. Thanks. I'll try that and update in a day or two.

 

[Free Spirit]

Update:

Saturday I was able to get some Flock Raiser crumbles from TSC and began to feed everyone the new feed by evening. No more spouts or wheatgrass for anybody for the time being until I get this all sorted out. I did narrow it down to who was expelling the minty green and white poop and it was in fact Blackfoot (my goose). So I'm glad that I had got her isolated that morning just in case.

Saturday morning and all day: Same minty green and white poop. Not diarrhea but it was runny.
Overnight to Sunday morning: Only white poop. Pretty runny, almost diarrhea.
Overnight to Monday (today): Normal color and less runny. Pretty healthy looking all considering.

She really hasn't eaten much (only about 54grams yesterday) and she does drink normally. I have added the organic ACV in her water along with 1 drop of oil of oregano. I figured it couldn't hurt until I could figure out if she had an infection or not.

I was trying to get a weight on her but she is acts as if she is terrified of me trying to handle her. I had to stop trying to pick her up or hold her because it was stressing her out too much. So I placed a scale in the corner of her house and calmly tried to usher her into the corner. Worked like a charm. I was able to get her to stand on it and got an accurate weight of about 5.25 pounds. She is a nice (Chinese) goose but being that she has never really been handled it's been a bit of a challenge dealing with an illness.

My best guess is that she either may have worms or she ate something (either the sprouts or in her foraging) that didn't agree with her and upset her digestion.

I have some Safeguard paste but giving orally is not going to be possible. Tried to see if I could hide a dose in some bread. Nope, she wouldn't touch it. Was going to get the liquid to put in her water, of course the store was sold out. Truck is supposed to be in today so will get some this afternoon.

She is still napping a lot and hasn't eaten much. So she is going to be in confinement a bit longer until she either gets better or I have to break down and tube her if she doesn't eat. Either way I'm going to start a wormer. I'm confident it's nothing serious. But don't want her with the rest of the flock until she is 100% again.

By all definition she visually looks and acts healthy. Her symptoms are very subtle. It's the poops (that look normalized now) and her unusual number of naps along with little interest in food that had me realizing that something is off. So whatever it may be I'm hoping that we are catching and treating early enough so things get better and not worse.

 

[casportpony]

Glad you figured out which one it was and hope that all she needs is a good worming. What everyone reading this should pay attention to is that you noticed that she was sleeping a little more than usual, which is often one of the first signs we see in a sick bird. Glad you were on top and able to start her treatment.

-Kathy

 

[Free Spirit]

This update is for anyone reading that might want to know how to give an oral liquid dose of medicine to a goose that is frightened or difficult to control safely. It's so easy.

I was already prepared to put the syringe to her right side back of the throat to give the meds and avoid the trachea. But since she was so nervous (her not me) this was not going to work safely but during the attempt we managed with a little modification as follows:

I went and got a wormer (Safeguard liquid for goats) and since she is 5 pounds the dose is .23ml per lb equaling a dose of 1.15ml (.23*5=1.15).

With a small (3ml) needless syringe, load in the required dosage. Set aside syringe while retrieving goose (can also work for a duck). Place bird against your body and hold head gently but firmly against your chest (or shoulder in case of a goose) with your right hand.

Now with your left hand gently pry open the bill with the tip of the syringe. Once she gets her bill open move the tip of the syringe so it's placed at the tip of the birds tongue but not near or down the birds throat. The bird may clamp down on the syringe (conveniently holding it in place for you).

Now very slowly push the syringe so it dribbles a little of the medicine onto the tongue then stop to allow the bird to swallow, repeat (dribble and stop), and repeat again until the entire dose is given. If you do it slowly and very carefully then you will not aspirate the bird nor cause any choking. A 1cc dose should only take less than a minute. I believe it probably took me about 30 seconds.

Here is a crude drawing I just threw together.



Ok, I know it's a rudimentary drawing but it's the best I can do until I get my new camera. At least it gives you an idea of how you should be holding the syringe (to the side from left pointing to the right and not straight in).

I was almost floored on how easy this was since I was dealing with a very nervous bird. She even settled down toward the end. The whole process was absolutely painless for us both.

If they are eating then a treat will be handy to have on hand to both reward the bird and help it wash out the icky medicine taste.

 

[Jenbirdee]

Thank you so much I followed your advice and just gave my gander his first dose of liquid medicine and it went well!!