Sebastopol gosling has pasty butt? Please advise.

[Tilly6]

Help! the gosling is 3 days old and finally seems to be eating and drinking regularly, but it's vent always seems caked with poo. I've been cleaning her off twice a day at minimum. She's all alone in the brooder, I have mirrors and stuffed toys in there and I keep her on the coffee table so she can see and hear us. Because she cries and cries if we disappear. Anyway, is it stress? Should I get a brooder buddy? Would chicks be ok or should I try and find a duck? Can I give her a bath in the sink to try and dissolve the mess? But her umbilical cord looks like it hasn't dropped off can that get wet? This is my first baby gosling, my gander was 6 weeks old when I got him.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Yes you can bathe as long as you keep it warm and don't let it get chilled. There are many reasons for pasty bumm.. too much heat and no where to cool off, dehydration, not enough protein. The umbilicus is fine to get wet as long as you do not *PULL* it off.

We bathe only the bums under very warm running water (their body temp is a little higher than ours) and blow dry them before returning to brooder. If it is a repeat offender we will dab a little vaseline on the bum to prevent it.

I wouldn't purposely raise only a single fowl... you can see how unhappy they are. But things do happen. I have no experience with gosling to advise weather or not to get a friend of another species.

Maybe provide electrolytes if you haven't already. Simple homemade recipe is 2 cups warm water, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar (white OK), 1/4 teaspoon each baking soda and salt. Stir until dissolved and serve full strength for NO longer than 10 days. (not usually that long though) Adding a couple drops Poly Vi Sol baby vitamins with NO iron is also good.

Speaking of which, what are you feeding?

Some people will add a clock that makes the tick tock sound under the stuffed toy to help mimic a heart beat.

Good luck!

 

[Tilly6]

She is on non medicated chick starter/grower 20% Dumor brand, brewers yeast sprinkled on top. I started her off with electrolytes in the water and added a light dose of nutri drench yesterday. There is some chopped grass in the water. There is chick grit available too.

If she was a chick I'd only bathe her bum for sure. After I cleaned her off this last time, she started cleaning herself. Between the two of us we got her clear enough to poo twice. But I just this second heard her poo sound and there's no spot on the towel so it's hanging up on her backside still. I have a very tiny bathroom with a very large heater going for the bath. I am literally a mother hen with just one chick!

 

[Tilly6]

This is a picture of the brooder. I ran warm water over her bum a good long while, so much crusty nastiness washed away. I got her cleaned down to skin and put some Vaseline on it. I'm at my wits end, she's got a poo hung up on there again already. She's a Sebastopol goose, and was pretty darn expensive.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Ugh, makes me crazy when I have repeat pasty bumm offenders.

Sometimes giving a little more protein will help clear pasty butt. If it does, then it's suggested you change feeds.

You have lots of other ducks though so you probably know well enough what you are doing..

Hope she is doing better.

 

[Tilly6]

Ha ha I know nothing! Those ducks were all healthy hatches or older when I got them. I will try switching to a higher protein diet for now and see if that helps. Now the poor baby seems to have a respiratory issue, she's lost her voice and her breathing sounds "crackley" I added vetrx into the mix of remedies to try. I'm so stressed out about it, I keep waking up to check on her

 

[EggSighted4Life]

ugh, crackling is usually not good and not sure if I ever had one recover after hearing that.

Before switching feed completely you can try adding a little boiled smashed egg and see what happens. It should be easy to digest and nutritious.

To me VETrx is nothing more than vick's vapor rub. But some people do swear by it.

If I had to guess, I think that crackling is fluid in the lungs. I've had the crackling in very young chicks, but it has NEVER actually been a respiratory illness. Either from them burping and not swallowing/gobbling back down a little juice and aspirating. Once was from me trying to get fluids down and not knowing what I was doing. But they all came from NPIP places and were never exposed to anything besides the hatcher or brooder. But I don't know if they can actually get illness with no exposure to other birds.

Also, I have to note my previous post said 1/4 teaspoon salt/soda for electrolytes and SHOULD say 1/2 teaspoon each.

I would get vitamins on board for your duckling. (if it were me. Even though FDA can't say vitamins help when your under the weather, my personal experience says it does). Never mix electrolytes stronger since those can be overdosed on with things like salt and potassium in them. Vitamins will not OD a bird. Any extra will pass in excrement. I do a straight drop to the beak a couple times a day for those really trying to fail. Has been successful but not always.

Your duckling does not need the whole area to be warm. It just needs a place to warm up. This may be contributing to pasty butt.

I wouldn't worry about pushing feed... but if she isn't moving around, eating and drinking.. I would push fluids everytime I woke up to check and not less than every couple of hours. She won't die of starvation but dehydration is deadly. If they don't drink I drop drip just below the nostrils and they usually gobble it when it rolls around into their mouth.

All of my experience is with chickens so far. Won't be getting duckling until June. So please don't go just according to what I say, but always do what makes sense to YOU. And feel free to get second opinions!

For just one, you might consider using a heating pad to keep her warm so she can cool off if she needs? I don't know how feasible that is for goslings verses chicks. Just beware of the auto shut off. Most people who use that method buy one that has a bypass feature. You might also consider buying the heat lamp with a red light (reptile dept) instead of using (an electric?) heater.. may actually save you $ in the long run verses your current heater and if it happens to help your girl out, win win.

Hang in there!

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

Yes you can bathe as long as you keep it warm and don't let it get chilled. There are many reasons for pasty bumm.. too much heat and no where to cool off, dehydration, not enough protein. The umbilicus is fine to get wet as long as you do not *PULL* it off.

We bathe only the bums under very warm running water (their body temp is a little higher than ours) and blow dry them before returning to brooder. If it is a repeat offender we will dab a little vaseline on the bum to prevent it.

I wouldn't purposely raise only a single fowl... you can see how unhappy they are. But things do happen. I have no experience with gosling to advise weather or not to get a friend of another species.

Maybe provide electrolytes if you haven't already. Simple homemade recipe is 2 cups warm water, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar (white OK), 1/4 teaspoon each baking soda and salt. Stir until dissolved and serve full strength for NO longer than 10 days. (not usually that long though) Adding a couple drops Poly Vi Sol baby vitamins with NO iron is also good.

Speaking of which, what are you feeding?

Some people will add a clock that makes the tick tock sound under the stuffed toy to help mimic a heart beat.

Good luck!

It sounds like it is well covered.

 

[Tilly6]

Oh there is plenty of room in there to move away from the heat so no worries there. I tried the boiled mashed egg at day 3 but she wouldn't go near it. She's eating and drinking. The vetrx smells like vaporub but her voice is stronger again now. I wouldn't have tried it usually, but I figured it was worth a shot. The girl at the feed store said it worked for her chicks. I hope I don't lose her, but she was never healthy since I got her. I didn't notice that she still had the umbilical cord until I got home. Being a Sebastopol her breeder charged me a premium price and hasn't responded to my email about her condition. I could try the vet, but none of ours know that much about birds.

Her pasty butt has been somewhat better this afternoon. I tried chopping oregano fine and putting that in some water for a treat, but neither the gosling nor duckling seem to like it. They prefer plain grass, dandelion or kale.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

How's your gosling today?

I was thinking about it.. and the electrolyte recipe was for chickens. I'm not sure if it should be different for waterfowl in the same way they can't eat medicated chick starter. Sorry, it may have been bad advice. I'm not sure.

I didn't realize you got her a duckling friend! That should be nice.