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All About
Cotton Patch
Geese
Cotton Patch
Geese were common in the southeastern US until the 1950s. They were
used to weed cotton and corn fields. They are almost impossible to
find nowadays. (Read article "The
Hunt for Cotton Patch Geese")
The breed’s
beginnings are not clear but it is thought to have derived from
European stock brought to the U.S. during the colonial period.
Cotton Patch geese posses many qualities that are common in
sex-linked European breeds such as the West of England, Shetland,
and Normandy geese. However, these breeds are recent importations to
North America, and have not played a role in the development of the
Cotton Patch goose. The Cotton Patch goose is the remaining relic of
a little known American breed of goose with parent stock that
probably shares common ancestors with the above mentioned sex-linked
geese breeds. Cotton Patch are sexually dimorphic as other
sex-linked goose breeds, but differ by having pink or orange-pink
bills, light weight bodies, and the ability to fly.
The Cotton
Patch is a “sleek” goose that resembles Greylag geese. The breed is
a light- to medium-sized goose. Because of their smaller size, the
breed has the ability to adjust to hot weather better than most of
the heavier breeds of geese. The Cotton Patch is an “upright” goose
with tail in line with back and wings, giving it a clean wedge shape
without a “prick” tail. The Cotton Patch’s body is more elongated
and is not rounded like that of the Shetland or Pilgrim goose. Lobe
development -- the fat flaps between the legs of a goose -- is
minimal and a single lobe, if any, becomes present with supplemental
feeding. Without supplemental feed, a lobe is not present.
The Cotton
Patch’s head is rounded and the beak is dished. There is one strain
that more closely resembles the Pilgrim and has a beak that is
slightly “roman.” The ganders in this strain tend to have as many
gray feathers as Pilgrim ganders, but these feathers are all dove
gray -- unlike the Pilgrim in which they can be slate gray.
Cotton Patch
geese have the ability to fly well beyond their first year, easily
clearing 5-6 foot fences without a running start. Although this may
seem like a fault to some, this ability allows the birds to
escape predators unlike the heavier geese.
The information and photos above
were obtained from:
The American Livestock Breeds
Conservancy
Get to Know
Your Predators:
American
Alligator
We
just received an email about some domestic geese down south running
into this predator, so we decided to feature the alligator this
month in consideration of our Southern friends.
The American
Alligator normally lives in the states along the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and
Florida as well as Arkansas, Georgia and the Carolinas. In recent
years their range has been increasing northward and have been seen
as far north as Tennessee presumably via the Mississippi River.
An average
alligator measures 800 lbs and is thirteen feet long. Alligators are
opportunistic feeders, eating almost anything they can catch. When
they are young they eat fish, insects and crustaceans and as they
grow they predate on progressively larger prey such as turtles,
waterfowl, mammals and other reptiles.
If you live in a
state where alligators are present (especially Florida and
Louisiana), keep a close eye on any open water that your waterfowl
are frequenting. You especially don’t want your flock out on the
water during evening hours when alligators are most active, so if
there is any chance that an alligator could have slipped into your
pond without your knowledge, be sure that you call your flock off of
the water well before sunset every day -- being mindful not to
release them out again until well after sunrise the following
morning. It is highly advised that you fence in your flock’s
swimming water to keep these visiting reptiles out.
The information above
was obtained from:
Wikipedia.org.
Recommended
Reading*
|
Ordering
information
|
Face-to-Face
with the Duck
By Pascale
Hedelin
Face-To-Face With The
Duck by Pascale Hedelin is an informative picture book for young
readers about the ecology and life cycle of ducks.
Illustrated
throughout with sharp color photographs by the Colibri Agency,
Face-To-Face With The Duck teaches young people about the marsh
that is the duck's natural habitat, their feeding and migration
habits, the phases of a duckling from egg to adult, the hazards
ducks face from hunters to habitat destruction to lead poisoning
from ingesting spent hunting cartridges, cousins of the duck, and
much more.
An excellent
introduction to a common yet hardy and fascinating waterfowl,
especially recommended for children who want to learn more about
their local feathered friends.
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* |
For
our full recommended reading list, click
here. If you order from
Amazon by way of our website, Majestic receives a
portion of the proceeds!
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Reader Poll
#29 (2 Parter!)
Question 1:
If you could only have one duck on a desert island as
a companion, which kind would you choose?
Question 2:
If you could only have one goose on a desert island
as a companion, which kind would you choose?
Results of Reader Poll #28
Question:
Now that Wolfgang Puck has gone cruelty-free and banned
foie gras, will you purchase his products and eat at his
restaurants?
|
Yes |
50% |
|
No |
33% |
|
Undecided |
17% |
|
|
|
Contact Us
Majestic Waterfowl
Sanctuary
17 Barker Road
Lebanon, CT 06249
director@majesticwaterfowl.org
Our Newsletter
The Majestic Monthly is published 12 times per year.
Previous issues are available in our
Archives.
