Squeaking Geese - no parasites

[Wildcrafter]

Hello everyone. I’m hoping someone with geese experience can help me figure out this conundrum.

I need some help with diagnosing a goose issue, please. My goose shakes his head and squeaks. He’s done it off and on since summer. He’s been treated and tested for parasites. Negative on that.

He’s been given a round of anti-inflammatories in case something was lodged in his nares. Daisy, his wife, is squeaking now as well. A test for aspergillus, which would be a swab in his beak, costs $500. That’s not gonna happen.

They look and act generally well. They eat and drink, they have energy, their feathers look good. Fresh water every day. I alternate acv and probiotics in the water.

I treated myself with colloidal silver spray and other things when I had mycotoxins in my sinuses. And I’m wondering if I could do that for my geese??

Does anyone have experience with this issue? The vets in my area don’t really know anything about geese and I’m kind of at my wit’s end here.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Goosebaby]

What breed are they?

Besides the squeaking have you noticed a change in their voices?

Have you noticed any blood in their droppings or odd colors like black, bright grass green, yellow, salmon, orange, or mostly white in them?
Have you noticed any bubbly droppings or mucous in the droppings?

Have you noticed any weight loss?

Have you noticed any foam in the eyes or a little bubbling in the corners of the eyes?

Have you noticed any popping, gurgling, or grinding sounds from their abdomens?


What kind of feed are they on?
What kind of bedding are they on?
Is their water bucket deep enough for them to submerge their faces?



Aspergillosis is a tricky thing to diagnose, a beak swab isn’t going to detect it unless it’s right there in the beak. Usually a host of tests including x-rays, antibody tests, blood chemistry, and swabs are used to confirm it. Sadly it’s usually progressed to a dire point before more obvious symptoms appear.


Another Possibility is a respiratory illness caused from a bacteria, virus, or mycoplasma. Mycoplasma in geese are hard to pin down from my own experience. They’re hard to test for and harder to treat. I’ve suspected for awhile that it’s lurking in my own flock because it mimics CRD but with milder symptoms than chickens tend to get.
It lies dormant until a stressor like sudden cold or hot temperatures, a scare, discord in the flock, an injury, or another illness brings it out and then it causes squeaky coughs, snicking, and feeling poorly. It seems to affect ganders worse, the larger the gander, the More severe the symptoms.
Tylosin is an effective treatment, but nothing really cures it.

For bacterial respiratory illnesses Baytril is a great option.


Dusty feed or bedding can also irritate the airways so that’s also a prime Cause of squeaky coughs. Eating habits can also contribute. My gander Helios tends to inhale while he eats and squeaks a lot while he’s eating as a result.

Another strong possibility is also digestive issues. Parasites or infection in the lower intestines can inflame them which causes them to push on the lower air sacks, sometimes causing a squeaky cough and if it’s bad enough gaping. Things that can cause this are typically Giardia, coccidia, clostridium, or a combination of the three.
Corid will usually take care of coccidia, SMZ TMP will kill the coccidia.
Giardia and Clostridium can be treated with metronidazole.
Clostridium is also treated with Tylosin, I’ve found treating with Tylosin in conjunction with metronidazole is most effective, Tylosin also treats mycoplasma as I mentioned as well as a number of other respiratory and intestinal illness causing bacteria.

I wouldn’t use the colloidal silver personally. I don’t have any experience using it myself so I can’t say it’s a good idea or not, or how safe it would be for your geese.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@New duck mommy 2021 has experience with silver.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I have used the silver on my ducks and has not caused any bad issues
I have given it orally as well as used it as a spray on my duck who had aspergillosis
We had the testing done and hers was positive to it
The first round of fungal meds cost me 250.00 per month for 3 months
The second time she got it my vet tried a different med that the zoo’s use
My cost was only 30 dollars and the pill is broke down into into 1/4 twice a day
One bottle fixed the issue
I’ll have to take a picture of my fungal meds I used on round 2
My girl gets environmental aspergillosis
It’s hard ti pin down what’s affecting her
The second time my vet didn’t even do the testing as her symptoms were the same
The cheaper fungal meds not only cost way less but cured it faster
Then again we started treatment a lot faster as the first round it took my vet and the avian vets 4-5 months to even figure out what was going on
Do you have any fox tails in your yard ? I keep mine cut down after my cat got into them and ended up on antibiotics
I have seen my goose eat them as well
Luckily I caught her quickly and removed those ones I didn’t know were in that area
They can cause many issues in pets
Back ti the silver
I gave dasher 1/2 mil twice a day orally
She is 4.5 pounds
I have given up to 1 ml at a time
She didn’t have any bad reactions
But I didn’t find it to cure her aspergillosis
I have used silver directly in their water dishes as well as in their ponds
This I have been doing for over 2 years
Out of 19 ducks and 2 geese with 10 other ducks going ti new homes I have a very healthy flock minus my dasher
She just has a sensitivity to something in our yard and we can’t pin it down

 

[Miss Lydia]

Might want to read up on this too
'https://shagbarkbantams.com/the-many-uses-of-oxine-ah-animal-health/

 

[Wildcrafter]

What breed are they?

Besides the squeaking have you noticed a change in their voices?

Have you noticed any blood in their droppings or odd colors like black, bright grass green, yellow, salmon, orange, or mostly white in them?
Have you noticed any bubbly droppings or mucous in the droppings?

Have you noticed any weight loss?

Have you noticed any foam in the eyes or a little bubbling in the corners of the eyes?

Have you noticed any popping, gurgling, or grinding sounds from their abdomens?


What kind of feed are they on?
What kind of bedding are they on?
Is their water bucket deep enough for them to submerge their faces?



