I do not think stress is the cause. I have hauled my toulouse to shows, switched mates around, etc. What Holderread was talking about was what is referred to in poultry/waterfowl books as 'Hardware Disease'. When I was raising buff americans before I started showing I did find a case of hardware disease prior to it causing problems (I was butchering extra ganders
) and found that he had found a hardware staple somewhere... so now any construction done in or around goose pens or pasture is done with long screws to try to prevent hardware disease.
In the future if you have a goose that is wasting away contact the state vet prior to the gooses passing and see about getting an autopsy done by the state vet. I know someone in OR who has had a couple done and she said that it was relatively inexpensive.
You might see if you can get the state vet to look at the pictures you have taken of the dissection you did post-mortem to see if they can notice any abnormalities from the pictures. I am so sorry that you lost your gander.
If you need another gander, I anticipate having some 2012 hatch males available in early Spring before breeding season starts.
In the future if you have a goose that is wasting away contact the state vet prior to the gooses passing and see about getting an autopsy done by the state vet. I know someone in OR who has had a couple done and she said that it was relatively inexpensive.
You might see if you can get the state vet to look at the pictures you have taken of the dissection you did post-mortem to see if they can notice any abnormalities from the pictures. I am so sorry that you lost your gander.
If you need another gander, I anticipate having some 2012 hatch males available in early Spring before breeding season starts.
