Week old gosling swollen joint

[Highlsnds3]

I'm hoping one of you may be able to help. I have a week old gosling (long story short mom left the nest about a week before hatch time to covet anothers newly hatched babies so I had to throw together an incubator), that has been fine until yesterday. It has been eating (and pooping!) more than I though possible I've got waterfowl pellets that I put in the blender to make baby sized crumbles (it says it's waterfowl starter), and have been adding chopped up spinach, dandilion leaves and some regular grass to the "crumbles". The baby had been running around and very active, but last night would not stand up. It's joint on one leg, right where the toes join, is swollen and red. The baby stays in the house in a bathroom kept between 75 and 85 degrees (it's about 85 after I take a shower). We do take it outside for an hour or so a day to play supervised in the grass and swim a little in a water bowl. I read about the niacin deficiency so we got some niacin today and have added that to the water (150 mg per gallon). I really hope this is all that is wrong. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[Windchyme]

Quote:
It could have slipped and thrown something out too. I think you are doing the right thing. Make sure it is on a surface where it has some grip (even a towel or a throw rug placed on the floor works) and reduce strenuous activity for a while and see how it goes. I think Niacin deficiency comes on without any redness or signs of injury, it just happens and usually progressively twists legs or feet. The fact that it is red and angry and probably warm says injury to me rather then a deficiency. I think the chances that it is just an injury is fairly good- now whether it is severe injury or not I'm not sure. Is the foot and leg facing forward like it is supposed to and not canted off on an odd angle? Can the baby move the leg forward and back even a little bit under it's own power (usually I tip them backward to see if they'll give even a small motion with the leg to try to keep their balance- if no matter what you do they can't move it at all or it's out of proper fairly normal alignment- that's a bad sign). If all of this is true then I really suspect an injury that will clear up with some rest. The niacin can't hurt I don't think and it might help. That's my best advice.

 

[Highlsnds3]

Thanks so much. Yes everything looks normal, the baby tries to move and will use it some(mostly to snuggle up with it's stuffed bunny), but prefers to stay laying down. It stays in the bathtub on a thick towel with plenty of food and water it can splash it's head in. Should we keep it from swimming? Right now we've been taking it either outside to a water bowl if the water is warm enough or in the bathtub in the house to swim. It doesn't use the injured leg except if it wants to course correct.