Goose bald apots on head and neck????

[Scullysk8s]

Hello! I have a 2 year old canada goose that I care for. He's been with me since a hatchling. Have never had any real issues or illness with him. Although as of abput a week/week and a half ago. His feathers started thinning around the crown of his head. I noticed he was really scratching that area...alot. and rubbing his head on his back and preening a lot more than usual.

I reached out to a friend who's dealt with geese for years
She told me to look for mites. He's a wiggly fella. Doesn't like to be touched much. But I had my roomate help me with the flashlight as I held him. I did not see any little critters crawling around on him. And I sent a video to my friend as well. She said she didn't see anything. But I treated him for mites anyway with sevingarden insecticide powder. Put a bunch of his and tried to rub it in as best I could. Gave him a good bath 4 days later. With one extra application 2 days in because he was still itching and scratching.

This thinning spot has gotten 10x worse. He is bald on the top of his head. And now going bald on along the back of his neck. My friend said try coconut oil on those areas. He may just have dry irritated skin and give him a little benadryl in case he's allergic to something. I've been doing this for going on 3 days.

These things have seemingly not helped him either. In fact, when I put on the coconut oil it seems to trigger him into rubbing his head and scratching that area until the coconut oil is basically gone..

The rest of his feathers are full, fine and healthy. It's only like from the neck up that is clearly irritating him and is going bald...

What the hell is happening to my baby boy?!?!?!!! What are some reasons for this type of behavior and balding that is apparently NOT mites???

 

[Scullysk8s]

Please help me!!! It just seems to keep getting worse and worse... and he won't stop preening and scratching... he hasn't eaten much all day either.. please help!!!

 

[Scullysk8s]

This is the slo mo video I had sent to my friend while he was in the tub to see I'd she could see any motes crawling around.. idk maybe someone can see something I havent..

 

[Jenbirdee]

This is the slo mo video I had sent to my friend while he was in the tub to see I'd she could see any motes crawling around.. idk maybe someone can see something I havent..

i don’t see the video… Also, I’m not sure what that is either but when @Goosebaby comes on hopefully she will know what that is

 

[Goosebaby]

Please help me!!! It just seems to keep getting worse and worse... and he won't stop preening and scratching... he hasn't eaten much all day either.. please help!!!

Most likely he isn’t eating because of either pain or feeling sick.

Do you have any other birds? Those are right in the spots where geese and ducks will grab hold of each other during mating and they commonly will rip the feathers out, sometimes even drawing blood, in rare cases the wound can get infected.

Mites are a possibility but usually they’ll itch all over, though if one spot has become more irritated they’ll focus on that spot more and it turns into an ugly cycle as the spot gets more and more irritated.
For mites ivermectin horse paste can treat it, the dosage is 0.05 ml per pound, it essentially makes their bodies toxic to mites.

Other possibilities is there was an abrasion that has turned into a skin infection, bacteria is the usual cause but mold can also be an issue. Cancer is also a possibility.
Most likely out of those three bacteria is the most likely, you could start him on a round of a broad spectrum antibiotics, something like baytril.
https://birdpalproducts.com/products/enrofloxacin-10-liquid-for-birds?_pos=1&_sid=7d674e09b&_ss=r
Usually it’s most effective administered via syringe down the throat, but applying a few drops directly to the wound daily might also be beneficial in addition to taking it orally.

 

[Goosebaby]

Also what feed is he on? Low vitamin E can cause dry itchy skin and if the feed is low on vitamins because of the type or if it’s just a bad/old batch it can cause deficiencies.

 

[Goosebaby]

Also if you have any neosporin you could try putting that on his sounds.

 

[Scullysk8s]

i don’t see the video… Also, I’m not sure what that is either but when @Goosebaby comes on hopefully she will know what that is

I'm not sure why it didn't load.. its saying the file extention isn't allowed..? Or something like that idk maybe the file size is too big I'll try trimming it and see if I can load it again!

 

[Goosebaby]

I'm not sure why it didn't load.. its saying the file extention isn't allowed..? Or something like that idk maybe the file size is too big I'll try trimming it and see if I can load it again!

Nobody has figured out how to upload videos directly here that I know of, it’s probably a glitch or something. The only way is to share a link to a video posted on other sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and instagram.

 

[Scullysk8s]

Most likely he isn’t eating because of either pain or feeling sick.

