Sick Embden gander

[winky]

I have an 8 year old Embden gander who has been doing a little more resting than normal lately. He's eating and drinking OK but just seems to be a bit off. For several days now I have noticed him resting while his mate stands guard next to him. He has a small amount of dirt collecting at the corner of each eye like he may have had a little discharge that attracted soil. I have lots of different dewormers and antibiotic choices here on the farm but don't really know where to start with these vague symptoms. Any thoughts?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have an 8 year old Embden gander who has been doing a little more resting than normal lately. He's eating and drinking OK but just seems to be a bit off. For several days now I have noticed him resting while his mate stands guard next to him. He has a small amount of dirt collecting at the corner of each eye like he may have had a little discharge that attracted soil. I have lots of different dewormers and antibiotic choices here on the farm but don't really know where to start with these vague symptoms. Any thoughts?

I'm sorry your gander isn't feeling up to par. has anything changed in his life, new feed, have you looked around to see if maybe he could have eaten something that wasn't good for him? rotted food or molding feed? water that maybe stagnant? can you get some kind of eye wash to treat his eyes/ saline wash or veterycin spray [TSC] and possibly some poultry vitamins added to his water. Have you ever wormed him? Most of the time they can keep parasite free but that doesn't mean they can't get worms. I'd do antibiotics as a last resort. unless symptoms show up more. Are you feeding them a well balanced diet? some folks feed nothing but corn and or scratch and neither are a well balanced diet. Maybe offering some fresh greens especially if there is no forage for them this time of year. I hope you can figure it out. At the top of the goose thread there is a sticky that may help too. All the best. And please keep us updated.

 

[winky]

Thanks for your reply Miss Lydia. The geese are free ranged so they have access to lots of greens and I also throw produce out for them daily. It's possible he could have gotten into something here on the farm but all the other birds have the same access. I have never dewormed them but I will take a fecal to the bird vet on Monday if he's still acting off. Like I said, he's not acutely ill... just not quite himself. I hope it's not age related, I thought they would live much longer but this pair is exceptionally heavy bodied so that may shorten their live a bit I guess. I haven't flushed his eyes yet and I think I'll wait to see if other treatments are needed before I subject him to that. I do worry about capture myopathy with these big birds since they don't willingly let me handle them. I'll check out the sticky above. Thanks again.