POORLY GEESE

[Heidifreimuth]

Hi there, I had 4 Pomeranian Geese and have had them for about 6 years. They have been healthy, producing lovely goslings. I had 3 females and a male. One of the females had Angel Wings and so was what we called a 'delicate flower' and she is the one that passed away yesterday. We had her inside the house in the evenings and tried to get her to eat but she kept playing with her food, picking it up, dropping it, chewing it but spitting it out and she lost weight. The vet examined her and said thought she had a tumour and that we would probably lose her at some stage. However, I now have another goose showing the same symptoms. Has anybody got any ideas as to what the problem could be. I do not want to lose her and the other 2 either. I have tried Apple Cider Vinegar, deworming them, small amounts of food chopped up, goose smoothies, they deceased goose had some metacam from the vet too but nothing seemed to work. I would be grateful if anyone else has had the same experience.

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
I'm sorry about your goose.
Can they get Marek's disease like chickens?

 

[N F C]

Hi, sorry about the loss of your goose. The members over on the Geese forum might be able to help you out:
Geese

Best wishes!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. I hope the geese peeps can help

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC - is it possible to have a necropsy performed on the dead goose ? That might help in determining what you are dealing with. Good luck with the rest of your flock.

 

[Goosebaby]

Cancer is often caused by four things, poor nutrition, toxins, viruses, and pure bad luck.
If multiple birds are developing tumors my guess would be they each have caught the same virus or their feed is contaminated with aflatoxins.

I currently have a gander that has been exhibiting symptoms for the last six months that point to cancer but all the research I’ve done since the start of that has shown me that any time something is impacting the health of one of the organs, the rest reacts with the same symptoms much of the time, so without an absolute diagnosis of a tumor there’s a lot of other things that can mimic similar symptoms.

I would start hand feeding them immediately if they’re refusing to eat, I would also start giving them a dose of liquid b vitamins and poultry nutrition-drench.
I make little romaine lettuce wraps stuffed with a little shaved carrots, broccoli bits, and a bit of milk thistle extract, moringa powder, and a pinch of Harrison’s Fauna Flora. I don’t expect you to have most of that on hand so the most important thing is to hand feed them romaine, kale, and kind of greens so that you can to get some calories into them. Sliced tomato and strawberry are also great options and will go down the easiest.
I won’t lie, hand feeding a goose isn’t easy and it isn’t stress free for either of you, but it can save their life. Small but numerous feedings, followed by leaving them alone to relax in between.

What do their droppings look like? What are they being fed? Have their legs/bills changed color? Are they limping or favoring a leg?
Have you seen them swallow any paint shavings or metal because zinc and lead toxicity has a similar effect.

 

[Goosebaby]

Also I wanted to add that if your bird is standing with their feet spread wide apart with their head drooped a little and it seems like they’re a million miles a way in their head that’s a sign of abdominal pain.
Have you noticed behavior like this?

 

[Goosebaby]

I’m Sorry for the barrage of information and questions, I know that this is a painful and frightening time, I’m just trying to supply as much information as I can and hope that it may be of some help.

Another thing I thought of is has your goose been laying recently? If an egg broke internally it can cause infection.

 

[Goosebaby]

@DobieLover To my knowledge I don’t think waterfowl are generally susceptible to Marek’s though I think duck viral enteritis is related.

 

[Goosebaby]

@Heidifreimuth How are your geese today?