Do you have any other birds? Those are right in the spots where geese and ducks will grab hold of each other during mating and they commonly will rip the feathers out, sometimes even drawing blood, in rare cases the wound can get infected.

Mites are a possibility but usually they’ll itch all over, though if one spot has become more irritated they’ll focus on that spot more and it turns into an ugly cycle as the spot gets more and more irritated.
For mites ivermectin horse paste can treat it, the dosage is 0.05 ml per pound, it essentially makes their bodies toxic to mites.

Other possibilities is there was an abrasion that has turned into a skin infection, bacteria is the usual cause but mold can also be an issue. Cancer is also a possibility.
Most likely out of those three bacteria is the most likely, you could start him on a round of a broad spectrum antibiotics, something like baytril.
https://birdpalproducts.com/products/enrofloxacin-10-liquid-for-birds?_pos=1&_sid=7d674e09b&_ss=r
Usually it’s most effective administered via syringe down the throat, but applying a few drops directly to the wound daily might also be beneficial in addition to taking it orally.

Oh my god thank you SO MUCH.
And no unfortunately no other birds right now. I have a female pekin duck that was his sister for a while. But she passed away like 6 months ago. and the landlady eill not allow any more animals. Luckily I am set to move at the end of this month. Getting a house. But yeah.. no possibility of any birds trying to mage and what not. Plus he's a male. So I doubt even if I had other birds thag would be the case..
Last night I did get him to eat some picked grass put of my hand. About a handful. And then I guess while I was asleep he had eaten a very small amount of his feed in addition to the small bowl of meal worms I had mixed together with a liquid vitamin b complex.

The feed he gets is Purina duck feed. I just got this bag like a few weeks ago..

I have an anti bacterial poultry spray that I started to apply on him as of last night. But I also ordered "mango dyna-mite mites and lice bird spray" from chewy last night as well as some "blu-kote" which is apparently effective against bacterial and fungal stuff..can be used to treat ringworm apparently. But I will also check that link out and see if I can order some of that as well.

A long time ago when my poor pekin duck was attacked and had open wounds from I believe a cat or raccoon, I had her on antibiotics. I believe they were literally fish anti iotics that I mixed with water that my friend told me I could get from my local pets mart or pet Co. I may still have that. But that's like a year old. I'm not sure if they lose their potency or not. So I'll still attempt in buying the antibiotics in that link you supplied for me.

For that antibiotic u sent me, I have a dropper syringe that can hold 1ml fluid. If I used that to administer the antibiotic, how much of it should I give him? And how often? Every 8 hrs or so? For like a week or two?


I REALLY appreciate all of this!!

Also please let me know if I should do the blu-kote and mite/lice spray in addition to the a antibiotics I'll order or if I should just keep it as simple as possible.

Aa for the vitamin deficiency I have a poultry vitamin mix that I can scoop into his water. But if it's specifically a vitamin E issue, when my pekin duck was attacked I gave her a vitamin e with selenium goat paste from tractor supply. About a pea sized amount. Would that be helpful here??

I truly truly truly appreciate your help. Honestly. This goose is my baby. He is EVERYTHING to me. I want to make sure I can do everything I can for him since I don't have any avian vets remotely close to me

Also small update
He is actually eating right now!!!!!! Yes!!!

Most likely he isn’t eating because of either pain or feeling sick.

Do you have any other birds? Those are right in the spots where geese and ducks will grab hold of each other during mating and they commonly will rip the feathers out, sometimes even drawing blood, in rare cases the wound can get infected.

Mites are a possibility but usually they’ll itch all over, though if one spot has become more irritated they’ll focus on that spot more and it turns into an ugly cycle as the spot gets more and more irritated.
For mites ivermectin horse paste can treat it, the dosage is 0.05 ml per pound, it essentially makes their bodies toxic to mites.

Other possibilities is there was an abrasion that has turned into a skin infection, bacteria is the usual cause but mold can also be an issue. Cancer is also a possibility.
Most likely out of those three bacteria is the most likely, you could start him on a round of a broad spectrum antibiotics, something like baytril.
https://birdpalproducts.com/products/enrofloxacin-10-liquid-for-birds?_pos=1&_sid=7d674e09b&_ss=r
Usually it’s most effective administered via syringe down the throat, but applying a few drops directly to the wound daily might also be beneficial in addition to taking it orally.