Questions. Help please

[MGG]

So, my gander is having some tiny green poops. He's on Purina flockraiser crumbles. I'm not sure if they're normal. He usually has big tan ones. (Sorry, kinda gross) I can attach a picture. He also lays around a lot, especially when I let him out. It's really cold here though. Almost always in the negatives day and night. I'm guessing his feet are just cold, but thought I'd mention it. Is this just normal and hopefully I'm paranoid? @casportpony

 

[MGG]

@azygous @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[Eggcessive]

I am only familiar with chickens, but dark green droppings can be a sign of not eating much.

 

[MGG]

Thank you. That is possible. I built him an awesome coop and I just put him back in it. For some reason he doesn't want to eat in there. I'm confused. We're leaving for a week and a half in a couple weeks and I'm worried he won't eat while we're gone.

 

[azygous]

The poop looks dry and scant, and that makes me think he could have an impacted crop or gizzard. Is he an "only child"? He sounds lonely. If he has no companion, and that can include a dog or cat as well as another goose, his well being could be poor and is affecting his health.

Check his crop in the morning after taking up his food and water tonight after you put him to bed in his coop. If it's full and hard like a sack of feed in the morning give him some coconut oil, abut two teaspoons to start and massage it. If his crop is spongy like a water balloon, don't massage. He may have sour crop. That would have to be treated with a vaginal yeast cream.

If he's a solitaire, I would hang a mirror in his coop so he can see his image where he is used to sleeping. A little thing like that could make a lot of difference to him, making his feel a though there is another goose in his coop with him. It could raise his contentment level.

 

[MGG]

How do I find his crop? I just watched gim eat a bunch of food, so I guess he's eating. He's pretty good friends with our dog and I'm with him most of the time, so I don't think he's lonely. Yesterday his poop was normal, so this is a new thing.

 

[azygous]

A bird's crop is on their chest. That's where his food goes first when he swallows. There's grit in it that he picks up and swallows, small stones with angular edges, that grind up the food. He's likely a big boy, so the grit would be about the size of pea gravel. Does he have access to gravel?

If he's not an outdoor goose, you would need to supply him with this gravel so he can grind up his food in his crop and in his gizzard. Not having adequate grit can lead to constipation. Birds poop out the grit as the edges wear and become rounded. Then they need to replenish it with new stones. He should have access to this grit at all times.

 

[MGG]

He has really thick feathers on his chest and I can't hardly feel through them most of the time. He usually has grit, I didn't put a dish back in his coop yet because I just put him in on Sunday, but I definitely will. Is sand ok to use for that or should I get something else? I'll definitely get him a mirror, that's a really good idea. I should have thought about that sooner. Any tips on actually finding his crop? That would help. I can find it on all of the chickens and quail, but I can't hardly find his. I know he eats, because I have to fill his bowl all of the time. Also, his favorite bowl (an old lunchmeat container) I took out when I moved him and gave him a rubber tub I eat out of. I gave him his container back this evening when I read your message, and he are. Could he just have been not eating out of the tub for some reason?

 

[MGG]

Thank you for all of your help

 

[azygous]

Look at this diagram of a goose's digestive system. https://www.facebook.com/notes/caro...gestive-system-in-ducksgeese/206464692717233/

You see the crop is the enlarged pouch extending from the esophagus. That's where the food goes after he swallows it. It then proceeds down the digestive tract, and the end of the journey is the gizzard where the food gets ground up again. The crop and the gizzard is where constipation occurs when a bird doesn't drink enough or have adequate grit. They get sick pretty quickly when this happens.

The crop empties regularly just as our stomachs do. If his crop isn't emptying overnight, any food he eats just adds to the stuff already there, and it can sour and become putrid if the condition persists. It can be fatal.

If you feel a full crop in the morning that feels like a sack of feed, give him the oil immediately. I'll check in here in the morning to see how our boy is and if you have any questions.