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Post by bailisha77 on Aug 13, 2009 9:35:35 GMT 8
Yesterday I visited my goose Archie at his new home on a farm. I was a bit shocked at his/her appearance. It's been raining so much and realise this could be part of the problem. I know it took him a while to settle in there and some of the other animals (esp. a rooster and another goose) picked on him but he seems ok now and happy with his best friend Snowy the lamb. He stays in the chook pen at night but can roam around during the day. There are patches of feather missing on neck, rump and around eyes and generally feathers seem wet. I am so very grateful to the people who have adopted him and don't want to upset anyone. So if there's any info/advice anyone can give me it would be great. I am planning to broach the subject with his new Mum and find a vet to check him out but don't want to appear critical or ungrateful. I have a photo to show his condition. Thanks, Lis
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Post by lakelands on Aug 13, 2009 21:48:04 GMT 8
Sorry to hear that you are so concerned. It sounds like he/she copped a hammering in trying to sort out the pecking order but hopefully it's all over now and by spring his new feathers would have come in and he/she will look splendid again.
I have geese and they all tend to look a little bedraggled this time of year what with the ran and the mud and mating season and fighting between the ganders and the girls plucking out their own feathers to line the nests....so don't dispair it may not be as bad as it looks.
One thing you may want to check out though is that he / she has plenty of water available for grooming....they should get an opportunity to splash about in some fresh water so that they can get to work grooming and activating the oil glands at the base of the tail. If the goose is looking a bit wet all over sounds like it is not grooming properly... exception to this rule is the females tend to not groom properly when there are setting down a nest ....so maybe Archie is a girl and this could also explain the missing feathers
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