PLEASE HELP! My PET GANDER appears to have worms and I have NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE...

[Percheron chick]

Oh lol sorry .
My brain isn't working. It's a tiny town in TX, I will call them tomorrow to see but from what they told me, this was the only one they had. It's a little bitty bitty feed store with a few extra items in the country in TX. LOL one member did mention some other items I may be able to use, that are branded for other animals, but are ok for geese. I will call tomorrow to see if they carry any of those. Thank you for the idea.

It is the only poultry specific dewormer they carry but the active ingredient is identical to the horse, cattle, dog, pig... dewormers. It is flavored for the targeted animal. Safeguard makes an alfalfa pelleted product that can easily be mixed in with their feed. Cost $13. A horse tube cost $10. Can easily be put on a piece of lettuce. Each product will treat approximately 10 25# geese for 5 days. $1.25/goose. I use the liquid horse product on my dogs as it's about 1/3 the cost
I would not keep him with the goslings. He has to be shedding eggs and you don't want them picking them up.

 

[spcmoken]

Has Pretty Bird’s voice always been like it is in in this video? Low pitch and a little hoarse?

Yes lol. He has always been different. As a swan x Canada hybrid, he doesn't sound like any other goose I have ever heard. He is about 3.5 years old and always sounded like this. He slightly improved last night once my husband gave him attention. He LOVES my husband more then anyone. My husband is a 100% disabled veteran and Pretty Bird has Always been very protective of him. We hatched pretty bird, and I raised him but hubby was always there and pretty seemed to always know when hubby was in pain... He got a little attitude when he became sexually mature at about 2, but we love him no matter what. He is still a good boy and only has nippy moments. He is my baby lol. I always joke that I have 2 children and 1 feathered hybrid child . But yes, his voice has always been like this. Thank you all for all your advice !!! It's been very helpful!!

 

[Goosebaby]

I think the reason some aren’t getting good results with ivermectin could be because worms can develop tolerances to wormers, that could be the issue people are having, ivermectin was the go to wormer for awhile, but popularity can be bad, especially with medications.

As for Pretty Bird, I just saw your livestream on YouTube and I’ve been thinking about his symptoms.

I had a gander I suspected of having gapeworm, but his issue was something completely different, so to be clear I’ve never seen a goose with gapeworm, gapeworm in chickens causes them to gasp in a way that is different than when there’s a respiratory illness, chickens with gapeworm tend to stretch and gasp, whereas respiratory issues tend to cause open mouthed, sometimes rapid, breathing without a stretch. The only time I have seen open mouthed breathing with a stretch in a goose was when my gander was in shock, or possible cardiac issues, after a beating from another gander.

Some chickens with gapeworm

The times my birds have had something in their airway or stuck in their throat they’ve usually tried to dislodged it by shaking and hacking pretty violently, so I imagine if they had gapeworm it would give them that feeling of something in their throat/airway and be trying to hack it up.

Pretty Bird isn’t shaking his head around or stretching and gasping like a chicken would with gapeworm, but he’s breathing heavily with his mouth open, which I have seen with respiratory illnesses in geese, basically pneumonia, or airsacculitis.

The wormer could help, but I strongly think that parasites aren’t the issue, or aren’t the only issue going on.

The best way to tell would be some Veterinary testing, which I understand isn’t a possibility “it isn’t for me either so don’t feel bad” but because of that it’s hard to say what the issue is.

If bacteria or a virus is the cause you might see other birds coming down with it, if it’s mycoplasma (technically a bacteria) it’s really slow spreading but inevitably all will get it too, but different birds are effected differently. In my flock I suspect I have it going around and for unknown reasons it effects my biggest gander far worse than others, my smallest females don’t seem affected at all.

If it’s viral all you can do is keep him comfortable to help him clear the virus which he may do depending on the virus.

If it’s fungal “aspergillosis ” it can be treated if caught early, but even that isn’t a guarantee, but it’s incredibly costly and lengthy and most birds do not survive the treatment or the disease. The prognosis is sadly very poor, the drugs that kill the mold can be just as toxic and damaging as the mold itself.

From what I can see Pretty Bird has some sort of pneumonia, if it’s viral or fungal there isn’t much that can be done, if it’s bacterial he needs an antibiotic.
We don’t know what bacteria it is without testing so the best antibiotic is something that has a broad range of what it will treat. Baytril os broad spectrum and has some activity against mycoplasma, not as good as Tylosin but it’s a good one, SMZ TMP is fairly broad spectrum but will not treat mycoplasma, Tylosin is very effective against mycoplasma, typically it’s effective against gastrointestinal infections, amoxicillin is pretty broad spectrum and is effective against a lot of respiratory bugs, there’s also a mix of amoxicillin and Tylosin (amoxy-tyl)

You can’t get a prescription without the bird getting seen by a vet, but fish antibiotics you can buy without a prescription, and they’re just human grade antibiotics in a different package.

I found one site that has amoxicillin-Tylan https://jedds.com/products/amoxy-tyl

And Baytril https://birdpalproducts.com/products/enrofloxacin-10-liquid-for-birds?_pos=1&_sid=32fc1d5c6&_ss=r

Here’s a good site for fish antibiotics https://www.countrysidepet.com/collections/fish

 

[Kiki]

All I can find about these frogs, is that they can transmit salmonella!! But I'm still researching and looking into it. I will proceed with the antibiotics and would love & appreciate input on dosing. Thank you all for your kindness and understanding!
(I'm also applying for credit cards to try to get access to borrowing money to take him to the vet, but I don't have great credit ATM. So pls wish me luck )

https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10

 

[Kiki]

The only reason why I was thinking that one, was because the breeder said he gives it to his birds twice a year and because when I looked it up online it said it works faster then the other commonly used wormers. It did say that it struggles to kill hook worms and will likely need additional treatment for those. I just liked that it supposedly works faster for many of the other worms like Gapeworm, but this is all based on .com articles .. so who knows. But nowhere does it specify which ivermectin it is

This breeder person doesn't know his stuff. . Don't be offended. Please.

 

[spcmoken]

Are you aware that you can give Tylan directly to the beak instead of injecting it?

Also note that it works best If it is given every 8 hours instead of just once in a 24-hour period.

Yes, that's what I meant. I did give it to him orally. It was just a pain and so stressful for us both.
This was his first dose, he will be receiving the tylan 50 3x a day.

 

[Kiki]

Yes, that's what I meant. I did give it to him orally. It was just a pain and so stressful for us both.
This was his first dose, he will be receiving the tylan 50 3x a day.

Ok great. I must have misunderstood and thought you were injecting.

 

[casportpony]

I only did 0.8ml of tylan 50, injectable since that was the min people were telling me at the time.

A nine pound goose needs no less than 3 ml three times a day. Unfortunately, most people do not know this, so most people under-medicate.

 

[Miss Lydia]

DE is worthless as a wormer get safeguard for goats
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duck-has-worms.1538933/#post-25964432

 

[spcmoken]

DE is worthless as a wormer get safeguard for goats
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duck-has-worms.1538933/#post-25964432

I didn't mean to use it as a wormer. Been told by several backyard flock owners, that they rub it on their chickens feathers once a month to prevent mites and such. I was wondering if it's the same with geese?