Sebastopol Juvenile has issues...

[goosemomma]

We have a number of Sebastopol geese. A few months ago, 2 goslings were hatched. We noticed after a few weeks that they were walking like their legs were heavy. One of them died so we took the other and placed him in a cage on the porch. It almost died as well but after prayer and reading that sometimes they are missing some b vitamins we gave those. To our surprise, the gosling made it! Have been letting him swim in kiddie pool for exercise, letting him run in yard, etc. but still keeping him separate from the other geese so he doesn't get hurt. Also have still been giving the vitamins around once a week since he seems to go downhill somewhat after a week (ending up on his back a lot more, getting his head stuck under a wing, etc.).

Have recently been putting him in a dog run during the day with food, water, and shade, mostly so that he can get exercise all day long and so that the other geese can go by and "talk" with him. When he gets close to the size of the other geese the plan is to let them spend more time together. Right now the juvenile gets overwhelmed if too many of the geese get close and start "talking" to him.

My question: This juvenile has a noticeable hitch in his get-along. Also, it seems that his wings are tilted towards the left side of his body, with his neck mostly going towards the right. Has anyone seen this before? Thanks for any help!

 

[Miss Lydia]

We have a number of Sebastopol geese. A few months ago, 2 goslings were hatched. We noticed after a few weeks that they were walking like their legs were heavy. One of them died so we took the other and placed him in a cage on the porch. It almost died as well but after prayer and reading that sometimes they are missing some b vitamins we gave those. To our surprise, the gosling made it! Have been letting him swim in kiddie pool for exercise, letting him run in yard, etc. but still keeping him separate from the other geese so he doesn't get hurt. Also have still been giving the vitamins around once a week since he seems to go downhill somewhat after a week (ending up on his back a lot more, getting his head stuck under a wing, etc.).

Have recently been putting him in a dog run during the day with food, water, and shade, mostly so that he can get exercise all day long and so that the other geese can go by and "talk" with him. When he gets close to the size of the other geese the plan is to let them spend more time together. Right now the juvenile gets overwhelmed if too many of the geese get close and start "talking" to him.

My question: This juvenile has a noticeable hitch in his get-along. Also, it seems that his wings are tilted towards the left side of his body, with his neck mostly going towards the right. Has anyone seen this before? Thanks for any help!

Welcome to BYC

How old was your gosling before you put it on B vitamin therapy?Can you post a video or some pics so we can see what your talking about? just just maybe that having the nutritional issues before you put him on the vitamins may have caused permanent damage. I would up the vitamins to 3X a week till you see he is really doing well then cut back to 2X a week and see how that goes, but since he is still having problems on 1X he needs this more often. I have seen members post that their gosling have died and also had neurological problems because of Vitamin B def. All baby water fowl should get Brewers yeast or B complex for the first 10-12 weeks of their lives it can stop what your seeing now. Yes some don't need it but it won't hurt any of them from having it.

 

[goosemomma]

