Please help me rehabilitate this gander's wing - what do I do?

[lceh]

Today I was gifted a pair of 10-year-old Sebastopols. The gander had become the bottom of the pecking order and was being thrashed constantly by the younger and larger ganders. The lady who gave him to me graciously gave me his mate as well to keep him company. They will be the only geese at our house and I am hopeful that now the gander will be able to enjoy life again in our orchard/pasture.

I am wondering what I can do to help him recover from the damage inflicted by the other ganders. One of his poor wings is almost absent of feathers, and the skin is yellow and kind of "hard" looking. The tip of the same wing is also bald, kind of dark and scabby, and twisted outward. After I brought them home today he stretched his wings to flap, but only the uninjured wing extended, which makes me wonder if the damaged wing is broken and fused. There are no significant open wounds so I don't think there's any point in applying antibiotic cream.

Other than the one wing looking bald and awkward, both geese seem to be in excellent health -- bright-eyed, active, and eating fine. He does not appear to be in any pain.




SO - is there anything I can do to encourage new feather growth? Apparently the other ganders repeatedly attacked him on the same spot so I am wondering if this is scar tissue and if he will ever grow feathers there. He's only here to be a pasture ornament and possibly to father a gosling or two, but I do want him to be comfortable and it would be nice for him to be fully feathered if I can do something to help.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Today I was gifted a pair of 10-year-old Sebastopols. The gander had become the bottom of the pecking order and was being thrashed constantly by the younger and larger ganders. The lady who gave him to me graciously gave me his mate as well to keep him company. They will be the only geese at our house and I am hopeful that now the gander will be able to enjoy life again in our orchard/pasture.

I am wondering what I can do to help him recover from the damage inflicted by the other ganders. One of his poor wings is almost absent of feathers, and the skin is yellow and kind of "hard" looking. The tip of the same wing is also bald, kind of dark and scabby, and twisted outward. After I brought them home today he stretched his wings to flap, but only the uninjured wing extended, which makes me wonder if the damaged wing is broken and fused. There are no significant open wounds so I don't think there's any point in applying antibiotic cream.

Other than the one wing looking bald and awkward, both geese seem to be in excellent health -- bright-eyed, active, and eating fine. He does not appear to be in any pain.




SO - is there anything I can do to encourage new feather growth? Apparently the other ganders repeatedly attacked him on the same spot so I am wondering if this is scar tissue and if he will ever grow feathers there. He's only here to be a pasture ornament and possibly to father a gosling or two, but I do want him to be comfortable and it would be nice for him to be fully feathered if I can do something to help.

They are a beautiful pair of geese congratulations . What your seeing may not be fixable if he has been injured on the wing over and over but it sure wouldn't hurt to try some natural things on him and first come to mind is a product called Nu Stock some feed stores carry it and I have used it on my flock and also on my self. rubbing it into the areas where he is missing feathers it may help generate new feather growth Might be worth a try. Look it up on line and read about it then decide if you think it might be worth trying.
I think they have found a good home, let us know how they are doing.

 

[lceh]

I'll be sure to look for Nu Stock at the feed store on Monday - thank you!

Is there something I should supplement their diet with that might also help? They were getting just corn (in addition to grazing) at their old place. I plan to feed them layer-breeder or waterfowl feed supplemented with greens, and of course grazing, but should I add some oats or something as well to encourage good feather condition and regrowth? I am more familiar with chickens and ducks but I do know we only give them corn as an evening treat in the winter, and then sparingly, never as a main feed.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'll be sure to look for Nu Stock at the feed store on Monday - thank you!

Is there something I should supplement their diet with that might also help? They were getting just corn (in addition to grazing) at their old place. I plan to feed them layer-breeder or waterfowl feed supplemented with greens, and of course grazing, but should I add some oats or something as well to encourage good feather condition and regrowth? I am more familiar with chickens and ducks but I do know we only give them corn as an evening treat in the winter, and then sparingly, never as a main feed.

I use layer and cracked corn 80/20 to my feed and ferment it. my whole flock eats this and loves it. You could get some good quality poultry vitamins and put it into their water for a while to get them going with a good immune system. Poultry Nutri Drench is a good one I use it a couple times a week here and on days I don't use it I use ACV a couple times a week too it's a good all round tonic. 1-2 Tab of ACV in their gallon bucket of water. I use to add oats to my ff but when I changed feed it already had it in it so I stopped buying it, mine never ate it when dry though they'd pick around it. Mine get whole corn in the evenings in winter too. I think once you get them going with good feed and greens you'll see a big difference in their over all look and health. and of course grazing and other greens mine love romaine lettuce and I buy chopped kale for them and sometimes whole cabbage I hang it up and all the flock pecks at it till gone.

 

[flockman]

With good care I would bet he will return to his former glory. I bet he is so happy to be away from the other ganders.

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

Today I was gifted a pair of 10-year-old Sebastopols. The gander had become the bottom of the pecking order and was being thrashed constantly by the younger and larger ganders. The lady who gave him to me graciously gave me his mate as well to keep him company. They will be the only geese at our house and I am hopeful that now the gander will be able to enjoy life again in our orchard/pasture. I am wondering what I can do to help him recover from the damage inflicted by the other ganders. One of his poor wings is almost absent of feathers, and the skin is yellow and kind of "hard" looking. The tip of the same wing is also bald, kind of dark and scabby, and twisted outward. After I brought them home today he stretched his wings to flap, but only the uninjured wing extended, which makes me wonder if the damaged wing is broken and fused. There are no significant open wounds so I don't think there's any point in applying antibiotic cream. Other than the one wing looking bald and awkward, both geese seem to be in excellent health -- bright-eyed, active, and eating fine. He does not appear to be in any pain. SO - is there anything I can do to encourage new feather growth? Apparently the other ganders repeatedly attacked him on the same spot so I am wondering if this is scar tissue and if he will ever grow feathers there. He's only here to be a pasture ornament and possibly to father a gosling or two, but I do want him to be comfortable and it would be nice for him to be fully feathered if I can do something to help.

You may or may not get feathers back, depending on when the injury happened. If the other geese pulled his feathers during a moult, there is a potential for permanent damage, as violent removal of blood feathers during this time can cause permanent loss. He's getting wonderful care with you, and time will tell if the feathers return when he begins his next moulting cycle. Hopefully all he needs is a place free of more aggressive geese to heal up. He is a beautiful boy!