Loosey Goosey

Marsh the Goose has been a little sick this week. Last Sunday he was a little floppy, kind of flapping his feet as he walked, and even falling over a few times. We thought he was dehydrated since it was such a hot day, but even after some forced drinking he didn't improve. To the books.

The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals suggested botulism of all things.
"Signs of botulism poisoning appear within 8 to 48 hours of consuming the toxin. In mild cases, the only sign may be a brief bout with weak legs before the birds return to normal. In severe cases, the birds may appear sleepy and unable to hold their heads erect, due to paralysis of the neck muscles. The wings and and legs may become paralyzed, too, causing them to lie on their sides."

Marsh hasn't developed any symptoms beyond the weak legs, but even so we've kept him in his own little pen for the past few days and have given him water with some diluted antibiotics for waterfowl. He's still got a little hitch in his giddyup, but is noisy as ever.

Hopefully he'll be back to his rude self soon.