Our juvenile Sebastopol has been staying day and night in a small run with a top and chicken wire about two feet up the sides of the chain link fencing. If you read my earlier post he almost died as a gosling and was kept on the porch in a very large dog kennel until about two weeks ago. He is scared/startled easily and runs to the back where he can feel safer. Problem with that is he often falls over onto his side or back when he is startled and then has a heck of a time getting up. I have gone to check on him and found him on his side and he seems exhausted from kicking and trying to get up so I must help him back onto his feet. This happened tonight. It was already after dark and something told me to go and check on him with my flashlight. When I called to him he made a honk and when I looked, there he was on his side. There are times in the night I get up to look out at him through my window with a flashlight to make sure he is ok. I have been giving him boiled egg yolk daily for vitamin b along with freshly cut grass, feed, sometimes oats. Today I decided to leave the door to his run open for the first time, and made sure to close the gate keeping all other birds (chickens, ducks, geese) out of that part of the yard. To my surprise, after a little while, he walked out and was checking out the mud, etc. He stayed in one place too long and got stuck in the mud. I had to go and get him out and he stressed seeing me coming and ended up falling into the mud and was thoroughly coated! I took him to the kiddie pool and rinsed him as best as I could while trying to hold onto him. He is roughly 3 months old and is getting bigger but definitely not as big as the other 6 adult Sebastopols so I am not letting them spend time together except for when the adults go around his run, which they do quite a lot. My heart goes out to this goose (not sure the sex) and it will have a harder time because of his various issues. Has anyone else had a goose that has its head mostly turned to one side, the upper body sort of twisted towards the other side, and a wonky gait? Also he will get his head stuck under one of his wings sometimes!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Our juvenile Sebastopol has been staying day and night in a small run with a top and chicken wire about two feet up the sides of the chain link fencing. If you read my earlier post he almost died as a gosling and was kept on the porch in a very large dog kennel until about two weeks ago. He is scared/startled easily and runs to the back where he can feel safer. Problem with that is he often falls over onto his side or back when he is startled and then has a heck of a time getting up. I have gone to check on him and found him on his side and he seems exhausted from kicking and trying to get up so I must help him back onto his feet. This happened tonight. It was already after dark and something told me to go and check on him with my flashlight. When I called to him he made a honk and when I looked, there he was on his side. There are times in the night I get up to look out at him through my window with a flashlight to make sure he is ok. I have been giving him boiled egg yolk daily for vitamin b along with freshly cut grass, feed, sometimes oats. Today I decided to leave the door to his run open for the first time, and made sure to close the gate keeping all other birds (chickens, ducks, geese) out of that part of the yard. To my surprise, after a little while, he walked out and was checking out the mud, etc. He stayed in one place too long and got stuck in the mud. I had to go and get him out and he stressed seeing me coming and ended up falling into the mud and was thoroughly coated! I took him to the kiddie pool and rinsed him as best as I could while trying to hold onto him. He is roughly 3 months old and is getting bigger but definitely not as big as the other 6 adult Sebastopols so I am not letting them spend time together except for when the adults go around his run, which they do quite a lot. My heart goes out to this goose (not sure the sex) and it will have a harder time because of his various issues. Has anyone else had a goose that has its head mostly turned to one side, the upper body sort of twisted towards the other side, and a wonky gait? Also he will get his head stuck under one of his wings sometimes!!

Poor thing, I think you need to add a B complex pill to his diet. you can put it into his water just make sure he is drinking well and it stays mixed good sometimes the mix will fall to the bottom. But it does sound like a good B complex would help him alot. He may never completely recover but this should help . I usually recommend Brewers yeast added to feed but with his many issues I'd say he is in need of the complex. You can get B complex at Walmart or any pharmacy Try him on this for at least 3 weeks before you decide it isn't helping but usually once started on the B's they make a fast comeback. sounds like your lil one also has neurological issues and that is also usually from B[niacin]deficiency. Please keep us updated on how this lil one is doing..It is rec that all waterfowl babies start taking Niacin in the form of Brewers yeast or plain niacin at hatch if feed feed formulated for chickens it just doesn't have the amount of niacin they need and should stay on this till at least 10 weeks old .

 

[goosemomma]

I am giving an update, long overdue, on my Sebastopol goose with all of the physical issues. Albert is pretty much full grown as best as I can tell, and I am fairly certain she is female because of her size, etc. I named her Albert after my father who was dying when I was trying to save her. Had no idea if male or female back then. My Dad died last August. The name stuck even though it's a she. Albert stays in her pen a lot because the other geese will gang up on her if I let her in with them. Have to put them in another fenced part of the yard to let her out. I can tell she really wants to be with the other geese. I let her out with 3 of them yesterday and all was ok for a short while. Soon two were attacking her again. With her physical issues she cannot run fast and yesterday she fell over on her back. I had to go get her and set her up straight. My goal is to assimilate her into the gaggle as soon as possible. Right now one of the other geese has goslings and so there's no moving the whole group to the other fenced area so Albert can get out of his pen for a few hours a day. :/
Here is a fairly recent pic of Albert.