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- #11
- Dec 15, 2018
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How is your goose?
She's doing really well, thank you! In the night she busted her way out of the isolation ward to be with her flock and seemed completely recovered next day. I checked her keel and she's definitely not thin, and she's standing up for herself in interactions, so I'm letting her stay with the others. The only suspicious thing is she hasn't developed a brood patch this year - last year she was the broodiest goose around! Not sure how significant this is though.
Thanks so much for all your advice - I hate to think what would've happened if I'd left her in the pond!
I'm still puzzled by what caused this. Either an invisible injury or something neurological is my best guess. One thought - the pond has vertical sides, so I had put a piece of terracotta pipe in there to make it easier for them to get out. But I noticed them hitting it with their legs a couple of times while swimming or mating - maybe that was how she was injured? But could an injury heal so quickly?
Like you suggested, a sciatic nerve issue seems to make more sense. Marek's disease sounds scary - hopefully the fact that she recovered means it's not that? Could it be she just bruised the nerve?
I think I'll redesign the pond to have sloping sides, that will be much safer, and more pleasant for them.
EDIT - oh dear, I just read that paralysis with Marek's can come and go... maybe I should isolate her? But that would be super traumatic for her, and the others are presumably infected already if it is that.
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