Problem with Pilgrim Gander

[Caleb1534]

Hello, all,

One of the Chicken Men told me that one of our year-old Pilgrim ganders is doing poorly.

Here's a list of his symptoms:

1. Listless/Lethargic
2. Walks slowly around the pen; not doing any fast waddling or 'running' right now
3. Isn't eating
4. Has lost weight; he's a big boy too, so, for the Chicken Men to notice that he feels lighter is not insignificant
5. As of right now, one of the Chicken Men believes he's been sitting in the spot for 4 hours

Is it possible that this gander needs to be dewormed? If so, how are geese different to deworm than chickens?

Thanks, y'all!

Caleb

 

[Goosebaby]

Unfortunatly non specific symptoms like these could indicate just about anything.

Generally geese are more resistant to parisites than chickens, because they’re grazers, but if there’s a present issue with parasites among the other birds in the flock it could be the cause.

I’ll try to help as much as possible, the answers to these questions might help.

What feed is he eating?
What do his droppings look like? And could you post a picture?
Have you seen him eat or chew on anything unusual, like metal bits, wire, something with peeling paint, strange plants, etc?
Does he have any trouble breathing/ has he been coughing or sneezing?
Does his crop look or feel full/ hard/ gooey? Sometimes an impaction can cause issues like sour crop. Geese don’t exacly have a true crop like a chicken, their lower throat kind of expands and serves the same purpose so it’s possible for them to sometimes get that.

Things that might help are durvet b vitamin complex, it can give him a boost in energy and protect his organs from some damage. Also Poultry nutri drench can clear out mild bacterial infections.

Will he eat treats like lettuce? Another thing to try is to turn feed into a soupy mash by adding water, geese are more willing to eat if it’s like that.
Watery foods like watermelon, cucumber, and berries will keeep him hydrated and if he has an intestinal blockage they can help loosen it up.

 

[Caleb1534]

Before, I just asked one of the Chicken Men the details he could think of about the gander's condition. But I'll ask him for more details now...

Here are the answers to your questions:

What feed is he eating?
Dumor pellets from Tractor Supply: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-layer-pellet-16-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

What do his droppings look like? And could you post a picture?
A liquidy consistency, and yellow in color (normally brown or green). Pic to follow...

Have you seen him eat or chew on anything unusual, like metal bits, wire, something with peeling paint, strange plants, etc?
Nothing unusual seen here, but he's also not watched constantly...

Does he have any trouble breathing/ has he been coughing or sneezing?
He doesn't honk much; rather, he is making squeaking, wheezing sounds now.

Does his crop look or feel full/ hard/ gooey?
They will check the way his crop feels later on...


Do you know how to deworm geese? We'd like to try that to see if it'll help.

Thanks!

Caleb

 

[Goosebaby]

Before, I just asked one of the Chicken Men the details he could think of about the gander's condition. But I'll ask him for more details now...

Here are the answers to your questions:

What feed is he eating?
Dumor pellets from Tractor Supply: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-layer-pellet-16-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005

What do his droppings look like? And could you post a picture?
A liquidy consistency, and yellow in color (normally brown or green). Pic to follow...

Have you seen him eat or chew on anything unusual, like metal bits, wire, something with peeling paint, strange plants, etc?
Nothing unusual seen here, but he's also not watched constantly...

Does he have any trouble breathing/ has he been coughing or sneezing?
He doesn't honk much; rather, he is making squeaking, wheezing sounds now.

Does his crop look or feel full/ hard/ gooey?
They will check the way his crop feels later on...


Do you know how to deworm geese? We'd like to try that to see if it'll help.

Thanks!

Caleb

Unfortunatly I don’t know how to deworm geese as I’ve never had too.

Wheezing could be gape worm, if it’s gape worm he’ll probably be shaking his head a lot trying to cough the worms up.

If he’s not doing that more than likely he has a respiratory illness that requires antibiotics ... or aspergillosis which I hope he doesn’t have.


@Miss Lydia Do you know anything about deworming geese?

 

[Goosebaby]

Another thing I thought of is that cocci can cause a bird to drop weight, have diarrhea, not digest their food. You can buy corrid at tractor supply which will treat that but coccidia does not cause respiratory illness, like wheezing so either there’s multiple illnesses which is possible or that isn’t the cause.

Overall this sounds like bacterial, fungal, or viral.
If the droppings are yellow because the urates are yellow then unfortunatly all you can do is make the remainder of his life comfortable because that points to organ failure and I’m so sorry if this is the case, but if it’s yellow because he’s not digesting his food he still has a fighting chance with the right treatment.

 

[Isaac 0]

Geese don't tend to be affected by worms, but if you want to eliminate it as a possible cause, you could pick up either SafeGaud Liquid Dewormer or Valbazen. These will treat most worms a goose can get, the dose for SafeGaurd is 0.23ml per pound orally, for *five days straight*. And for Valbazen, 0.08ml per pound orally once, and repeat in ten days.

Links to both products,

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/merck-animal-health-safe-guard-dewormer-for-goats-125ml

https://www.walmartpetrx.com/p-2170...MIo7ra1Iyn6wIVBeiGCh1twAaREAYYBCABEgKhPvD_BwE

 

[Isaac 0]

Are you able to take him to a vet?

 

[Caleb1534]

Our gander is doing better now! We may still deworm him, just in case... Thanks for your input, Goosebaby and Isaac 0!

 

[Goosebaby]

Our gander is doing better now! We may still deworm him, just in case... Thanks for your input, Goosebaby and Isaac 0!

That’s good to hear!