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Just as the pheasant family suffers from the same diseases, so the duck family, which includes geese, ducks and swans, suffers from the same diseases.
And many diseases are the same for everyone. These include salmonellosis, colibacillosis, and pasteurellosis.
But very often, private owners’ introduction to goose farming begins with viral enteritis, with which the purchased goslings were infected while still in the incubator. Although, most likely, the goslings were infected with salmonellosis, since enteritis is an inflammation of the intestines that can be caused by both infectious causes and some non-infectious factors. For example, by eating burning substances.
Duck plague (duck enteritis)
The disease is common to ducks and geese, which is also called duck viral enteritis.The causative agent is a DNA-containing herpes virus. With duck viral enteritis, multiple hemorrhages occur in the liver, lungs, spleen, pancreas and thyroid glands, and kidneys. Damage to the gastrointestinal tract of the bird, exhaustion, and the development of abscesses are observed.
Enteritis in geese has a similar characteristic, but the diseases have different signs and progression times.
Symptoms of duck viral enteritis
The incubation period of the disease is from 3 days to a week, maybe up to 20 days.
The disease has three forms: hyperacute, acute and erased. In the hyperacute form, an apparently healthy bird suddenly dies. In acute cases, birds experience: thirst, watery diarrhea, semi-paralysis of the limbs. The goslings cannot walk normally, fall on their feet, and cannot stand. There are also food refusal and eye diseases: conjunctivitis and swelling of the eyelids.
The erased form of the disease occurs in disadvantaged flocks of birds, where this type of disease has been around for more than the first generation. Such geese have developed immunity and clinical signs of enteritis appear in an erased form: depression, loss of appetite. At the same time, the mortality rate of young animals from enteritis reaches 90%.
Treatment of enteritis in ducks
There is no specific treatment for enteritis. For prevention, in safe farms and threatened areas, a virus vaccine against duck plague is used in accordance with the attached diagram.
Disease prevention
Currently, duck enteritis is not registered in Russia, which does not negate the requirements for compliance with sanitary and veterinary measures to prevent the virus from entering farms.All poultry that may be exposed are vaccinated with live vaccines as directed. If enteritis occurs in ducks, all sick and suspicious birds are slaughtered and disposed of. The premises are thoroughly disinfected with caustic soda solution, formaldehyde or bleach. The imported poultry is quarantined for 1 month.
Viral enteritis of geese
Another misfortune to which geese are susceptible. Affects the gastrointestinal tract, lungs and liver. Accompanied by the death of goslings. The case rate can be 100%. The causative agent is a DNA virus, but from a completely different family, unrelated to duck plague. Only geese and Muscovy ducks.
The disease has other names:
- goose flu;
- disease Hold;
- hepatitis;
- gastroenteritis;
- plague of geese;
- viral hepatitis of goslings;
- influenza of geese;
- ulcerative necrotic enteritis.
The virus is resistant to substances used in the preservation of biological products: ether and chloroform. It can remain active in 40% glycerin for up to 2 years. At a temperature of 4°C it can remain active for up to 5 years. It dies in an hour at a temperature of 60°C; at 70°C the virus is inactivated in 10 minutes. Sensitive to common disinfectants: a formaldehyde solution inactivates the virus after 15 minutes.
Symptoms of viral enteritis in geese
The incubation period lasts from 2 to 6 days. The course of the disease is acute. The duration of the disease is from 2 days to 2 weeks.
Goslings up to 10 days old huddle together, tremble, and strive for warmth.In the first 5 days after the appearance of a sign of the disease, from 60 to 100 percent of the goose population dies.
After 10 days, the goslings fall on their feet, droop their wings, pluck each other’s feathers, are stunted in growth, and do not respond to sounds. The waste of older young animals is up to 30%.
With a chronic course of the disease, 20-30% of geese stop growing by 7 weeks of age and enteritis is observed. In chronic cases, the normal mortality rate is 2-3%. In especially severe cases up to 12%.
In adult geese, the disease is asymptomatic.
You should buy goslings only from farms that are guaranteed to have geese free from viral enteritis.
Treatment of viral enteritis in geese
The disease, fortunately, can be treated, albeit in a difficult way. Goslings under the age of 5 days are injected with serum or blood of convalescent geese for the purpose of prevention or treatment. Blood is injected subcutaneously, twice, with an interval of 2-3 days. The injection is made into the neck area in a volume of 0.5 - 2 ml.
Antibiotics are also used to suppress secondary infections.
But it’s easier to prevent an outbreak of the disease than to look for the blood of recovering geese.
Disease prevention
Compliance with veterinary instructions for the prevention of viral enteritis in geese. To prevent enteritis, virus vaccines are used for goslings and adult geese according to the instructions.
In the event of a disease outbreak, the import and export of hatching eggs and live geese is prohibited. Incubation of goose eggs is permitted only for slaughter for meat on the farm itself.Clinically sick goslings are slaughtered, those that have recovered from the disease are raised for up to 2.5 months, after which they are slaughtered for meat.
Day-old goslings of later broods are injected subcutaneously with convalescent serum. Restrictions can be lifted only 2 months after the last recorded case of the disease and disinfection.
