Need help- My goose has trouble walking

[MaxSmith]

It could have been some thing very minor, still check bottom of foot though and keep in touch with how they are getting on in their new home. When you let your geese go onto your lake I hope you will train them to come into their pen every evening to be locked up at night so you can enjoy them for years to come and not lose them to predators.

Lydia, could you please share some training tips on how to get the geese back into their pen? Thanks again!

 

[RURU]

Unfortunately I do have snapping turtles in my lake, I had a nasty encounter with them this past summer when they tried to bite my toe off while I was swimming in the lake. I've seen some wild ducks swim in our lakes before with no problem, but they don't stay in the water for a long time.

Is there any work around for this? My lake is pretty big and I'm not sure how many snapping turtles I have.

Thank you for your advice!

Just provide your geese with baby pools and they will be happy campers there with you. Better to have them there with you instead of on the lake with snapping turtles. Just like with you swimming in the lake the snapper tried to eat your toe. You are luck you did not lose it due to that snapper!!!!! They will come up and take off the leg of ducks or geese. Too bad you do not have people that catch the snappers out of there or maybe trap them. Other than that just do as I recommended with a baby pool. They seem to be very happy to play in them to clean. Make sure you replace it all the way daily and keep it fresh and clean and your geese will be happy to play in it!! This will keep them out of the lake and snapping turtles mouths...

 

[MaxSmith]

Just provide your geese with baby pools and they will be happy campers there with you. Better to have them there with you instead of on the lake with snapping turtles. Just like with you swimming in the lake the snapper tried to eat your toe. You are luck you did not lose it due to that snapper!!!!! They will come up and take off the leg of ducks or geese. Too bad you do not have people that catch the snappers out of there or maybe trap them. Other than that just do as I recommended with a baby pool. They seem to be very happy to play in them to clean. Make sure you replace it all the way daily and keep it fresh and clean and your geese will be happy to play in it!! This will keep them out of the lake and snapping turtles mouths...

Hi RURU, thank you for telling me ahead of time. I wouldn't have wanted to lose my precious geese to the snapping turtles.

I noticed that at night, my two white Roman geese sometimes tend to sleep on the lake and don't bother coming back into their pen.
I've had the roman geese for two weeks now and I was wondering is this normal behavior?

 

[RURU]

Max you are very welcome I hate to lost a goose and if I can help someone else not to lose one or parts of one... I will be there to help!!

When I lose a goose or gander and can not help it I feel like a total mess! Mine when they die fast and are gone before you even know there was something wrong. That makes me even angrier.

 

[subhanalah]

Unfortunately I do have snapping turtles in my lake, I had a nasty encounter with them this past summer when they tried to bite my toe off while I was swimming in the lake. I've seen some wild ducks swim in our lakes before with no problem, but they don't stay in the water for a long time. 

Is there any work around for this? My lake is pretty big and I'm not sure how many snapping turtles I have. 

Thank you for your advice!

Call the turtle man! Eeeyeeeyeyeh

 

[MaxSmith]

Call the turtle man! Eeeyeeeyeyeh

I'm considering buying traps and/or calling a professional.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm considering buying traps and/or calling a professional.

Max one year we had people posting with gruesome tales and pic of what snappers had done to their water fowl. If you can set traps or get a professional and tell him he can have them for food which alot of people love to eat them then it's a win win. As far as training them to go in of an evening, only feed them inside their pen and at the opposite end of where the gate is. Find something really tasty they like some kind of greens may do it or whole corn, my geese would dance for whole corn[they get it sparingly] but would work to train them I am thinking. Just start a routine of putting the corn inside a container and walking down to the lake shake the dickens out of the can and call or whistle, I whistle and mine know it's snack time, then when they come out of the water toss a few pieces of corn on the ground and then start walking to the pen if you have to toss a bit more but you want them to get the main snack inside the pen as a reward for coming now you have them inside praise them to pieces and give them more, do this every evening or anytime you need them to be put up. But try not to feed them any where but inside of their pen. For their own safety the need to be locked up at night, alot of predators will swim for a tasty meal.
Most likely the 2 new ones can be used as "bait" to lure the 2 off the lake curiosity might bring them up to the pen, then get them inside and keep them all inside for a couple weeks till they get use to knowing boy he has some tasty stuff up here.

