Sick Goose (Diagnosis?)

[AGOOSETAS GLOOP]

Hello, I have a sick goose for about a week now and am attempting to diagnosis him. He is eating and drinking still.

He went to the vet and got a blood test and heavy metal test. The blood test came back and said he had anemia which tracks considering his beak is looking poor. Still waiting on the heavy metal test.

The vet ended up prescribing him Clavacillin and Carprofen which he has been steady taking for two days. I’ve also begun administering activated charcoal in offset periods to the medication in an attempt to filter out his system without filtering out the medication.

I’ve also started giving him SafeGuard horse paste which as far as I know has no interactions with his current prescriptions. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

Anyways here are his symptoms and a photo of the chap if anyone can provide some more useful information.

Symptoms:
Falling over/Poor balance
Can’t hold up neck very well
Occasional Diarrhea
Dry Beak
Drooling
Lazy Jaw

Does anyone know what could be wrong with him? Also, Does anyone know what the resting heart rate of a goose should be?

 

[Goosebaby]

Hello, I have a sick goose for about a week now and am attempting to diagnosis him. He is eating and drinking still.

He went to the vet and got a blood test and heavy metal test. The blood test came back and said he had anemia which tracks considering his beak is looking poor. Still waiting on the heavy metal test.

The vet ended up prescribing him Clavacillin and Carprofen which he has been steady taking for two days. I’ve also begun administering activated charcoal in offset periods to the medication in an attempt to filter out his system without filtering out the medication.

I’ve also started giving him SafeGuard horse paste which as far as I know has no interactions with his current prescriptions. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

Anyways here are his symptoms and a photo of the chap if anyone can provide some more useful information.

Symptoms:
Falling over/Poor balance
Can’t hold up neck very well
Occasional Diarrhea
Dry Beak
Drooling
Lazy Jaw

Does anyone know what could be wrong with him? Also, Does anyone know what the resting heart rate of a goose should be?

Does he seem to swallow often?

Dry skin, balance issues, and the anemia point to a vitamin deficiency, likely several.

What feed is he on?

What do his droppings look like? Green, red, black, salmon colored, mostly or completely white? Are they hard and solid or mostly liquid? If liquid do they seem mucous or bubbly?

Resting heart rate can vary depending on health conditions and the natural size of a goose, and if the goose is actually calm and not stressed out…My Toulouse x buff who doesn’t mind being handled averages 14 pounds when healthy is around 64 bpm. His mother who is smaller and doesn’t really like being held averages 90 bpm To 160 bpm.

Emaciation often causes temporary tachycardia or bradycardia which should resolve itself as the bird begins putting on weight.

 

[Goosebaby]

If you can get liquid B complex he could use some immediately. Also E and A vitamins. You could get a multivitamin alongside the Bcomplex but you’ll get quicker results with individual vitamin E capsules that are more concentrated.

Something like poultry nutri-drench or rooster booster has a lot of vitamins in general which could be beneficial though they’re not as concentrated As the B complex or vitamin capsules.

 

[Goosebaby]

Also have you noticed any frequent gurgling, bubbling or popping sounds coming from the abdomen?

 

[AGOOSETAS GLOOP]

Does he seem to swallow often?

Dry skin, balance issues, and the anemia point to a vitamin deficiency, likely several.

What feed is he on?

What do his droppings look like? Green, red, black, salmon colored, mostly or completely white? Are they hard and solid or mostly liquid? If liquid do they seem mucous or bubbly?

Resting heart rate can vary depending on health conditions and the natural size of a goose, and if the goose is actually calm and not stressed out…My Toulouse x buff who doesn’t mind being handled averages 14 pounds when healthy is around 64 bpm. His mother who is smaller and doesn’t really like being held averages 90 bpm To 160 bpm.

Emaciation often causes temporary tachycardia or bradycardia which should resolve itself as the bird begins putting on weight.

Thank you for your replies!

I have not taken note of his swallowing. I have noticed him chattering his beak though almost as if he’s trying to spit something up.

He is eating Purina Flock Raiser but prior to getting sick he was on New Country Organics Classic Layer Feed. We’ve also begun feeding him brewers yeast for the vitamin B. Is the liquid B complex more ideal?

His droppings have generally been very liquidy and a lighter green sometimes dark green. More mucus like. I did notice a very healthy bowel movement the morning after the first activated charcoal dosage. I am considering giving him a second now but am weary it will filter out the worm medication.

As for the abdomen, I’ve only noticed that he tensed up when we touched it however that may just be him not liking touch in general coz he’s kinda shy.

 

[Goosebaby]

Thank you for your replies!

I have not taken note of his swallowing. I have noticed him chattering his beak though almost as if he’s trying to spit something up.

