How often should I treat geese for worms?

What do I feed them on? 

Why do they need grit?

What do I do if they become ill? 

How long will they live?

Should I let the goose sit?

Transporting Geese
Birds overheat very rapidly in cardboard boxes in cars in summer heat. They will die even more rapidly than dogs left in stationary cars. This is because of their feathers and the additional insulation of the box. Wire (weldmesh) containers or purpose-made poultry or pet-carriers are best. If cardboard boxes must be used, always cut plenty of air holes, or tie on a wire top to allow free passage of air. Store boxes in the shade, park the car in the shade, and load boxes only when ready to travel. Place the boxes on the shaded side of the car; do not put them in a sealed boot. Ventilate the car well, or use air-conditioning while travelling. Listen to the weather forecast before picking up birds in the summer months and avoid heat-wave conditions for travelling. 

It is illegal to bind a bird's legs or wings, or to carry it in a sack. The bird should not be loose in the vehicle. 

A bird distressed by heat should be put on water immediately on release. 

Worming geese
Geese are relatively easy to keep except for one problem, which can be avoided quite easily. Both ducks and geese can get gizzard worm but geese are far more likely to suffer from its effects and die. So always worm geese when buying or selling them. Do make sure that this is not done twice. Gizzard worm is a common parasite and its incidence would be considerably reduced if more people took this precaution. Wormers include the following products.

Levamisole 7.5% strength. This is available from a vet, using figures from veterinary handbooks. The dosages quoted are usually for cage birds. Scaling these cage bird figures up directly, for the larger geese,  results in an over-dose. Average size domestic geese should not be given more the 1.0 ml. Never exceed 1.6 ml for even the largest geese. In the case of geese, the levamisole can be  given as a drench i.e. a liquid dose down the throat. DO NOT EXCEED THE DOSE AND ALWAYS DILUTE THE PRODUCT WITH AT LEAST AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF WATER. The liquid is administered by a syringe (no needle) down the throat of the bird. Take care that the bird swallows, and do not introduce liquid into the lungs of the bird. The advantages of using a single dose like this are that:

The dosage can also be given diluted in a much larger volume of drinking water over 2-8 hours. However, spillage must be accounted for. It can also be put n the food if the amount consumed can be monitored. 

Flubenvet is a multi-purpose wormer for waterfowl and poultry. It kills gizzard and throat worm, round worm, caecal worm and tape worm. The wormer is a white powder which adheres well to poultry pellets. The correct dose (given on the packaging for geese) must be fed for 7 days.

Flubenvet can be obtained from suppliers of poultry and game supplies e.g. smallholder suppliers such as Ascot.  

Panacur is not licensed as a poultry wormer but it is obtainable through your vet. It has simply not been specifically tested for birds. It contains fenbendazole which kills the gizzard worm, but not its eggs. Two doses, spaced at 2-3 weeks are therefore needed to eradicate the pest. It is also less effective than the above two wormers at killing throat worms (gapes). However:-

Birds are unlikely to suffer from gizzard worm if treated when new to the premises and then fed well, or grazed at a low stocking density. However, it is always a good idea to worm a goose just after she has commenced to sit (and the gander) so that if she becomes ill, you then know that it is not worms which are causing the problem.  Aim to worm the birds twice a year in total, and observe appropriate withdrawal times if affected products (eggs or meat) were intended for consumption. 

Further info on worms in waterfowl and poultry in articles at: 

http://www.smallholder.co.uk/mostpopular.var.976875.mostviewed.worms_in_waterfowl_and_poultry.php

  http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/67/gizzard-worms-geese

What do I feed the geese on? 
Geese can be kept exclusively on grass, but this should only be practised on free-range on farms where the birds are run extensively and grazed with other animals. A low stocking density for geese reduces the concentration of parasites for them. Parasites are mostly species-specific. The geese will not catch coccidiosis from the sheep, for example.

Grass should be kept short for geese, less than 4 inches. long. Tough grass can cause crop-binding and death. Mow the grass if it is too long, or get larger animals in to eat it. Geese on clean, short grass do not need a lot of supplementary food in spring and summer, but they should be offered a mixture of wheat and pellets, dry, in a bowl,  before being shut up for the night. Give as much as they will eat up in 20 minutes; supply a bucket of water for then to drink as well. Dry, powdery mash should  not be fed to waterfowl. It gets stuck in the mouth and can lead to 'dropped tongue'. 

Wheat is a good all-round food containing more protein than maize, found in 'mixed corn'. Wheat is also cheaper. If the grass is restricted or dirty, wheat on its own can be fed in a larger quantity in a bucket of water, just sufficient for the day. The water prevents most vermin from taking the wheat. Wheat is fed as a basic food at Slimbridge (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) in the water, at the water's edge. This is a natural way of feeding waterfowl and wildfowl. 

Also feed pellets to geese which will eat them, especially in the breeding season. Pellets can be ordinary poultry layers, but if you can get waterfowl rations locally, supplied by firms such as Allen & Page, Bibby's, BOCM, Marriages etc., so much the better. These companies have web sites with information about their products for waterfowl. The pellets are fed dry in a bowl, and are usually fed mixed with wheat (1:1). Pellets spoil in heavy rain and can go mouldy if damp. Make sure that they are stored correctly, and only put out as many as the geese will eat within the day - or at a specific feeding time. 

On zero grazing, geese will eat up to 7 oz of food per day (depending on the size of the goose). Large growing goslings of large strains of Embden will eat 12 oz or more. Geese also like greens such as cauliflower trimmings, small amounts of carrots and potatoes, and  bread (not more than 10% of the diet). They do have to acquire a  taste for new food though; geese tend to eat what their parents ate. Be careful that geese do not get too fat. A good regime is to feed them only morning and evening and to let them graze for most of the day if they have access to clean grass. 

