Westford, MA swap Sun. ****april 11TH

[muffi]

I live dangerously close to Kimball's. Soooooooooo goooooooood! Best ice cream around. Mocha almond assault in a hot fudge sundae is my FAVE! They have awesome seafood at the grill too. Man, I'm salivating...

 

[keesmom]

I don't go to the Westford one very often. We're only a couple miles from the one in Carlisle. (they have ice cream only!)

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
we are still arguing. lol
I set it up and hold its legs together, I put him down and he wants them to the side, I pick him up hold his legs together and set him down here we go again.
one of us will win or the other will lose, geese get too big to have sprattle leg.

A vet told me the best thing to do for splayed legs is put the chick (or whatever bird you may have) in a glass that it just fits in. I had to put a turkey in a tupperware bowl once. Worked wonders. Just make sure you put some paper towels or rubber contact paper or something inside on the bottom so it's not too slippery. Hope this helps. Poor thing!

Did the vet say how long the window is for this?
sounds like very good advice, I will see what I can do for the little bug eater.
thanks Muffi

Well I have some very good news this morning, went to cup the little gooseling with the sprattle legs and low and behold it corrected itself with no intervention other than putting down the rubber sink mat 3 days ago when they hatched.
so it looks like all 4 will be up for sale after all, I am very pleased with the outcome for this little goose, for a few days it wasnt looking very promising.

gooslings

 

[muffi]

Quote:
No the vet did not say. It sounded like it should be the first line of treatment as soon as a splay leg is discovered.

So happy to hear the lil' bugger is doing better!

I just set a couple goose eggs for a friend and OMG are they huge. I can imagine how huge the babies must be! I was going to order the goose egg trays for my hovabator turner and was shocked to see the $38 for 4 price tag. I'm used to chicken trays which only cost $10 for 6. But then I saw the picture and how they had wire baskets on top. A little hardware cloth, cable ties, and an unused quail egg rack later and I now have a perfectly functioning goose egg rack.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
No the vet did not say. It sounded like it should be the first line of treatment as soon as a splay leg is discovered.

So happy to hear the lil' bugger is doing better!

I just set a couple goose eggs for a friend and OMG are they huge. I can imagine how huge the babies must be! I was going to order the goose egg trays for my hovabator turner and was shocked to see the $38 for 4 price tag. I'm used to chicken trays which only cost $10 for 6. But then I saw the picture and how they had wire baskets on top. A little hardware cloth, cable ties, and an unused quail egg rack later and I now have a perfectly functioning goose egg rack.

oh yes always cheaper to make your own.
not all that hard really, I was going to do the same thing but I am not a huge fan of auto turners, I have had way more foot problems with a turner than I have with hand turning.
geese and duck are harder on their feet in the shell while the shell is in the upright position and it tends to curl toes. I like them better on their sides and hand turned.
chicken and turkey dont appear to have the added weight and dont tend to crunch up their feet.
I dont know maybe its just a bad experience or more with an auto turner. everyone has different hatching results and it could very well be a me thing LOL.

 

[muffi]

Quote:
No the vet did not say. It sounded like it should be the first line of treatment as soon as a splay leg is discovered.

So happy to hear the lil' bugger is doing better!

I just set a couple goose eggs for a friend and OMG are they huge. I can imagine how huge the babies must be! I was going to order the goose egg trays for my hovabator turner and was shocked to see the $38 for 4 price tag. I'm used to chicken trays which only cost $10 for 6. But then I saw the picture and how they had wire baskets on top. A little hardware cloth, cable ties, and an unused quail egg rack later and I now have a perfectly functioning goose egg rack.

oh yes always cheaper to make your own.
not all that hard really, I was going to do the same thing but I am not a huge fan of auto turners, I have had way more foot problems with a turner than I have with hand turning.
geese and duck are harder on their feet in the shell while the shell is in the upright position and it tends to curl toes. I like them better on their sides and hand turned.
chicken and turkey dont appear to have the added weight and dont tend to crunch up their feet.
I dont know maybe its just a bad experience or more with an auto turner. everyone has different hatching results and it could very well be a me thing LOL.

The hovabator goose egg trays (bought or homemade) have the eggs on their sides. But because of the range of the turner, they won't be turned a full 180 degrees like with hand turning, maybe like 90 degrees. I just don't have the time (or memory lol) for hand turning.

I just had my first turkey hatch with curled toes. Now I feel guilty if the turner was the cause. I decided I wouldn't sell him because of the toes so I gave him to a broody last night to raise. Checked a couple hours later and he was near death! She had totally attacked him and left him in the cold. I think one or both wings are broken. The poor poor thing! He's much better this morning after warming up, but he's still got a long ways to go. I wish innocent babies didn't suffer as a result of my learning curve.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
oh yes always cheaper to make your own.
not all that hard really, I was going to do the same thing but I am not a huge fan of auto turners, I have had way more foot problems with a turner than I have with hand turning.
geese and duck are harder on their feet in the shell while the shell is in the upright position and it tends to curl toes. I like them better on their sides and hand turned.
chicken and turkey dont appear to have the added weight and dont tend to crunch up their feet.
I dont know maybe its just a bad experience or more with an auto turner. everyone has different hatching results and it could very well be a me thing LOL.

The hovabator goose egg trays (bought or homemade) have the eggs on their sides. But because of the range of the turner, they won't be turned a full 180 degrees like with hand turning, maybe like 90 degrees. I just don't have the time (or memory lol) for hand turning.

I just had my first turkey hatch with curled toes. Now I feel guilty if the turner was the cause. I decided I wouldn't sell him because of the toes so I gave him to a broody last night to raise. Checked a couple hours later and he was near death! She had totally attacked him and left him in the cold. I think one or both wings are broken. The poor poor thing! He's much better this morning after warming up, but he's still got a long ways to go. I wish innocent babies didn't suffer as a result of my learning curve.

Everyone has a learning curve , dont beat yourself too badly. the main thing is you found him before he expired. you can splint the toes in hopes of them straightening out. tooth picks work best. paper tape to hold them on and not tear the skin coming off.
give it a try it might help a lot.
Broody hens can be such twits, sometimes stuffing an egg or more under her will be ok, but I have had some kick out strange eggs also. other will gladly take anything for an egg. < cough little jap hen> cough duck eggs cough lol. whats funny is watching her raise ducklings up to be chickens, its so funny, poor ducks cant figure out why sheisnt taking them to the water though lol. poor confused babies.

try the tooth pick trick and keep us posted.

edited many times on many posts due to lack of sleep and poor finger coordination this morning.

 

[shay20]

OkI have gold sexlinks pullets chicks, 1 week old right now so by the swap they will be 2 weeks old.

 

[muffi]

Quote:
Ugh, this little guy will not tolerate the toothpick splints. He just flips over and kicks that leg. But if I leave him alone, he stays upright. He won't stand up fully, but he will raise himself about halfway up and hobble around on the crooked toes.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
Ugh, this little guy will not tolerate the toothpick splints. He just flips over and kicks that leg. But if I leave him alone, he stays upright. He won't stand up fully, but he will raise himself about halfway up and hobble around on the crooked toes.

oh the little booger lol.
well not a lot you can do if he wont cooperate thats for sure but if he will tolerate it try massaging the toes and while doing it gently work them into the correct position and see if that will help them straighten out.
why oh why do some babies have to be so darned stubborn lol.