 

[MaxSmith]

Max one year we had people posting with gruesome tales and pic of what snappers had done to their water fowl. If you can set traps or get a professional and tell him he can have them for food which alot of people love to eat them then it's a win win. As far as training them to go in of an evening, only feed them inside their pen and at the opposite end of where the gate is. Find something really tasty they like some kind of greens may do it or whole corn, my geese would dance for whole corn[they get it sparingly] but would work to train them I am thinking. Just start a routine of putting the corn inside a container and walking down to the lake shake the dickens out of the can and call or whistle, I whistle and mine know it's snack time, then when they come out of the water toss a few pieces of corn on the ground and then start walking to the pen if you have to toss a bit more but you want them to get the main snack inside the pen as a reward for coming now you have them inside praise them to pieces and give them more, do this every evening or anytime you need them to be put up. But try not to feed them any where but inside of their pen. For their own safety the need to be locked up at night, alot of predators will swim for a tasty meal.
Most likely the 2 new ones can be used as "bait" to lure the 2 off the lake curiosity might bring them up to the pen, then get them inside and keep them all inside for a couple weeks till they get use to knowing boy he has some tasty stuff up here.

Sounds like a really good plan! I would've sooooo lost without you guys.

I did check for bumble foot, and here are some of the pictures I took of the bottom side of his feet.

Left foot (the one that's troubling him):


Right foot (the one that's perfectly fine):


As far as I can tell Lydia, he doesn't appear to have bumble foot, but I would like your take on this.

I let him swim around in an enclosed area today and he doesn't use his left foot. But so far, he has been swimmingly really quickly!

Thank you guys for listening in and helping a newcomer out!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds like a really good plan! I would've sooooo lost without you guys.

I did check for bumble foot, and here are some of the pictures I took of the bottom side of his feet.

Left foot (the one that's troubling him):


Right foot (the one that's perfectly fine):


As far as I can tell Lydia, he doesn't appear to have bumble foot, but I would like your take on this.

I let him swim around in an enclosed area today and he doesn't use his left foot. But so far, he has been swimmingly really quickly!

Thank you guys for listening in and helping a newcomer out!

Any place on there feel hard? I see some bumps but nothing really stands out. Best thing you can do for now is give him time to heal it could even be a sprain or even a birth defect. Hard to say but maybe with some rest and water therapy it will have time to heal. You could even try soaking his foot in Epsom salt water, if you want to try this though you have to make sure he doesn't drink it because it also acts as a laxative. besides helping to heal a sprain. Take a 2 gallon bucket fill half full with warm water and 2 cups of epsom salt mixing till salt is dissolved then place both legs and feet into the bucket and hold on to him for about 10 mins. I usually put both legs in the bucket just easier that way. that can be done once a day till you see improvement. Hopefully it's just a sprain and will get better on it's own. Please keep updating. How did he react to being handled? top pic by your thumb looks to be a little swollen what do you think?

 

[MaxSmith]

Any place on there feel hard? I see some bumps but nothing really stands out. Best thing you can do for now is give him time to heal it could even be a sprain or even a birth defect. Hard to say but maybe with some rest and water therapy it will have time to heal. You could even try soaking his foot in Epsom salt water, if you want to try this though you have to make sure he doesn't drink it because it also acts as a laxative. besides helping to heal a sprain. Take a 2 gallon bucket fill half full with warm water and 2 cups of epsom salt mixing till salt is dissolved then place both legs and feet into the bucket and hold on to him for about 10 mins. I usually put both legs in the bucket just easier that way. that can be done once a day till you see improvement. Hopefully it's just a sprain and will get better on it's own. Please keep updating. How did he react to being handled? top pic by your thumb looks to be a little swollen what do you think?

I felt his feet and no place feels hard. He did flap his wings around when I picked him up, but he allowed me to place him into the water with ease. He was swimming for at least 10-15 minutes at any given time so I'll have to take a second look at his feet later.

I'll try the Epsom salt remedy you suggested and keep you updated on his progress!