Why do they need grit? 
All waterfowl and poultry need grit so that their gizzard - a large internal muscle in the digestive system - can mill the food. It is the partial equivalent, in its function, to our teeth. Supply mixed poultry grit containing limestone, oyster shell and flint in the breeding season. This also supplies calcium for the goose. Also supply coarse sand, containing larger pieces of grit, throughout the year. The coarse sand punctures the grass and makes it more digestible. Coarse building sand is suitable This should be pure sand - no additives. If grit is not supplied, geese will look for hard material to pick up, and are even more likely to find bits of old wire and nails in the soil. Avoid problems by providing grit and tidying up any objects likely to cause damage internally. 

What do I do if they become ill?
The three most common ailments are worms, bad legs and bacterial diseases picked up from wild birds, mice and rats. 

How long will they live? 
Tales abound of geese living up to 80 years of age. We have found that that 20-22 years is more likely for the average domestic goose. Heavy geese have a shorter life span. 

Should I let the goose sit? 
The goose does not have to go broody. If you keep taking the eggs away, she may not even feel like sitting. If the eggs are left in a clutch, this will encourage her to sit. 

Don't forget - geese do need protection from foxes, mink, badger etc., especially at night. 

Goose diseases:
Goose Parvovirus (Derzsy's Disease) is occasionally reported in the UK 

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/68/goose-parvovirus-derzsys-disease

NOTES AND QUERIES
Message date : Feb 29 2004, 07:06 AM
From : "greenfield"
Subject : help for day-old goslings
PLEASE HELP!. I have a pair of day-old goslings.  Their mother is still brooding and refuses to help.  Could you let me know how I can feed them and what I live in south India where geese are not quite so common.  Can I give them broken rice/wheat and do they need a dry or wet feed? The mother still has 4 eggs to hatch; We lost 4 goslings earlier as we left them with the mother; These 2 were hatched yesterday and seem to be doing fine but they need to eat; Would appreciate a quick reply; I got your it from the net -  Mallika;

When the goslings are to be with the mother, will they go out and eat grass? I think this may be the dry season and there is not a lot of green food?

Finely broken wheat will be better than rice - especially if the rice is polished rice. Use whole wheat. It does not matter if it is wet or dry, as long as the goslings have water to get to. Just see which way works best. The food keeps in better condition if dry. Do not allow moulds to develop in damp food, especially in the warmer temperatures where you are.  Make sure that the goslings have access to grit for the gizzard, to break down the cereal and greens.  Coarse sand is useful for this purpose. 

Also make sure that the goslings cannot fall into the water container and drown. In the UK we feed greens like dandelion leaves, chopped grass, chopped tender cauliflower leaves, but not a lot of lettuce and cabbage. I would not use spinach The easy way here in the UK is to buy manufactured 'baby duck 'crumbs or goose starter crumbs. If the diet is restricted to dry cereals, add supplements like brewers yeast ( not bread yeast) for extra vitamins. It sounds as if the eggs may have been incubated by the goose at different times? It's best to get them all sat on as the same time so that they synchronise their hatching. Geese are sometimes poor mothers, and squash the goslings. You could try using a hen as a broody and foster mother,  but hens do carry more external parasites ( mites) than geese; so  you would have to look after the hen carefully, with respect to parasite control ( because these parasites will get on the goslings too)

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Message date : Mar 04 2004, 05:28 AM
 Re: help for day old  goslings

Dear Christine,

Thanks ever so much for your advice.  The goslings are doing fine.  They are now 5 days old and very active.  Will take you advice and switch to broken wheat.  They have attached themselves to me as their surrogate mother and follow me around when we let them out on the lawn. We have just today made them a temporary run so that they can have a bit more exercise without the hawks and the crows going for them.  I had put out a basin of water thinking they might just learn to swim  but rushed out and removed it after reading your message.  When will they take to water?  Their parents are no help at all.  Their mother is sitting beside the other goose who has 5 eggs under her and refuses to come out.  We did try to introduce them to their fathers who got rather aggressive so have kept them away. We don't get specific duck feed in India.  Tried chicken feed from a friend but they don't seem to like it.  They are happy with the broken rice, semolina (which is made from wheat) and chopped coriander and lettuce. I am sure when they are old enough they will find what they can eat from the garden.  But you are right we are going into the summer and everything is drying fast.

Mallika

Thanks for your reply. Nice to hear that they are doing well. As long as they get carbohydrate plus greens I'm sure they will be fine. Coriander's a bit of a surprise though!

Chick food should be OK as a starter for the first 2 weeks, but they sometimes put additives in it to combat coccidiosis. Occasionally, people believe, this adversely affects waterfowl. However, people reared geese centuries ago just on greens - so I don't see why it should not be good enough now!

Get a broad-based water contained - eg a washing-up bowl - when they are big enough to get in and out of it.  If you put a brick inside the water, it can act as a stepping stone to get out. At the  moment, when they are really small, use a heavy pot casserole - as long as they can step out of it. It's narrow, deep containers where they can get stuck head-down.

 Ganders can be good fathers - especially if they have Chinese or African in them, but occasionally they can be aggressive to goslings. I would try to get the goose off the nest if she has sat for more than 32 days. [They lose a lot of condition and it's difficult to start them eating properly again.] This would probably involve fencing her off in another area, with the ganders. If you have 2 geese on the nest when the next lot of eggs hatch, they are almost sure to squash the goslings
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