Sick Toulouse Goose

[Autumnleaf]

Hello everyone! This is my first time posting here. Gracie is 12 years old and 2 days ago I noticed her standing next to the waterer with a soft egg on the ground just behind her. It was broken and had apparently just come out. She has been eating a lot of dirt and drinking in between so hasn't been getting enough calcium. The first thing I checked for was egg binding and that doesn't seem to be the case. She is lethargic and not eating normally. I brought her to my vet the following day and he prescribed liquid calcium and metronidazole (.4 cc) once daily. He also said to keep her warm at night. That was two days ago. She has not improved and spends an unusual amount of time sitting in her water bucket. I've even seen her in it at 5:30 in the morning which tells me she might be running a fever? My vet told me there was no way to take her temp.. Can't you just use a thermometer in her vent? She has all the grass she wants and I've been trying to tempt her with cracked corn, soaked alfalfa pellets and oats and she barely picks at them.

Thank you all so much for any advice you could give.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hello everyone! This is my first time posting here. Gracie is 12 years old and 2 days ago I noticed her standing next to the waterer with a soft egg on the ground just behind her. It was broken and had apparently just come out. She has been eating a lot of dirt and drinking in between so hasn't been getting enough calcium. The first thing I checked for was egg binding and that doesn't seem to be the case. She is lethargic and not eating normally. I brought her to my vet the following day and he prescribed liquid calcium and metronidazole (.4 cc) once daily. He also said to keep her warm at night. That was two days ago. She has not improved and spends an unusual amount of time sitting in her water bucket. I've even seen her in it at 5:30 in the morning which tells me she might be running a fever? My vet told me there was no way to take her temp.. Can't you just use a thermometer in her vent? She has all the grass she wants and I've been trying to tempt her with cracked corn, soaked alfalfa pellets and oats and she barely picks at them.

Thank you all so much for any advice you could give.

You could try a rectal thermometer in her vent I don't know if it would work though but seems there would have to be a way. How is Gracie today? And it may take more than a few days to see improvement I hope since this day 3 you are seeing improvement.

 

[Autumnleaf]

She has not improved. She basically has no appetite but occasionally stops to eat dirt or will take a piece of bread. I have soaked alfalfa pellets, layer mash, oats and even some scrambled egg and she's not interested. We've had a freaky cold rain storm here and I've had to put her in the garage tonight to keep her warm. Not too happy about that either. I'm not entirely sure I'm getting all of the metronidazole down her but I'm afraid of aspiration as well. What would be the next step?

Thank you SO much!

 

[Miss Lydia]

She has not improved. She basically has no appetite but occasionally stops to eat dirt or will take a piece of bread. I have soaked alfalfa pellets, layer mash, oats and even some scrambled egg and she's not interested. We've had a freaky cold rain storm here and I've had to put her in the garage tonight to keep her warm. Not too happy about that either. I'm not entirely sure I'm getting all of the metronidazole down her but I'm afraid of aspiration as well. What would be the next step?

Thank you SO much!

Has she ever been wormed?

I asked casportpony to look at your thread she has alot of knowledge about worming and giving meds. but I can tell ya when laying season comes around my 3 yr old goose eats alot of dirt, I asked about it on here and was told they are after the minerals in it. not sure if that is right though.

 

[Autumnleaf]

Gracie has never been wormed. Is it safe to do so while she is weak, not eating?
Thank you!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Gracie has never been wormed. Is it safe to do so while she is weak, not eating?
Thank you!!

There are safe wormers out there. Safe Guard for goats being one of them. also you can get safe guard in a paste for worming horses and that would be very easy to give. you'll have to weigh her so @casportpony can give you right dosage. [I hope she comes on soon] Not sure if it is a good idea but you may not have any choice. You could also call the vet and see if they would look at her poop under magnifying glass for parasites, it's not expensive you just have to bring them some of her poop. She needs to eat and also drink to stay hydrated. have you ever tube feed an animal? @casportpony can give you instructions on how to do that also.

 

[Autumnleaf]

I have to say that this illness/condition was a fairly acute onset. Gracie went diving for the laymash in the chicken coop earlier in the day and seemed 'herself'. Only when I observed this broken soft shell egg right behind her when she was at the water dish did things seem to go downhill. Whether she got into something during the day to cause this egg to drop or the egg itself caused the problem I cannot say.

Right now she is back outside moving very slowly and pretty much not venturing too far from the water. I cleaned the doggy mat she had last night in the garage and the stool is mostly egg whitish with tiny bits of very dark green. There weren't any visible signs of worms.

Gracie shares a large yard with hens, collies, a Clydesdale and a mini. We've just wormed both horses but have never done the poultry. She has been in this yard her whole life and has never exhibited signs of illness until now.

Hope this helps.....We SO appreciate the input and the valuable information we've gained from BYC. You folks are a Godsend.

 

[Autumnleaf]

Thank you Miss Lydia! I've never tube
fed, though I've used syringes to feed sick kitties. I also read that Panacur is a good choice for wormer.

I'll have to confine Gracie again so I can collect a good sample. We are supposed to get more showers and I'll put her back in the garage.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have to say that this illness/condition was a fairly acute onset. Gracie went diving for the laymash in the chicken coop earlier in the day and seemed 'herself'. Only when I observed this broken soft shell egg right behind her when she was at the water dish did things seem to go downhill. Whether she got into something during the day to cause this egg to drop or the egg itself caused the problem I cannot say.

Right now she is back outside moving very slowly and pretty much not venturing too far from the water. I cleaned the doggy mat she had last night in the garage and the stool is mostly egg whitish with tiny bits of very dark green. There weren't any visible signs of worms.

Gracie shares a large yard with hens, collies, a Clydesdale and a mini. We've just wormed both horses but have never done the poultry. She has been in this yard her whole life and has never exhibited signs of illness until now.

Hope this helps.....We SO appreciate the input and the valuable information we've gained from BYC. You folks are a Godsend.

They don't have to have visible signs of worms to have them. trust me I know. What part of the country are you in? poultry should be wormed according to where you are,the hotter and wetter the climate the more they need worming. here where we live western mountains of NC I worm my poultry 3X a year. my water fowl in late winter right before breeding season, they are more resistant to parasites than other poultry as long as kept in reasonably clean environment.I'm not saying this is Gracie's problem could be an infection too. How often does she lay now that she is older? Soft shell eggs are not un common and really don't have to mean anything other than things just didn't come together right as it was progressing down the shoot. but it can also mean she has infection and maybe laying internally did the vet say anything about this?

 

[Autumnleaf]

This year Gracie has been laying an egg maybe once every 2 days or so. I'm waiting to collect a stool sample from her.

ps.. she used to eat the dog's food all of the time. I tried tossing her some Iam's senior lrg breed kibble. Score! She gobbled it up.