[Taucoin96]

So, my ducks and geese are now 22 days old, and I'm starting to regret going along with the idea of raising these poultry. Last Friday, i went to pick up my gosling, named "big Bill" who had had staggers(so we thought) during his first week of life; and he spit a stream of mucas. On further examination of the bunch our biggest mallard-Chatreuse- had the same symptoms. We took them to LSU, and what do you know it:pneumonia. We have to medicate them for 21 days. We're still not 100% sure if its the type that is always fatal, but both have hung on so far, so we are praying it's just bacterial. Either way, the vet says my goose probably won't make it because it's so far into his lungs. Plus the vet bill totaled a whopping $400, which is twice the amount we bought them for, and I can't afford any more:my dog still needs to be fixed and have her nose burned out. I have to do something; should I sell some of the chicks to lessen my vet bills? Give them away, and do more research or volunteer at a farm or vet clinic until I'm confident I can care for them? And for the goose-as much as i hate to ask- would it be better to put it out it's misery now; I don't want be where I'll always wonder if it would've made it if I didn't kill it, but I can't bear an animal in pain.

[Kate and her Ducks]

What a horrible situation for you.

I have had goslings with pneumonia. I lost 1 of 3 but the others made a full recovery, I suspect I was lucky.

Separate the ill ones immediately from the others to try and prevent it spreading to the healthy animals. Mortality is high with this sort of illness but if they survive you are probably through the worst of it. Conditions like Mycoplasma are rare in waterfowl so fingers crossed. I would not advise selling on any of them, you are likely to end up with more trouble than it's worth if they also fall ill as people will want their money back especially as you know there is a problem. Anyone who already has animals will be very cautious about taking them on even free in case they infect their birds.
Try and keep your chin up, sounds like you have had a very unlucky start to keeping waterfowl and it should get better. Certainly getting as much information is really important. I don't know where you are but in the UK vets are pretty inexperienced with things like ducks and geese as generally not many people take them to the vet when they are ill so not sure how much experience you will get there. If you have a poultry or duck farm near you they may well be helpful but keeping on the commercial scale or setting is generally quite different to a smallholding or small scale set up.

My duck bible is the Storey Guide to Raising Ducks by Dave Holderread, can't recommend it enough.

As to whether to euthanise the ill goose, that's a really hard call without seeing it but if you think that it is suffering I think that given the mortality is so high I would be inclined to do so. Always a really hard call, fingers crossed things get better for you all soon.

[LotuSeed]

IF (not saying you should) you do make the decision to euthanize (actually, before you make the decision) the goose, make sure you know how to "dispatch" it as quickly and painlessly as possible. It's not a pleasant process for either party involved even when things go smoothly, but the last thing you want is a botched job. Can't be of much more help with regard to your other feather babies.

As for dealing with the expense of your dog, try researching spay and neuter animal clinics. They are usually much cheaper than going to a regular vet, the only caveat is that the clinics may only do low-cost procedures once a month or so. Some will also do low cost vaccinations.

Good luck with everything.