New gosling not standing

[tunedin5ths]

Hi all, I'm a new member to BYC although I've been scouring the forums for the good information you all provide for about 3 years now. I just recently hatched a chinese goose egg in my incubator last Tuesday, and the little gosling, who we've named Cadbury, doesn't seem to be able to stand like I think he should.

Now this is the first time I've EVER hatched ANYTHING in an incubator, so I'm pretty new at this, I've only had geese for about a month, and never a new hatchling. Cadbury took a long time to hatch, because he didn't cut a big enough hole in the end of his egg. I eventually (about 24 hours after he pipped) enlarged the opening enough that he could finally push out. There didn't seem to be any problems with that -- no blood, yolk sac fully absorbed, etc.

He seems to be drinking OK (i've put some vitamin/electrolyte in his water), and I've seen him eat a little, although not voraciously. I've been putting little torn up pieces of clover in the incubator with him, along with a little dish of Flock Raiser. He is alert and chirping, and preening his down, and is very interested when I lift the lid of the incubator.

However, when he walks, he doesn't stand all the way up. Most of the time he just sits back on his knees, and he sort of hobbles around the incubator that way. I've seen him get ALMOST all the way up when I open the incubator lid, but it's almost as if he just doesn't have the strength to stand.

I've left him in the incubator longer than I would have if he was "normal", because it's warm in there and no chance of drafts, where the brooder box is more open. Any thoughts on what might have caused this, and what I can do to help him? Do you think he will get over it?

This photo shows the highest he has ever been "up". Most of the time he just sits back on his knees.

 

[Jen C]

How long has it been since the gosling hatched? Geese can take a little while to really get going. Mine usually aren't fully up for about 24 hours after hatching and it is usually about 48 hours before they are really steady on their feet. He might just need a little more time to get stronger.

 

[tunedin5ths]

Thanks for responding so quickly! He pipped on Monday, and hadn't hatched yet on Tuesday, so I enlarged his shell opening a little on Tuesday evening, and he went ahead and pushed himself out then. This evening will be 48 hours out of the shell. It's good to hear your experience. Not having had geese before, I didn't know what was "normal".

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wondering how your little gosling is doing?

 

[tunedin5ths]

Still stumbling around but he manages to get where he wants to go. He's eating and drinking fine and seems alert and healthy, it just seems like he can't control his legs or hold himself standing up.

 

[helomech]

Give him time, ours took a long time to start walking good. Now they are 3 weeks old and running around.

 

[jynxster]

Such a cute little baby:

My gotton patch was real wobbly when I got her at two days and my toulouse at two days as well. But once I put them on solid grassy ground they all started walking, very wobbly at first, but yet walking and eating the grass. I had this same problem with ducks in the past and found that I really believe they need a grassy ground to get about on at first, gives then solid territory and when they fall or sit they can eat. Both of my geese are more preferential to teh grass in my yard than the game bird starter I feed them. I also use one cup white sugar mised in with one gallon warm water , and they love this. I use no minerals or electrolytes and they seem to gobble it up. Ive read and I believe giving them teh choice of grass and feed it great because they will know what to eat and how much of each. But let me tell you, at night when they are in teh storage tub in teh house I have to go pull some grass, along with the dirt and roots, and they love it. that way they get the grass and the grity they need. Even at two weeks now for my cotton patch, when I take him out of the tub for the night, and put him on the grassy ground in the day, it takes him a couple minutes to get up sturdilly and move about. I say put yours on the grassy ground and let it move about at its own pace and see if this helps. It is sooooo cute.

 

[tunedin5ths]

Thank you everyone, for your support and encouragement! I just thought I should post an update on little Cadbury. He is doing better now. Although he is still a little wobbly, he does stand up on his feet and walk now, and his appetite is increasing. He especially likes dried mealworms, which I break up into little pieces for him as a snack. I moved him out of the incubator and into a brooder box, thinking maybe the wire floor of the bator was hurting his feet, and I've let him swim a couple of times now, for a couple of minutes, thinking the exercise might help him build muscles. I don't know if anything I'm doing is making a difference, or if he just needed time. Either way, I'm happy he's doing better.