Spirit - the amazing grey dewlap toulouse gander!

[Miss Lydia]

Welcome back Marty thought you had not been on here for a bit.. Now I know why.

No thank you Iain it broke my heart when the one was hatching out of 8 eggs and it died.... So I decided to stay with sebastopols. My husband would not be happy if I got a different breed of goose! He wants me to get rid of all the pets now... No way will I part with my sebbies until I can no longer take care of them properly~~~

I have a brand new video that Leesa made with Oliver last night... My gosh that Oliver listens to her...

Here is the website to go to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt4-J2bF6hk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

So sweet.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Marty did you try to make Baby a shoe? that may help to get her foot straightened out again.

 

[Marty1876]

You know, I've been thinking about that. Can you remind me how its done? I really think that would help her a lot. One leg is great, the other curled and she's elbow walking. She gets very vocal and upset that its now working right. She's wanting to be out with the other geese be time. Every afternoon I put her and lucky out, and she's eating like a pig. She's gaining weight, and working to walk. I've very hubled by her now.

Poor Lucky is going to be slower. When I took her to the vet last week, after careful examination, and an x-ray, it was determined that she has cracked some of her back bones. Thats why she's askew. He said they were togather ok, but that all we could do was keep her alive and give her time. We tried some pain meds, but she wouldn't eat then. So, she's just getting herself by, and does have an appetite, so if she can avoid starving, and make it for another month or so until her bones heal, she maybe able to walk again.....maybe. Poor girl.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Chick Shoes for Twisted or Curled Toes

• CAUTION: A chick wearing Chick Shoes can easily drown if it stumbles near a water container. See "Prevent Drowning in Water Dish"section.
• Use for splinting and correcting Twisted Toes, or sometimes to help with Curled Toes. (With Twisted Toes, an adult or chick walks on sides of twisted toes. With Curled Toes, a chick walks on tops of curled toes.)
• Cut out a small, flat triangle a little larger than the size that the chick's foot should be when toes are spread. Position each toe correctly and then use a small piece of sports tape to tape the toe to the cardboard.
  • Triangle be cut from sponge, thin cardboard/paperboard or a piece of a plastic lid from something like a sour cream container.
• A different type of chick shoe splint can be made from pipe cleaners (or flower arranging wire and thin padding, for older chickens).
  • Instructions for this kind of chick shoe and also a half chick shoe at www.peafowl.org/ARTICLES/1/
    • Recommendation: Use sports tape instead of duct tape.
      
• If treating young chick: Important to put on new shoe at least every 1-3 days while feet growing fast.
  • Make sure shoe size increased regularly so foot doesn't outgrow shoe.
  • Notice and correct sooner if chick wiggles toe into wrong position, before deformities caused.
• If treating older bird: You may want to treat moderately twisted toes if causing problems. Do not try to correct long-term, severely twisted toes. Bones, muscles & ligaments are mature & may not be able to be reshaped, or will change more slowly.
  • Aim for gradual reshaping.
  • Check regularly that there isn't too much debris sticking to shoe, & that toes haven't slipped loose.
  • Change the shoe at least every 4-7 days.
    
    
    This is directions for a chick but you would just need to make it in the larger version . So sorry about Lucky, hopefully with time she'll still recover. You know if you can make Baby one of these shoes and get her to stand on it it may just be the ticket to getting her mobile again.

 

[Marty1876]

I agree! Since she's in the barn all day today (we've got snow right now) I think we'll do this this morning. We can here her fussing all the way in the house when her foot isn't cooperating for her. I may need to go buy some medical tape, I think my kids used it all wrapping up their presents. LOL Duct tape is too much for them, eh?

BTW, how is my dear Miss Lydia?

Its wonderful to get to chat with you again.

 

[Going Bhonkers]

I went on you tube and watched the videos about Oliver, he is so cute. then all these other videos came up showing other peoples geese next thing ya know I spent 30 min looking at them. Boy that can get addicting.

So true!! Time flies when you're watching geese!

The flock is doing well.

Everyone is growing, and Baby is trying very hard to walk, but she's not got it relearned yet. She keeps trying to walk on one knee, but she's trying very hard. I do leg and foot stretches with her, trying to uncurl the foot and straighten the leg. The tendons have tightened up on her a bit.

Marty, besides the shoe, what if you do something like a leg sling/ wheel chair so she can spend some time outside with her friends, and maybe stretch out her leg at the same time? I saw a wheelchair post about a goose a while ago, but I cant remember where..... so in the meantime, I did a search that might give you some ideas (just look @ the pictures!)

• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/713499/my-chicken-sling-pic
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/281378/sebastian-gets-a-new-chair
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...oking-for-contacts-for-wheelchair-diapers-etc
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/541765/i-broke-my-little-seabrights-leg-today-by-accident-updated
• https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/404167/underwear-makes-a-great-sling-updated-with-pics-added

Edited to add, I FOUND IT!, here, check post #12 on this thread too https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/692817/sick-goose/10

 

[Marty1876]

She's allready hanging out with them every night, and in the afternoon she grooves over and sits by the pen. They mess with her too much if she's with them, trying to make her get up. I think we'll try the shoe first, she's really almost there.

 

[Iain Utah]

Marty, precious pic of your barn pair on the other thread. Very sorry to hear about Lucky's diagnosis, but I am still hoping that with time, she will get better.

Ruru, very cute video!! Oliver and Leesa are perfect for each other. I understand about the hatching eggs, but the offer stands if you change your mind.

Is everyone going to have a white christmas? With this most recent snowstorm and deep freeze, we will. Of course, Spirit is having to spend most of his time inside now but I did let him/Ember outside for a few hours yesterday afternoon while I cleaned their room. When I went to put them up, I decided I was going to try putting Blind Girl with Spirit instead of Ember. But while I was herding BG to pick up, I look over and see Ember has pushed her way through pen gate and was at the bottom of steps trying to hop up them to get to back door. So... I took Ember inside, since she was so determined to go. I spread out a bag of fresh pine shavings where my other dewlaps sleep outside which they appreciated, but we were only 0F overnight and they look cold. So today hubby and I will get the garage set back up for them to go into tonight. I hope it won't be too difficult getting a new routine established with them.

 

[Marty1876]

Once they work out freeing off the tail feathers isn't required, they'll be happy to go. Mine go right in (following the ducks) and go back out ok too. Spike, the muscovey drake, has decided the last few nights he didn't want to go in, so he's roosting with the turkeys at night now. He walk up this board, and roosts on a sawhorse near the turkeys instead. I guess without his girls, he just doesn't fit in with everyone else.

 

[Iain Utah]

I think that is why Ember was trying so hard to go inside last night. She knew there was food and a fresh gallon bucket of water waiting for her on blankets in a big warm room.

My ducks are smart like that, too. They usually prefer to stay outside and sleep on the water. But when it gets really cold, they put themselves up in their coop. My pair of muscovy girls have always marched to their own drummer, too, and will sleep in the hay barn with my cats instead of with the other ducks.