Gosling/duckling identification

[Tayla23]

Hey all,

Ended up with three of these guys in last couple of days. Were either abandoned or parents were killed have come from farming property. Unsure of breed but looks like photos of Egyptian Gosling however they are definitely not local to our area. (Sa, Aus)
Would anyone be able to confirm or deny this.

Have given them chopped up spinach and duck/goose starter crumble in water and they seem to be eating fine. Won't touch the dry crumble yet.

Would like to confirm breed so I can figure out better what to feed them in case I've got it wrong. Did think they could be week old ducklings but if Gosling's they couldn't be more than a couple days old.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JedJackson]

Could they be Australian Shelduck babies? Those look very similar to Egyptian geese babies, and they are native to that area.

If they do turn out to be Egyptian geese, they should not be allowed out in the wild, because feral populations of that species spread rapidly and will out compete native species.

 

[Tayla23]

Could they be Australian Shelduck babies? Those look very similar to Egyptian geese babies, and they are native to that area.

If they do turn out to be Egyptian geese, they should not be allowed out in the wild, because feral populations of that species spread rapidly and will out compete native species.

Yeah looks pretty similar. Do you think the duck crumble will be suitable then?

Will know for sure in a couple of weeks.

 

[JedJackson]

I would follow the recommendations for feeding Egyptian goslings. Non-medicated chick, duck, or gamebird starter, with plenty of greens like lettuce, but not spinach. I'm taking this all directly from this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-to-feed-egyptian-geese.116483/

 

[Tayla23]

I would follow the recommendations for feeding Egyptian goslings. Non-medicated chick, duck, or gamebird starter, with plenty of greens like lettuce, but not spinach. I'm taking this all directly from this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-to-feed-egyptian-geese.116483/

Great thanks, I'll swap it out and see how they go. Might not be touching the dry starter as they are only a day old or so.

 

[CloneFly]

Hey all,

Ended up with three of these guys in last couple of days. Were either abandoned or parents were killed have come from farming property. Unsure of breed but looks like photos of Egyptian Gosling however they are definitely not local to our area. (Sa, Aus)
Would anyone be able to confirm or deny this.

Have given them chopped up spinach and duck/goose starter crumble in water and they seem to be eating fine. Won't touch the dry crumble yet.

Would like to confirm breed so I can figure out better what to feed them in case I've got it wrong. Did think they could be week old ducklings but if Gosling's they couldn't be more than a couple days old.

Any help would be appreciated.

View attachment 3630581View attachment 3630579

From the shape of the beak, these look to be ducklings. Either way, be sure to add brewers/nutritional yeast to help keep up their niacin levels

 

[JedJackson]

From the shape of the beak, these look to be ducklings. Either way, be sure to add brewers/nutritional yeast to help keep up their niacin levels

Members of the shelduck family, including Egyptian Geese, and more closely related to ducks than geese. Egyptian geese can hybridize with mallards, which true geese cannot.

 

[Tayla23]

From the shape of the beak, these look to be ducklings. Either way, be sure to add brewers/nutritional yeast to help keep up their niacin levels

Would this be added to their water or food?