Goose loosing feathers

[goose321]

Hello my goose wasn’t loosing any feathers last week however a few days ago she started loosing/picking feathers like crazy. It is definitely not a normal moult as she is loosing feathers all over. It is a mixture of head/neck feathers, body feathers, down, and a few flight feathers but not many. She seems to be picking some of the feathers off however at the same time they are falling off by themselves when she shakes or scratches. She doesn’t have any bald patches yet however if she keeps loosing them at this rate I’m sure she will soon. Last year she didn’t moult until December for some reason however when she did moult it was obvious that she was moulting as all flight feathers fell off. She didn’t however loose her tail feathers in this moult. This is my first goose so I don’t know much about moulting. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sure sounds like molt,mine molt after breeding season which is in June. Do you have a gander and are they still mating?

You can try giving her some extra protein all my birds including my geese love dog kibble I buy Salmon and pea it has a lot of protein in it and is a good source of extra protein when molting. Plus a wholesome diet.

 

[goose321]

No I don’t have a gander. She seems to be loosing the smaller feathers instead of the big flight or tail ones. Could it still be molting. Also she seems to be pulling out down while preening herself. I will try her with some extra protein.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If she has access to bathing water she probably doesn't have any external parasites but you might want to check her over just to be safe. Mites are tiny lil blk things smaller than blk pepper flakes and crawl, Lice attach them selves to the feather shafts and are whitish in color

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[goose321]

Thanks for your help. I had a look at her feathers and can’t see anything strange. There doesn’t seem to be anything moving or any black/white specs. She is still loosing and pulling feathers and down. Mostly down and head/neck feathers. While I was looking through her feathers some of the down was falling out in my hands. Also yes she has access to swimming water all day.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds like molt to me.

 

[goose321]

Okay thanks for your help. The feathers are already starting to grow back on her face. She is still loosing feathers but not half as much

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good to hear!!