Seriously Injured Goose

[magpiebirdie]

Longtime chicken keeper, short-time goose keeper.

One of our three 1-year old Pilgrims seems to have injured herself pretty seriously -- she has a long puncture wound from mid-belly, down between her legs. (Between the fat rolls, basically.) The skin flaps are dangling and I can see the abdominal membrane, but I don't think it's been punctured.

Two days ago we noticed she was listless and limping. No obvious swelling or injuries at that time, and no signs of bumblefoot. One leg was warmer than the other, so we started daily Penicillin Procaine injections. She seemed to be improving, but this morning the dangling skin flap appeared -- after I picked her up, I saw the wound.

She's currently separated in our recovery pen with water & her favorite snacks, and when my husband gets home from work tonight we'll take a closer look just to make sure that all her insides are still inside where they should be. I've helped chickens recover from similar wounds (hawk attacks) on their legs and back, but never a belly wound like this. This is also my first time handling a serious goose injury. (These three free range on our farm and have "personality plus," so I doubt it will be the last!)

Assuming it's just the skin that's been torn -- is this an injury she could recover from? When our chickens were injured, our vet advised us not to give stitches because with care and time, the skin would regenerate. (It did.) Do geese heal in the same way? Is there any special or different that we need to be doing with a goose vs a chicken? Typically we would clean the wound very well with sterile saline solution, then a betadine wash and daily Neosporin packing/bandaging until the wound skins over. Penicillin injections until we stop bandaging.

What do you all think? We're softies, and want to avoid the chopping block if at all possible. With only three geese, she's more of a pet than Christmas dinner.

 

[casportpony]

Thanks for the vote of confidence @Miss Lydia, though there are plenty of people with lots of good wound care advice. A wound in this area is my worst nightmare, but if the abdominal cavity has not been breached, she might recover it it doesn't get infected. For this type of sound I would start by looking for a breach, if no breach found I would pluck feathers 1/2" to 1" away from wound edges, thoroughly debride and rinse with saline and chlorhexidine. If I thought I could get the wound clean enough I might consider suturing it. If not, I guess I would try to wrap it, like I did for that breast blister rooster in that other thread.

I would also start Baytril to cover any of the gram negative bacteria. If not drinking and eating, I would give fluids and tube feed.

 

[The Phantom]

@casportpony @Wyorp Rock

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think this one needs to go to @casportpony she knows wound care better than anyone. Is there anyway to get a pic of what your seeing @magpiebirdie ?

 

[magpiebirdie]

Thank you all so much for your advice & help! We just finished cleaning up the wound -- the great news is that it looks like the abdominal wall is intact & no leaks that we can see. Yay!

Because of the way the skin tore (front to back) + how heavy her darn fat rolls are (pulling the wound down and open) + the location of the wound, it's pretty much impossible to bandage her. When vetwrapped, she can't stand. So it looks like it's off to a vet tomorrow for a Penrose drain & stitches.

GEESE.

Thanks again -- and many thanks to @casportpony for your meloxicam dosage suggestion. She's resting comfortably now, and awaiting her "spa day" tomorrow. Will post an update after our vet visit.

 

[casportpony]

I am so glad the abdominal cavity is okay! Good luck at the vet tomorrow and please give an update after your appointment!

 

[magpiebirdie]

Hello All! Apologies for not posting an update on this weekend -- our Saturday appointment was pushed back to Monday because of a snowstorm.

While we waited, we continued giving penicillin once a day, and packing the wound with neosporin once a day. We were unable to bandage the wound because there was no way to wrap her without binding her wings and legs.

Today, our vet anesthetized the goose and while she was under: cleaned up the edges of the wound, did a bit more debriding, and then stitched her up like a Thanksgiving turkey.

We're to coat the sutures with Silvadene cream 2-3 times a day, continue with daily penicillin injections, and add a daily oral drench of Baytril to the mix (to kill gram negative bacteria). Hopefully in 10-14 days, we'll be removing the sutures.

We lucked out -- after calling, no lie, 20 vet clinics in a 100 mile radius, we found this fantastic avian vet who also happens to treat wild animals, and who worked at a well-known zoo.

I'll update again after we've removed stitches.

Thanks again!!!

 

[WVduckchick]

Sorry, I'm not a goose momma, but I would assume it would be safe to treat similarly to a chicken, unless someone advises otherwise.

Sure hope you can fix her up! Where do you think the damage came from? Hawks usually attack the back of the neck also, so look her over for other wounds too? Any possibility of a snapping turtle or some other predator?

 

[magpiebirdie]

Thank you all so much for your help. Here's what we're looking at -- the pink at the top is skin, not intestine.

@casportpony in your experience any particular challenges/tricks in tube-feeding a goose? I've tube-fed many a chicken with Kaytee.

@WVduckchick Not really sure -- it's possible it was a snapping turtle, they have access to three large ponds with some pretty big chompers (we've observed them). The rest of her is clean as a whistle -- her belly wound is the only wound. They seem to enjoy buzzing fences and buildings by mere millimeters; maybe she clipped the top of a t-post? The geese are locked in a small concrete block building each night, so evening predators probably aren't involved. I sure wish I knew what happened!

 

[casportpony]

Can you pluck the feathers around the wound and post a new picture picture?