Staphylococcosis of birds
The second name is micrococcosis. The disease is caused by pathogenic staphylococci. Manifested by symptoms of blood poisoning, dermatitis, arthritis, inflammation of the infraorbital sinuses, cloacites.
Symptoms of staphylococcosis in geese
The disease usually occurs due to injury. In ducks and geese it is expressed in diseases of the legs and bones: polyarthritis, osteitis, ostyemyelitis, paralysis of the limbs, inflammation of the tendons. In addition, birds experience intestinal upset and severe thirst.
In the acute course of the disease, if goslings under 10 days of age are infected, death occurs within 6 days. At an older age - depression and diarrhea.
In the subacute and chronic course, inflammation of the joints and limbs occurs, and eventually gangrene of the wings may develop, which is preceded by hemorrhagic edema. Cloacitis may develop.
With the chronic course of the disease, appetite also decreases and exhaustion progresses. Death occurs 2–3 weeks after the onset of the disease. The death of birds is not 100%, but the surviving bird recovers slowly and limps for a long time.
Treatment and prevention of the disease
Treatment can only be symptomatic, alleviating the condition of the sick goose, since treatment for staphylococcosis itself has not been developed.
As a preventive measure, sick and suspicious geese are slaughtered. Feed is examined for the presence of staphylococci.Carry out aerosol disinfection of the premises, without removing the geese from there, with solutions of lactic acid, triethylene glycol or resorcinol. Neutralize litter and droppings.
It is recommended to treat goslings on pasture with antibiotics of the penicillin group, to which staphylococcus is sensitive.
Salmonellosis
The disease is common to domestic and wild mammals and birds. Humans can also become infected, so although leptospirosis can be cured, caution must be exercised when interacting with a sick animal.
Salmonellosis is caused by a group of bacteria, often specific to each species. Young animals are especially susceptible to salmonellosis.
Symptoms of the disease
In birds, salmonellosis occurs in acute, subacute and chronic forms. The incubation period of the disease is up to 3 days.
In goslings under the age of 20 days, salmonellosis will occur in an acute form, in which a decrease in appetite, drowsiness, diarrhea, and purulent conjunctivitis are observed. Salmonella also affects the central nervous system, causing seizures. The goslings roll over onto their backs, randomly jerk their heads, and make swimming movements with their limbs. Mortality in acute cases can reach more than 70%.
At older ages, salmonellosis occurs in a subacute form. Symptoms include purulent conjunctivitis, rhinitis, inflammation of the joints of the extremities, and diarrhea.
After three months, geese become ill in a chronic form, characterized by diarrhea and retardation in development and growth.
Treatment of salmonellosis
Treatment in birds is carried out comprehensively, using specific drugs and immunostimulants.
Before treating a goose for any disease, laboratory tests must be carried out to differentiate the diseases. Often this is impossible and then you have to treat geese at random in the hope of hitting the target. In particular, in the video, the owner suggests that the goslings have coccidiosis, which they contracted from adults. But he stipulates that he treated the goslings with antibiotics for three days. Antibiotics have no effect on coccidia. This means that either the goslings actually had something else, or the disease had entered a chronic stage. Perhaps it was just salmonellosis.
The danger of combining young goslings and old geese into one herd.
Non-infectious diseases of goslings
Non-contagious diseases of geese are often the same as those of other birds. Goiter catarrh in a goose is similar to the same disease in turkeys, and prolapse of the oviduct is no different from prolapse of the oviduct in a chicken.
In the absence of infection, goslings fall on their feet for the same reasons as turkeys:
- large body weight, at least twice the live weight of the wild ancestor;
- lack of sufficiently spacious walking and ultraviolet radiation;
- low-quality feed;
- traumatic injuries to the paws.
In goslings, the problems of physical weakness of bones and ligaments are more pronounced than in turkeys, since the goose spends part of its time in the water and does not travel long distances on foot.
Oviduct prolapse
In birds, this problem occurs due to eggs that are too large or inflammatory processes in the reproductive organs. Contrary to advice on the Internet, practice has proven that this disease cannot be treated and the bird will have to be slaughtered.
In mild cases, the oviduct can be set back, but such a bird will no longer lay eggs. Consequently, it will be useless on the farm.
If you let a bird walk with a prolapsed oviduct, it will contract infections and die on its own.
Esophageal blockage in a goose
May occur due to feeding dry food with limited water supply. Often owners, not wanting a “swamp” in the poultry house in winter, limit the birds to water at this time of year or believe that the geese will be able to get drunk by eating snow. Both of these opinions are wrong and water should always be freely available.
Symptoms of the disease
Excited behavior of the bird, shortness of breath, open beak, unsteady gait. The esophagus and crop put pressure on the air channel, and the bird can die from suffocation.
Treatment and prevention of the disease
For treatment, you can try injecting the bird with sunflower or Vaseline oil and using your hand to squeeze the contents of the esophagus out. For prevention, ensure constant access to water. Geese drink a lot.
Conclusion
The main problem for goose breeders is infections that goslings become infected with while still in the incubator. To avoid trouble when purchasing goslings or hatching eggs, veterinary certificates must be required. And for the normal development of healthy goslings, you need to provide them with a spacious walk with the possibility of grazing.