Aspergillosis is a tricky thing to diagnose, a beak swab isn’t going to detect it unless it’s right there in the beak. Usually a host of tests including x-rays, antibody tests, blood chemistry, and swabs are used to confirm it. Sadly it’s usually progressed to a dire point before more obvious symptoms appear.


Another Possibility is a respiratory illness caused from a bacteria, virus, or mycoplasma. Mycoplasma in geese are hard to pin down from my own experience. They’re hard to test for and harder to treat. I’ve suspected for awhile that it’s lurking in my own flock because it mimics CRD but with milder symptoms than chickens tend to get.
It lies dormant until a stressor like sudden cold or hot temperatures, a scare, discord in the flock, an injury, or another illness brings it out and then it causes squeaky coughs, snicking, and feeling poorly. It seems to affect ganders worse, the larger the gander, the More severe the symptoms.
Tylosin is an effective treatment, but nothing really cures it.

For bacterial respiratory illnesses Baytril is a great option.


Dusty feed or bedding can also irritate the airways so that’s also a prime Cause of squeaky coughs. Eating habits can also contribute. My gander Helios tends to inhale while he eats and squeaks a lot while he’s eating as a result.

Another strong possibility is also digestive issues. Parasites or infection in the lower intestines can inflame them which causes them to push on the lower air sacks, sometimes causing a squeaky cough and if it’s bad enough gaping. Things that can cause this are typically Giardia, coccidia, clostridium, or a combination of the three.
Corid will usually take care of coccidia, SMZ TMP will kill the coccidia.
Giardia and Clostridium can be treated with metronidazole.
Clostridium is also treated with Tylosin, I’ve found treating with Tylosin in conjunction with metronidazole is most effective, Tylosin also treats mycoplasma as I mentioned as well as a number of other respiratory and intestinal illness causing bacteria.

I wouldn’t use the colloidal silver personally. I don’t have any experience using it myself so I can’t say it’s a good idea or not, or how safe it would be for your geese.

Thank you so much for this wealth of information!
No voice change, no weight loss. Some mucus in the poop, but not always.
No foaming from eyes or gurgling in their bellies.

They are free to sleep outside or on straw bedding in their little hut. They usually sleep outside. I check the straw every day when I change their water and take out the wet/poopy straw and add fresh as needed.

I got a sample of their poop tested and it showed no parasites. No giardia, either.

Their water buckets are: 1 one gallon and 1 two gallons. Fresh every day and large enough to submerge their heads.

Feed is from a local outfit that grows and grinds their own feed. Pea, wheat, soy. It's a grower mash that has a higher protein content as I also feed the chickens that feed and we have some 4 month olds and also I tend to go with a higher protein content here in North Idaho to keep their engines running.

I started mixing my anti parasite tincture in with their feed along with some oregano oil. The anti parasite tincture is made with herbs that are also antimicrobial. I've been doing this for the last 4 days, and have noticed less squeaking, but not a full resolution.

I'm letting them out a few days a week to roam the farmlet and dig up some roots as it's been a mild winter here.

It's so much easier to treat chickens than geese, I'm finding.

 

[Wildcrafter]

I have used the silver on my ducks and has not caused any bad issues
I have given it orally as well as used it as a spray on my duck who had aspergillosis
We had the testing done and hers was positive to it
The first round of fungal meds cost me 250.00 per month for 3 months
The second time she got it my vet tried a different med that the zoo’s use
My cost was only 30 dollars and the pill is broke down into into 1/4 twice a day
One bottle fixed the issue
I’ll have to take a picture of my fungal meds I used on round 2
My girl gets environmental aspergillosis
It’s hard ti pin down what’s affecting her
The second time my vet didn’t even do the testing as her symptoms were the same
The cheaper fungal meds not only cost way less but cured it faster
Then again we started treatment a lot faster as the first round it took my vet and the avian vets 4-5 months to even figure out what was going on
Do you have any fox tails in your yard ? I keep mine cut down after my cat got into them and ended up on antibiotics
I have seen my goose eat them as well
Luckily I caught her quickly and removed those ones I didn’t know were in that area
They can cause many issues in pets
Back ti the silver
I gave dasher 1/2 mil twice a day orally
She is 4.5 pounds
I have given up to 1 ml at a time
She didn’t have any bad reactions
But I didn’t find it to cure her aspergillosis
I have used silver directly in their water dishes as well as in their ponds
This I have been doing for over 2 years
Out of 19 ducks and 2 geese with 10 other ducks going ti new homes I have a very healthy flock minus my dasher
She just has a sensitivity to something in our yard and we can’t pin it down

Thank you so much for your reply! Do you have the name of the cheaper antifungal med? I can try that and see what happens. I'll try the colloidal silver in their water as well.

I'm not sure about the foxtail. I just looked it up and it looks like it would be very irritating. We live in North Idaho.

 

[Wildcrafter]

Might want to read up on this too
'https://shagbarkbantams.com/the-many-uses-of-oxine-ah-animal-health/

Thank you! I'm going to see if I can find the oxine and order it. Good info!

Whoa! First state vet supply wants $68 to ship one gallon!

Cutler supply wants $50 to ship the gallon. What's up with that???

Off chance, I checked amazon. 25 bucks and free shipping. Not a gallon, but I hope I won't need a gallon.

I appreciate this info, Miss Lydia, thank you so much!

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

Thank you so much for your reply! Do you have the name of the cheaper antifungal med? I can try that and see what happens. I'll try the colloidal silver in their water as well.

I'm not sure about the foxtail. I just looked it up and it looks like it would be very irritating. We live in North Idaho.

 

[Wildcrafter]

Thank you! I'm going to see if I can find the oxine and order it. Good info!

Whoa! First state vet supply wants $68 to ship one gallon!

Many thanks!