Sebastopol Gosling with Droopy Wings

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i have a 7-week-old Sebastopol gosling who has developed a droopy wing issue. It's only happened in the last week or so. i'm new to geese, so not sure if this is normal or not. i will see her pull her wings back up tight, then they droop back down. Here is a picture. Would appreciate any input or advice.

 

[Lund Poultry]

most of the time it is just that, a droopy wing because of all of the blood on the wings. Make sure they get plenty of exercise and lots of grass and low protien for a few weeks and once the blood starts to dry the wing should pop back in place.

 

[Denninmi]

I guess its not really angel wing per se, but its sort of the same concept -- the wing is growing so fast that the muscles, bones, and tendons can't support its own weight. My female Pilgrim that is now about 2 months old had this for about a week last month, but not as severe as in the photo, and it corrected itself.

I guess you might need to support the wings with some kind of sling or splint, similar to treating angel wing. Let's see what some other posters have to say about the issue.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Thank you for the input. i feed them Purina Flockraiser, which appears to be 20% protein. Is there something else i should be feeding them? i used to also put Mazuri Waterfowl Starter in with them, but they completely ignored it. i also have them out most of the day where they can graze on grass, then give them a head or two of romaine or green leaf lettuce.

i'm not sure how much exercise they get. They are sort of slow moving. i did run them around the yard this morning, and they seemed to enjoy that. Maybe we all need to do that more often. Our goats even joined in the relay races.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I would cut them back to 16% protein and bind that wing up for a few days.

No need to throw out the feed you've got. "Dilute" the protein by adding some rolled oats. Then, for the next bag, buy something with less protein.

The 20% protein was fine for the fist couple of weeks, but you want to try to slow their growth while their wing feathers come in.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Thank you! i do have rolled oats here so will do that now. What would i feed them with less protein? They don't like the Mazuri. Layena has 16% protein. Would that be a better choice?

 

[goosemama]

This is exactly the same problem I am having with my 2 female Pilgrims which are now about 2 months old - the males show no signs of this at all. I've been feeding 20% chick starter and have them on grass all day long. Just recently started sprinkling Brewer's Yeast over their feed as I read that chick starter doesn't have as much niacin in it as geese need and the article suggested to add this.. Now I think I'll go out and get some l6% feed for them. I have whole grained oats and they don't seem to care for it (I've offered it in a separate pan). Even my poultry pellets for my laying hens is 20% so that's no good either. Sure hope it corrects itself with lowering the protein as one forum member observed.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

My male Pilgrim had more of a problem than my female. I started adding scratch grain in w/their flock raiser feed as well as made sure they had plenty of "graze" time on greens. Took care of the problem in about 2 wks. I also noticed it was more pronounced when it was hot outside. Scratch is about 8% protien and they love the grains. Right now they have a nice variety of tall grass seed heads/flowers to chomp on... which they do about twice a day.

 

[goosemama]

From other posts I am hopeful that this condition will right itself - it has me worried. I've been feeding 20% protein chick grower and the two Pilgrim males and a cross bred Chinese/Embden is not affected and they've been eating the same thing and have the same graze time. I bought a bag of Scratch yesterday which is 8% protein plus a bag of rolled oats and mixed it equally with the 20% grower so as not to make too drastic a change. This should really lower the protein level. The one female's wing tips are drooping but the 2nd one her one wing is starting to skew sideways which really looks more like angel wing. This has been a hard lesson to be watchful of the protein intake and not overdo it. I thought at their age (7 and 8 weeks) they would still need a higher level - obviously not!

When I pen them at night they have a hopper of this mixed grain to eat plus a small bucket of water - should I just leave them with water and remove the food out of their pen for nighttime? I leave a pan of this feed on the lawn w/tub of water while they graze during the daytime - the new chicks and turkeys also eat it. All are put out on the lawn from morning to sundown when they are all locked in separate pens. What do you goose folks think? Would be grateful to have your input and hear what you do when penning your geese at night.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

My gosling seems a little better today. i've been exercising the group, playing chase back and forth across the yard. All three kids run with their wings out. And then it has been cooler the past couple of days. i did add rolled oats to their Flockraiser. So maybe all those things are helping. i don't want to have to bind her wings.