Too hot?

[DulcyDoll]

It has been reaching high temps here in MD, today it's 99*F, yesterday it was like 102*f. My geese are acting unusual today. They don't want to leave their run, and they keep spitting up water. One of my white gosling's has been standing on her tippy toes when she walks, and falls down occasionally, she is also laying down more than usual.

I don't know what is going on. Everything has been normal for them, except the higher heat.
I have a fan running in their coop, but they don't seem to want to go in there. They have 3 large containers of water in their run, full of fresh cool water (tubs are big enough for 2 full grown geese to sit in at a time) They have shade outside too.

I'm worried they are getting too hot..anything I can do?

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

basically if you have the tubs of water in there for them and they know it's there..that's about all you can do,...maybe spray them off with a hose....I know sometimes here in VA. it is hotter than haites and i spray my alpacas off to cool them down....good luck.

 

[ultasol]

Mine will go lay down under the pine trees. WQere they without access to water, or did they run out of water, at some point in the last 24? Sounds like they may have been dehydrated and gorged on water, which can upset the body's osmotic balance (yes, it is possible to die from drinking too much water). Make sure they NEVEr are without access to clean, fresh water during the heat. keep the water shaded, allow them access to outdoor shade if possible.
Good luck

 

[DulcyDoll]

They have access to water at all times, outside it is in the tubs, and inside it is in a home-made chicken waterer, but deeper so they can clean their noses(basically a bucket flipped upside down with a hole about 6 inches up, when it goes below the hole, air goes in and water comes out to refill it). Gets cleaned/ re-filled daily.


The one that was on her tippy toes has stopped doing that, but is still spitting up water...a storm cooled things off, still are refusing to leave their run to graze.

They usually get fed a flock raiser in the evening about 3 hours before they are closed in for the night( I don't like them getting full on it before they graze), but dad fed them this morning around 6am...I'm sure it could have something to do with them not grazing , but could it be the cause for the other odd behaviors?

 

[Puddle Foot Farm]

Hey! I hail from MD and it got to 115 over here yesterday.. And to me, it just sounds like you have a bunch of hot geese on your hands. When it gets really hot, my geese tend to drool because they drink so much water. To keep them cool in the super-heat, we put bags of ice in their pools and wet the floor of their run. We'll also give them a spraying for 10 minutes or something, but the ducks seem to enjoy that the most.

Also, they may have just stuffed themselves on food and then had water.. Those two things = drooly goose. Just try to keep them cool.. It should be easier now, since we had those storms.

Let us know how they're doing!

 

[Tater n Beans]

We live in far south texas and our heat index is usually about 110. I have four african geese and we use a combination of readily available kiddie pools that are kept refreshed so they stay cool, frozen 3 liter bottles (sometimes we float them in the pools), and when it's really bad, i leave the sprinkler on for them. They love to play in the sprinkler and they dont really drink from it, so it works pretty well.