Well, I thought I was watching two of my young African geese and a Muscovy duck die.
The duck is about 8 weeks old. The 2 geese are about 5 weeks old. We have been raising them in the house in a dog crate, until they get old enough to put with the non-related adults.
Today the weather was great here, 60* or more, so I took them outside for exercise and a dip in their pool (new small oil change pan). I like playing with them and I have done this several times.
We had been outside for about 30 minutes. They, along with their buddies were having fun playing in the pool and eating fresh grass. My wife had purchased an over ripe watermelon about 2 weeks ago. I ate a bit of it and decided we would toss it to the chickens.... they love the stuff. I forgot about the melon and it wasn't until today that I decided to treat the gang. It had been in the refrigerator for about 12 days. I had given them small bit shortly after we bought the melon and we didn't have any trouble.
Today I had about 8 young birds all in a small exercise pen. I tossed out enough melon for them all to enjoy. About 15 minutes later, I noticed one of the geese having trouble with balance, soon he would fall forward, backward and to the sides. The poor guy looked very drunk. Then I notice that another goose was having the same problems, and then a duck began doing the same thing.
I picked up the birds and I had to hold their limp necks from folding over... I was concerned their airway might be shut off. I held them for as much as 30 minutes. My wife brought me a heated rice pillow on the chance they needed to warm up, but they were not cold and there was no reason for them to be.
All three of these guys looked very drunk. I'm surprised that a watermelon would ferment so quickly.... I don't know that one could. Anyway, about 30 minutes into this ordeal, the birds regained their ability to function, yet they still seemed dazed. I put them into their crate and monitored them for the next hour. They got back to looking completely normal. I took them out again and introduced them to the big guys. They all did fine and ate some fresh growing grass. We were out there for about an hour and they seemed as normal as ever.
So, did I inadvertently get my pals drunk? Is watermelon poisonous to these critters? Does anyone have any other ideas as to what happened?
These guys looked seriously smashed.
The duck is about 8 weeks old. The 2 geese are about 5 weeks old. We have been raising them in the house in a dog crate, until they get old enough to put with the non-related adults.
Today the weather was great here, 60* or more, so I took them outside for exercise and a dip in their pool (new small oil change pan). I like playing with them and I have done this several times.
We had been outside for about 30 minutes. They, along with their buddies were having fun playing in the pool and eating fresh grass. My wife had purchased an over ripe watermelon about 2 weeks ago. I ate a bit of it and decided we would toss it to the chickens.... they love the stuff. I forgot about the melon and it wasn't until today that I decided to treat the gang. It had been in the refrigerator for about 12 days. I had given them small bit shortly after we bought the melon and we didn't have any trouble.
Today I had about 8 young birds all in a small exercise pen. I tossed out enough melon for them all to enjoy. About 15 minutes later, I noticed one of the geese having trouble with balance, soon he would fall forward, backward and to the sides. The poor guy looked very drunk. Then I notice that another goose was having the same problems, and then a duck began doing the same thing.
I picked up the birds and I had to hold their limp necks from folding over... I was concerned their airway might be shut off. I held them for as much as 30 minutes. My wife brought me a heated rice pillow on the chance they needed to warm up, but they were not cold and there was no reason for them to be.
All three of these guys looked very drunk. I'm surprised that a watermelon would ferment so quickly.... I don't know that one could. Anyway, about 30 minutes into this ordeal, the birds regained their ability to function, yet they still seemed dazed. I put them into their crate and monitored them for the next hour. They got back to looking completely normal. I took them out again and introduced them to the big guys. They all did fine and ate some fresh growing grass. We were out there for about an hour and they seemed as normal as ever.
So, did I inadvertently get my pals drunk? Is watermelon poisonous to these critters? Does anyone have any other ideas as to what happened?
These guys looked seriously smashed.
Last edited:
