Wobbly/Unstable Goose

EmilyBoynt

In the Brooder
Feb 22, 2020
6
2
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I have a 10-month-old Chinese goose who has been very wobbly and unstable since I first got him as a gosling last spring. I realized at about 8 weeks old that he was most likely deficient in niacin. At that time, I started adding nutritional yeast to his (and the other gosling's) food which did not seem to help much. I then began adding non-flush vitamin B to his food, and finally started giving him approximately 3cc's of liquid vitamin B by mouth daily. None of this seemed to help his condition and he is just as wobbly now as he was nearly a year ago.

He seems to rock back and forth on his feet (can't get his balance) and will fall forward onto his chest, sometimes on to his head/neck as well. Most of the time, rather than walking, he will scoot along on his chest, which has caused him to lose some feathers and scuff himself up. He will try to use his wings to stabilize but that usually ends up with him falling either forward or backward. When he falls on his back he struggles to right himself. I have noticed that his legs and feet seem to be very wide-set, compared to our other goose. Because of his poor balance, it is difficult for him to preen his feathers, and he always seems a bit ruffled. Other than these issues, he seems to eat well (just grain right now as it is the middle of winter here in New Hampshire) and drinks well from the bucket that I bring up every morning.

I'm concerned that these issues will only get worse as he gets older, or will lead to more issues in the near future. I have not brought him into a vet yet, but will if that seems like the next necessary step. I would greatly appreciate any input and guidance.
 
Could he have had splay leg as a gosling? that would explain the wide set of his legs. Can you post a video of him it's always so much better if we can actually see what your talking about. You'll have to put your video on you tube or Vimeo then copy and paste here.

:welcome
 

Here is a video of him walking around in the snow outside the run yesterday and trying to shake out his feathers.

I don't believe he had splay leg, but his feet/legs were definitely larger than the other gosling's.
 
Poor Guy! Leg problems get harder to treat the more they are left alone. Exactly what are you feeding him? I would highly advise taking him to a vet, He is in very poor condition, far past from what we can deal with over the internet.
 

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