Young gosling broke its bill

[Sierra G]

I have a gosling that was hatched by the goose, but moved indoors after she injured three of the other hatch mates two of them fatally. There are four in a large plastic storage container. They aren't crowded but they stick close together. Two of them are undamaged, one has a leg injury from being in the nest , and the buff one of the four has a broken beak which happened today.

The top and bottom are broken. About half of the bill is missing and the tip of the goslings tongue is visible. There is no blood. I'm assuming the bill was weak before it broke since the hardest things in the container are a glass ramakin and a Tupperware plate. They had plenty of food and water so I don't know why he would have been pounding his bill on anything. I have pics of the gosling's grandfather who also had a bill injury, although not as serious which is why I'm wondering about genetics. .

There are some older thread, but none give definitive answers to my questions.

Giving that the gosling is so young, how likely is it that the bill will heal?

Since none of the others have bill damage, what might have caused the injury?

If the bill damage won't heal, is there any type of repair possible or will the gosling have to adapt to the missing part?

The gosling doesn't seem distressed by the injury, but it looks like it will impact quality of life if nothing can be done.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@Pyxis @ColtHandorf @Isaac 0

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you post a picture of the bill?

 

[Sierra G]

It looks bad because it is. It all happened between 9am and noon today.

 

[Leader Bee]

I don't see that growing back.

 

[Sierra G]

I didn't think it would be too likely, but since the gosling is supposed to be doing a lot of growing in the next six weeks I was hoping.

Any idea what might have caused it?

 

[Leader Bee]

No idea, that kind of injury looks like he's been attacked but you'd think there would be evidence elsewhere on his body?

 

[Sierra G]

No idea, that kind of injury looks like he's been attacked but you'd think there would be evidence elsewhere on his body?

I had thought he might have damaged it while pipping and it took a few days for the damage to get worse, kind of like a cracked windshield. But there would almost have to be an underlying condition to make his bill that frangible since he's not that strong. I couldn't find anything like that with Google. I suppose if the beak is weak the duck is stuck, or goose in this case. But he hatched under a goose so he probably didn't get assistance--unless she was nibbling shell and damaged his bill accidentally.

Cause will probably remain a mystery. Effects are still being identified. He seems able to eat flock crumble, pretty sure grass isn't going to be easy if it's even possible. I put some duck pellets in today, I'll watch to see if he has any trouble picking them up.

 

[ColtHandorf]

That's way out of my league. It does look really bad. I don't see it growing back, although, I suppose anything is possible. You might look into 3D-printed options for a prosthetic.

 

[Sierra G]

I have a printer and can probably generate a model if I can keep the gosling still enough to get good images ftom at least 3 measurable angles. The problem will be how fast goslings grow. He'd be outgrowing the prosthetic a couple times a week. For the first four or five weeks.