Sebastopol questions about wing and feather development

[Jenifer Kraus]

You both might try Duct Tape , I had a wonderful friend tell me about that and it holds great. Glad to hear Baybrio that it is helping. By the way do you have a Paso Fino, your name made me think of that and we have one.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
Thanks! Since my girls are (probably) older than yours were when you started wrapping (I didn't get their exact ages!), I think I'll try the Duct Tape and check it once a week or so. They still have a few blood feathers in their wings (I know because one of them broke one on the way home!), so they aren't quite finished out yet. The boys have it a little bit too (just one or two feathers sticking out on either side - whereas the one girl has it really bad), but I think they're probably old enough that it's beyond helping. I'll give it a try though - you never know!

Good pictures are hard to get - they're scared to death of me!

I'm still getting them settled in, just brought them home at 10:00 this morning - they're going to get to go out and forage on our little "prairie" section of the backyard where we never mow tomorrow, once I get some fencing whipped up!

 

[Baybrio]

Annarie,

I do think the duct tape will stick better but you will have a terrible time taking it off every week to check progress. If your geese are already timid pulling their feathers will not help

(I'm saying this with a "been there done that" smile on my face please nobody take it the wrong way!) My niece sat and helped me when I changed the medical tape before I discovered the VetWrap under the medical tape worked best. We practically had to peal the tape off each feather one at time to keep from causing the geese pain. I just had a thought though - maybe the more mature feathers on your slightly older birds will be less sensitive and less likely to stick so tightly to the duct tape. My geese were just getting their feathers and still had a good deal of soft fluff.

On another note I bet your geese came from the same women I bought mine from (or perhaps her sister). They might even be related (the geese not the sisters)! Now we both have Dutch Hookbills and Sebastopols.

 

[Sweetfolly]

My girls are still small and have soft baby fluff on their backs and around their bums (although, they do already have a lot of curl on their breasts), and their wing feathers are still coming in, they're all stubby little blood feathers still in the shafts - I've decided the boys cartilage is already twisted, so I gave up on them.

The girls are actually becoming quite tame - the younger one sat in my lap perfectly still for about 10 minutes this morning while I messed with her wings. The boys are beasts though, one of them bit me yesterday and gave me a nice blood blister.

Here I am holding the older/larger of the two girls this morning after I checked her wings - I'm seeing progress already!

Maybe we did get them from the same person...her name was Heidi? And she got them from someone she knows who breeds the colored Sebastopols named Paula (I think she said my boys came from colored stock). She couldn't remember if they came from Holderreads or Metzer stock. The flock of adults she had out in her pasture were all gorgeous, LOTS of curl, which makes me think they were more likely Holderreads stock than Metzer (plus, Meter doesn't have the colored ones).

Anyways, the duct tape is working great. I can take it off pretty easily, and if it's stuck to a feather I just snip the feather with a little pair of scissors. They'll eventually grow back - I'd rather snip a few feathers now and fix the wings quickly, rather than having them constantly breaking their stuck-out wing feathers for the rest of their lives.

If I get the wings corrected, I'll post back here with pictures in a few months!

EDIT: I was going to ask you if you got any White Hookbills in your second batch? If you hatch any White Hookbill ducklings next year, I'll have to drive down there and get some! I'd still like to add one or two of them to my flock. I have so much going on right now, I don't want another whole batch of ducklings from Holderreads!

 

[Baybrio]

Annarie,

I'm sorry I didn't get any white Hookbills in this batch. I have a pair of dusky, the rest are bibbed. You'll be first on my list if they hatch any white in the spring. I have not studied their color genetics, but I seem to remember the Sandhill catalog mentioning they pen all of theirs together and get a variety of bibbed, dusky and white.

Yes, I purchased mine geese from Heidi. Because I was driving so far she met me part way with my goslings so I didn't get to see her other geese. She seems like a very nice person and a lovely kind soul. I'm glad to hear her other geese are also beautiful. My girl has never offered to bite, the male has gently nipped me a few times when I've pulled a feather trying to tape his wings.

You are a much better wing nurse than I. I had a terrible time getting the tape off. Keep me posted on how they are doing.

 

[Jenifer Kraus]

Quote:
Oh that is so cute, a wing nurse. I have used vet wrap to. and the nice thing about duct tape is that the feathers do stick when you are trying to place the wing in its natural position. Annarie you look so happy with your goose and she seems pretty calm. The more your geese start to trust you even the boys, they will loosen up . Try bread and carrots . Mine will come running when they see any bag that I am carrying .