Questions. Help please

[DiYMama540]

A goose's crop is pretty difficult to feel easily. Their down and feathers are so thick you have to sort of get down under all that and feel around.

Have you given him any greens or treats? Anything other than his usual feed?
Poultry can actually become dehydrated in the cold weather, just as easily as the hot weather. You could try adding some electrolytes to his water for a few days. I like to use the clear pedialyte because it's easiest to come by for me, but they do make some specifically for poultry.

Keep us posted with poop pics!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about Geese, but I hope he's ok

 

[MGG]

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.

What all happens when they don't have enough grit? Like the symptoms or effects etc.? I will check in the morning. Thank you SO much for all of your help.

 

[MGG]

A goose's crop is pretty difficult to feel easily. Their down and feathers are so thick you have to sort of get down under all that and feel around.

Have you given him any greens or treats? Anything other than his usual feed?
Poultry can actually become dehydrated in the cold weather, just as easily as the hot weather. You could try adding some electrolytes to his water for a few days. I like to use the clear pedialyte because it's easiest to come by for me, but they do make some specifically for poultry.

Keep us posted with poop pics!!

Thanks for your reply. I haven't given him any other treats. I put some nutridrench in his water and I will add some sav-a-chick. I will make sure to update tomorrow.

 

[MGG]

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about Geese, but I hope he's ok

Haha sorry, I just tagged some people I knew off hand. Thank you though

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Haha sorry, I just tagged some people I knew off hand. Thank you though

No worries! I'll stick around, see how he does and learn some things along the way too!

 

[azygous]

The problem with crop disorders in poultry is that most people either don't know what the crop does or even that it exists. So when a chicken or duck or a goose all of a sudden acts sick, lethargic, weird poop, either tiny and scant or loose and watery, they have no idea what to even check. It's one of the most common illnesses and one of the most easily treatable.

So do what @DiYMama540 suggested and run your hand up under his outer pelt of feathers and down until you feel skin. Then you should be able to feel the crop pouch. Let your fingers do the "seeing". Try to decide if it feels more solid like a sack of rice or more like liquid as a water balloon would feel. What you decide it feels like will determine how you will treat it if it's full.

If you don't feel a full pouch at all, only a flat chest wall, that means his crop is healthy and normal and emptied over night as a crop should. If there's even so much as a couple tablespoons of stuff in his crop in the morning, it could signal the blockage is in his gizzard, and that gets an even different treatment. We'll talk about it in the morning.

 

[MGG]

Thank you! I will definitely update in the morning, and I'll get him some grit. Is sand ok until I can get to town for some bagged grit?

 

[azygous]

Sand would be too small to be very useful to a big bird unless it's coarse construction sand. If it has gravel at least an eighth of an inch across, it will do. I'm guessing a quarter inch gravel would be more suitable for the big guy.

 

[MGG]

Here is his poop this morning. It looks much more normal I think. I'm mot sure what those 2 dark brown ones are. Are they cecal poops or something? He ate when I put his food in this morning. I let him out and he ran around and then he came back and layed down. He tucked his feet in so I think they were cold. I found a flap of skin where his crop should be. It was empty. I felt it after he ate and I could feel the crumbles in it.