Runty Gosling - A Doose? Sick? Dwarf?

[RavenousAK]

My Toulouse Geese ... Hate and Karen hatched all 6 of the eggs she had in her nest. It shocked me. They are curmudgeon idiots

They loooove taking their brood on "adventures" because they think they own the road in front of my house and like to chase cars/pedestrians/children on bikes/ATVs/etc. They are incessant escape artists. Luckily they are only geese in town and people oddly find it funny.

In addition to getting on my nerves, I think the escapades are bad for the nuggies. One gosling did wobble of death at 2 weeks. I brought it in and it passed that evening. I think maybe it ate something bad? It did not appear injured at all and was fine day before. Last week one got stuck in a lumber pile, because why not, and hurt it's leg. I now keep it in my duckling nursery pen, where it is of course an epic jerk. Oddly For the last 5 days the parents have stayed in the yard so they can stick heads over the enclosure and check on it. Hostage taking for the win.

NOW I have The Doose... One gosling is super runty. Like 30% the size of the others. Seems healthy and active but the size differential is getting more remarkable. I have no idea what is going on with it. They are 4-5 weeks old. They free feed on grass and tundra, plus I give duck pellets (aka Goose Crack). All hatched the same day from same nest.

Any idea what might be wrong with it? I secretly wish/hope it is a Doose and was fathered by my rapey Blue Swedish duck. But if it might be a sign of something else I would like to help the poor lil guy out.

That is a lot of back history but it is quarantine and they are what we have for entertainment

 

[nchls school]

Ducks and geese are just to far away from each other to produce a cross. While small, he looks 100% gosling. It is possible he is a runt, but more likely it's the result of a health problem. Check him out carefully for other symptoms of disease-diarrhea, runny nostrils or eyes, discolored abdomen, gasping-raspy breathing, panting when not hot, listlessness, etc.

 

[RavenousAK]

I haven't picked it up. But it is active and not weezy or sickly looking. But it is like it stopped growing 2 weeks ago. Had that other one not died so suddenly I would be less paranoid. At hatch they all came same day and were all the same size. Not sure what if anything I can do for it other than see how it plays out.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Hm. I have heard of a condition similar to what you are seeing in chickens, but I know it can appear in other animals so maybe your goose has it? It’s called thyrogenous dwarfism and it matches up with what your goose is experiencing, but I don’t know if geese can get it.

 

[Goosebaby]

Someone else posted about a few dwarf geese their Canada Geese have hatched out. Those were just noticeably smaller than the other geese but otherwise normal.

Your gosling appears from the picture to have a stubby neck possibly with an arched back. You could try feeling the spine to see if it’s straight. I’ve heard that Sebastopol geese can sometimes inherit a genetic flaw that causes their spine to twist. I don’t know if it causes developmental issues but I suppose it could be possible if it presents itself early.

I heard about dwarfism in chickens when the person with the dwarf Canadians posted. Ihavesomechickens is right about it being a possibility but I don’t know if that’s the cause here or with the other geese. I can’t find anything about dwarfism in geese.

I read somewhere that goose parvovirus was suspected as the cause of dwarfism in a duck but there weren’t clear findings to prove it. It’s usually fatal in goslings so there’s some doubt to it being the cause.


If it’s possible to get durvet B vitamin complex and poultry nutri-drench where you are you could try giving it to them with an eye dropper. The extra boost of vitamins might help, I’m not sure how much it will help if this is a genetic issue but if it’s nutrient related or illness it may give them a chance of recovery.

There’s a concern that the larger goslings might be picking on or preventing the gosling from getting enough food at this point so it might be a good idea to separate it and put it with the one that’s recouperating from the leg injury.