He is eating Purina Flock Raiser but prior to getting sick he was on New Country Organics Classic Layer Feed. We’ve also begun feeding him brewers yeast for the vitamin B. Is the liquid B complex more ideal?

His droppings have generally been very liquidy and a lighter green sometimes dark green. More mucus like. I did notice a very healthy bowel movement the morning after the first activated charcoal dosage. I am considering giving him a second now but am weary it will filter out the worm medication.

As for the abdomen, I’ve only noticed that he tensed up when we touched it however that may just be him not liking touch in general coz he’s kinda shy.

It could have been the layer feed. Layer feed is low on protein as well as vitamins and has a lot of calcium which males, still growing birds, and females who aren’t currently laying do not need and which can cause issues with the kidneys and pancreas over time. Calcium can also bind nutrients, particularly iron, Usually if taken as a separate supplement like oyster shell or egg shells it doesn’t interfere with nutrient absorption but if eaten at a constant rate like in layer feed it can cause problems.

Vitamin and mineral deficiency will also cause a weakened immune system so he could have caught something also.

Brewers yeast is good, nutritional yeast is much better, but with a sick bird B complex will give him a swifter and more concentrated dose of the Bs.

Mucousy droppings are Usually a sign of an intestinal infection, it could be from worms or Giardia or various kinds of bacteria. Did your vet do any kind of gram stain or fecal float?

 

[AGOOSETAS GLOOP]

It could have been the layer feed. Layer feed is low on protein as well as vitamins and has a lot of calcium which males, still growing birds, and females who aren’t currently laying do not need and which can cause issues with the kidneys and pancreas over time. Calcium can also bind nutrients, particularly iron, Usually if taken as a separate supplement like oyster shell or egg shells it doesn’t interfere with nutrient absorption but if eaten at a constant rate like in layer feed it can cause problems.

Vitamin and mineral deficiency will also cause a weakened immune system so he could have caught something also.

Brewers yeast is good, nutritional yeast is much better, but with a sick bird B complex will give him a swifter and more concentrated dose of the Bs.

Mucousy droppings are Usually a sign of an intestinal infection, it could be from worms or Giardia or various kinds of bacteria. Did your vet do any kind of gram stain or fecal float?

His droppings aren’t especially mucousy. I’d just describe them as that over bubbly. My vet did not do either of those things. Are either of them something I could do myself?

I’m definitely going to get him some vitamins tomorrow morning. Do you recommend any specific brands?

 

[Goosebaby]

His droppings aren’t especially mucousy. I’d just describe them as that over bubbly. My vet did not do either of those things. Are either of them something I could do myself?

I’m definitely going to get him some vitamins tomorrow morning. Do you recommend any specific brands?

A gram stain from a dropping sample can determine if there’s a high amount of gram positive or negative bacteria in the dropping sample. A fecal float is used to determine the presence of parasites or eggs. Without some specific equipment neither is really possible at home unfortunately.

As for vitamins, definitely liquid B complex and I would strongly suggest rooster booster poultry cell because it has a lot of iron in it.

It has E in it but for greatest impact I would suggest getting some E vitamin capsules.

Also a 12 ml syringe for oral dosing because he isn’t going to want to take the vitamins freely, and I wouldn’t blame him, tastes awful.

Iron supplements can cause nausea so I suggest starting with a low dose of the poultry cell if you can find it, around 2ml twice a day and then move up to 3 ml twice a day. It says it can be given in 6 ml dosages but I found out the hard way that that triggers nausea pretty bad in geese and my goose vomited it all over the room when I gave it to him.

 

[Goosebaby]

Here’s a useful guide to administering oral meds and vitamins https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[AGOOSETAS GLOOP]

A gram stain from a dropping sample can determine if there’s a high amount of gram positive or negative bacteria in the dropping sample. A fecal float is used to determine the presence of parasites or eggs. Without some specific equipment neither is really possible at home unfortunately.

As for vitamins, definitely liquid B complex and I would strongly suggest rooster booster poultry cell because it has a lot of iron in it.

It has E in it but for greatest impact I would suggest getting some E vitamin capsules.

Also a 12 ml syringe for oral dosing because he isn’t going to want to take the vitamins freely, and I wouldn’t blame him, tastes awful.

Iron supplements can cause nausea so I suggest starting with a low dose of the poultry cell if you can find it, around 2ml twice a day and then move up to 3 ml twice a day. It says it can be given in 6 ml dosages but I found out the hard way that that triggers nausea pretty bad in geese and my goose vomited it all over the room when I gave it to him.

Ok awesome, thank you for all your intel. It is highly appreciated. I’m going to do all that and give an update tomorrow afternoon.