Need advice on gosling

[lizzyGSR]

I claimed 4 ducks from my husband's grandmother who has decided to give her duck flock away. However, when I claimed them, my duck house wasn't quite ready, so she agreed to keep them 'till I could finish it. A month or so later, my ducks and my grandmother's geese have been sharing a handful of nests, and I now have two young ones. One of them is definitely a swedish duck. The other I am fairly positive is a gosling. However, the gosling is somewhat shaky on its feet. Is there something I can do to help it? It hasn't been flipping over to it's back or anything, but it is wobbly. It falls down (onto its belly) when it shakes, etc. Any ideas?

 

[Kevin565]

Has it had supplemental Niacin?

 

[lizzyGSR]

I just brought them home yesterday evening. To my knowledge, she didn't give them anything special and was feeding them chick starter (bad, I know). I have switched them to an un-medicated all-purpose feed and just bought some Vi-Tal (contains niacin) from the local feed store and put some in their water. I'll give that to them for a couple of days and see if that helps.

Thank you for the suggestion! Anything else I should try?

 

[Kevin565]

I would keep on giving the supplement for a few days and watch for some improvement. Niacin defiency is often the cause of many leg issues.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Also, offer it some chopped up Romaine and grit, or get it some grass clippings. If you don't notice an improvement after a couple of days, you may want to pick up some Brewer's Yeast (good deals on Amazon) and supplement it's food with that: It usually will clear up Niacin deficiency leg issues straight away.

Good luck with your new friends!

 

[lizzyGSR]

After a day on the Vi-Tal, the gosling seems a little bit better but is still wobbly. I put some grass clippings in their water a little while ago. If they eat them, I'll add more in the morning.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I almost forgot to mention that I ran some warm water and let both the duckling and the gosling take a bath. They both looked like they needed it. It looked like they had taken a bath in their food bowl. Silly birds.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Ok. I need more advice. The gosling looks like it might have clear drainage coming from its nose. Also, its vent is surrounded by poop and it has poop on its belly. This is my first and only gosling, so I am assuming that this isn't normal. Is there anything I can do to help with this?


More info:
I've been picking grass and fireweed and shredding it into small pieces and putting the pieces in the water bowl. The grass has been disappearing, and I assume that it is the gosling that's eating it, so it seems to still be eating. The gosling seems to be benefiting at least somewhat from the grass. It seems more alert, though I'll have to spend a little longer watching it once I get off work today to see how much benefit it has had.

Today is the last day for the Vi-Tal stuff.

I plan to give both the gosling and the duckling a bath again this evening. When giving baths, I run warm water for them and make sure that the room is warm.

Any input would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ok. I need more advice. The gosling looks like it might have clear drainage coming from its nose. Also, its vent is surrounded by poop and it has poop on its belly. This is my first and only gosling, so I am assuming that this isn't normal. Is there anything I can do to help with this?


More info:
I've been picking grass and fireweed and shredding it into small pieces and putting the pieces in the water bowl. The grass has been disappearing, and I assume that it is the gosling that's eating it, so it seems to still be eating. The gosling seems to be benefiting at least somewhat from the grass. It seems more alert, though I'll have to spend a little longer watching it once I get off work today to see how much benefit it has had.

Today is the last day for the Vi-Tal stuff.

I plan to give both the gosling and the duckling a bath again this evening. When giving baths, I run warm water for them and make sure that the room is warm.

Any input would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

When feeding anything but their starter feed they should have grit, chick grit is best for young fowl. they can get messy when pooping especially if they lay in it do you think that may have been the case with your gosling/ or did the poop look like something you would be concerned about? If you can dig up a small piece of sod with grass attached and just put that in their brooder they will love it and get some grit out of the dirt. A warm bath will be good for them and could the clear drainage be for putting it's head into the water bowl? or is the drainage all the time?

 

[lizzyGSR]

I don't have any chick grit on hand, but I do have some sand. Could I put a little bit of the smallest sand in with them instead?

The poop is caked around the vent. The stomach looks like they might've been laying in it, but when I've seen it poop, it looks runny, so I'm not sure why it would be caking around the vent. The fact that it seems to be caking around the vent would be the only reason I'd be worried. Any ideas there? I can try to get the caked-on stuff off when I give it a bath this evening, but I would prefer to fix the problem if there is a problem that can be fixed.

AS for the drainage - I just noticed it when I was holding the gosling earlier. It shook its head and got the clear stuff off when I first picked it up. I attributed it to water from the water bowl, but then it shook its head again ~5 minutes later and shook off some clear stuff again, so it seems to be drainage and not just from the water bowl. Would you agree? If so, what can I do for it?