Goose not looking her best....

[Ozarkhomesteader]

So, i have two geese. One is a female embden mix named kizuna. The other is a chinese of unknown gender named xiao. They live in a large mixed coop with 4 ducks and 6 hens. Kizuna is large and always has her head in the clouds. She is clumsey and somewhat nippy, but backs off pretty fast. Her and xiao mostly keep to themselves and dont really mess with the other animals. This spring, sometime in late january or early feburary, she started laying eggs. She layed about one every other day, and during this time, she stopped caring for herself. He feathers started getting really messy, and she looks really ratty. She has access to water, but for some reason doesnt seem to want to swim much, just drink and splash it around. She eats plenty of food, and forages around, but just looks terrible. She has not been laying anymore eggs for a month or so.

So, my question is, is there anything i could do to help her get her feathers back and be actually white again? Would bathing her myself work if i did it a few times, and maybe supplement to help her grow her feathers? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[Kiki]

You could try some of these tips:
http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Show-Prep.html

 

[Percheron chick]

Interesting. I have the same issue. I bought my goose back in March and had her shipped. I figured her poor appearance was more from the stress of travel and a new home. She never bathes either. I figured I just had to put up with it until she molts.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

You could try some of these tips:
http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/Show-Prep.html

Thanks! That's a good idea. I will try some of those.

Interesting. I have the same issue. I bought my goose back in March and had her shipped. I figured her poor appearance was more from the stress of travel and a new home. She never bathes either. I figured I just had to put up with it until she molts.

hmm, interesting. Yeah, i think that she just started molting yesterday, so hopefully with a bit of help she will be back to looking her pretty self

 

[Percheron chick]

I gave her a 3" feed pan filled with water this morning. She immediately stood in it but it's too small for her to bathe in. Maybe the swimming gene skipped a generation. Now to find something to make her a large wading pool.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Thanks for that suggestion! i just tried that and she did get in it. I have an old kiddy pool that is quite big and round. I'll try to fill it up and see if she will "swim" in that. Thanks for the replys! Hope yours starts looking better! Just confirmed mine is going through a molt. There are large goose feathers EVERYWHERE. I keep thinking something got into the coop and killed a bird. But, no worries...my goose is just casually going bald flash back to when i was a kid and one of my first chickens went through molt and i literally thought she was dying. Live and learn