Orphaned Gosling

[WVduckchick]

I agree with Miss Lydia. The bowl will work well. You can even add a few washed rocks in the bottom if he still tends to spill a lot.

Food - we use chicken type crumbles made especially for fowl, like flock raiser. I’m not sure if any of your stores would carry such a thing, but if you don’t plan to keep it (I definitely understand, in a small apartment, it will be huge very quickly! Not to mention the huge mess! Lol)
They really need food and water at all times for the first week or so, and always water when food is present.

Have you looked again around the area that you found it?
I think a farm would be your best bet, if you can find one to take it. An adult goose won’t likely adopt it to raise, but a small flock might allow it to join them, once it’s a bit bigger.

 

[Shoneys]

Thank you all for the advice, the bowl is a great idea.

We have driven to the place we found him twice now, with no luck finding any other geese. We may try again tonight and tomorrow, though.

As for the ID, he is most likely a greylag gosling, although he is very dark and small compared to other babies Ive seen. The second option is barnacle goose, but it is very rare for them to nest here. They usually just stop here in Iceland to eat, and then go nest in Greenland.

I have never seen chick feed for sale, but then again I don’t own birds, so I have never gone out of my way to look. If I go to the big pet store in the city, I might be able to find something for him. If I can’t, will he be okay eating fresh fruits, veg, and grain? I’m sure the crumbles contain vitamins, but I might be able to find supplements as well.

Hearing that an adult goose would not take him is unfortunate. It isn’t the best timing to have this little ward with us, but I suppose we could feasibly take care of him until he is big enough to join a flock.

How old will he need to be for that? I know he needs to get his feathers and oils in before he can get wet.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

You've already been given great advice.. finding a farm that will take him may likely be your best option at this point.
As far a feeding goes, maybe add some chopped tender kale to his mix.
I wish you the best of luck for this lil guy.

 

[Shoneys]

I will add kale to my shopping list.

My sister in law is already going to be babysitting our cats and fish during our vacation. I don’t know if I want to burden someone else with such a delicate creature for two weeks without my help.

I will talk to my husband about our options.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

I will add kale to my shopping list.

My sister in law is already going to be babysitting our cats and fish during our vacation. I don’t know if I want to burden someone else with such a delicate creature for two weeks without my help.

I will talk to my husband about our options.

I hope you can find a home for it..

 

[Shoneys]

By the way, here are some pictures from this morning. The lighting is not the best since it is in my bathroom.

Still, he is healthy and happy and cute.

 

[WVduckchick]

Too cute!

Do you have an area outside where there is grass, you could take him for little outings? Wild ones eat bugs and grass, etc, so it may like to forage a bit too.
what’s the weather like there now? Most of the US is very hot at the moment.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is adorable. If you have farms around you might talk to someone there if they raise geese there may be a mam with goslings if new he maybe accepted or they may have just goslings they are raising. Honestly a farm sounds like your best option now. Have you called any vets to see if they know of anyone who does rehabbing? It would be many months before that little one could be on his own around other geese of his breed and then the likelihood of it surviving since it's being cared for by us humans would be slim. If a farmer would take it in then in the fall it would have the opportunity of deciding on it's own whether it wants to migrate or not. You did the right thing by saving it's life but not knowing what to do with it now makes it hard. I hope you can find someone who will take the little one and give it a chance to one day be back where it belongs or give it a good forever home.

 

[aart]

Any wild life organizations or rehabbers or rangers in the area?

 

[Shoneys]

Hi all,

There aren’t any rehabbers that have websites at least. Since we didn’t find any upon googling. Since we are both working today we will have to call vets tomorrow to see if they know of any.

Right now, most of our days are *ok*, maybe in the 40s-50s fahrenheit. Usually windy.

We are on the top floor of our building, but there is a grassy courtyard he could walk around. I would worry about him catching a chill, though.

Plus, we have a lot of cats and sea gulls, and we have no play pen to keep him safe.

We may be able to let him outside on our balcony supervised though.