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Oviduct Prolapse
A number of people have contacted us recently with egg-laying
concerns. There is not a lot of information available regarding
these serious medical issues, so we’ve decided to compile what
we know for everyone. This compilation is gathered actual first
hand experiences, online research and from conversations with
multiple certified vets. Thank you to everyone who helped us
gather so much information so quickly, so that we could share it
with others. We wish you and your flocks well through your
recoveries. -- Kimberly Link
Sometimes when a hen is laying her egg,
her oviduct (internal egg laying tube) comes outside of her
body. Immediate vet care is needed when this happens. Remove the
hen from the company of other ducks to avoid them injuring the
oviduct. Do not attempt to push the tube back into their body
yourself. Keep the oviduct clean and moist until you get to the
vet. A small amount of KY Jelly is a good item to have in your
waterfowl medicine cabinet. It can be placed on the protruding
tissue to keep it moist. Sprinkle sugar on the oviduct to take
down the swelling. This helps the vet when it's time for them to
push the organ back in. Wrap your duck in a towel to prevent
your hen from poking at her own injury.
Your hen will need surgery to stitch the
oviduct back into place. Sutures need to be tight enough to hold
the oviduct in place, but they should in no way prevent normal
egg-laying. The egg must be able to pass through the oviduct
normally.
Once an oviduct prolapse occurs, it will
most likely happen again as normal egg-laying continues. In
order to prevent this, there are two courses of action that can
be taken: injections to prevent egg-laying or a
Salpingohysterectomy.
Salpingitis
Salpingitis is the inflammation of the
oviduct (the upper reproductive tract). Cysts within the oviduct
frequently contain liquid or pus. This can occur through
infection from other organ systems such as the liver and air
sacs (pneumonia), or retrograde infections of the lower uterus,
vagina or cloaca. The infectious agent most often isolated from
birds with salpingitis is E. coli. Others include Mycoplasma
gallisepticum, Salmonella spp., Streptococcus spp. and
Pasteurella multocida (fowl cholera). These bacterias often
affect other organ systems simultaneously. There is also a
correlation between overweight birds and Salpingitis.
Salpingitis may be difficult to
differentiate from an impacted oviduct. An x-ray will need to be
taken in order to diagnose. Symptoms of salpingitis include:
Depression, weight loss, abdominal enlargement, reduced egg
production. Other symptoms may include: cloacal discharge,
swelling, redness and/or irritation.
A Salpingohysterectomy to remove the
infected oviduct is commonly recommended.
Metritis
Metritis is a localized problem within
the uterine portion of the oviduct (the lower reproductive
tract). It can be caused by egg binding or oviduct impaction and
it can cause egg binding, uterine rupture, peritonitis and
septicemia. It can also affect uterine contractions and shell
formation. Metritis can also be bacterial, brought on by a
systemic infection. A Salpingohysterectomy to remove the
infected oviduct is commonly recommended.
Peritonitis
Sometimes when a hen is egg bound
(failure of an egg or eggs to pass through the oviduct at a
normal rate) her egg can be refluxed into her abdominal cavity.
There are two types of Peritonitis: Septic (bacteria present) is
worse than Non-septic.
Symptoms of Peritonitis include: your
hen assuming a penguin-like posture, lethargy, loss of appetite,
fluffed up feathers, panting, tail pumping up and down, yolk
colored droppings, swollen and/or irritated vent or abdomen.
These symptoms are very similar to those of egg binding. In
either case, an immediate trip to the vet is in order and an
x-ray needs to be done.
If an egg has slipped into the abdominal
cavity, immediate surgery will be required to remove the egg and
clean out the cavity. Post operative care includes: antibiotics,
tube feeding and often fluid injections to prevent dehydration.
Because there is a risk of reoccurrence, many vets will advise a
Salpingohysterectomy as a means of preventative treatment.
By knowing the personality and habits of
your duck or goose, you prepare yourself for noticing
abnormalities in their behavior. Always call your vet at the
onset of symptoms or behavioral changes. Ducks and geese mask
their symptoms well as a predatory defense, so early detection
is vital to successful treatment.
Injections
Two common vet choices to temporary halt
a hen’s egg-laying are Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) or
Luperon (Lupron®).
HCG causes regression of the ovarian
follicles and, therefore, inhibits ovulation. The benefit of
this drug is that it works quickly and has few side effects if
used for short periods of time. This drug is an option for first
time/one-off incidents. Three treatments are often given at 48
hour intervals. Long term side effects may include ovarian
tumors, so it is only recommended for intermittent use.
The most widely used hormone therapy
being utilized at present time to stop the egg-laying cycle is
Leuprolide or Lupron®. Administration inhibits gonadotropin
secretion and suppression of ovarian hormone production, which
brings a stop to egg production. Side effects, if experienced at
all, are minimal, so it is considered to be very safe. One
problem with Lupron® is it may up to several weeks to begin
taking effect. It seems to have the greatest effect on those
hens who have only been laying for a short period of time. This
time delay can be a real issue if your hen needs an immediate
break from her daily egg-laying routine. In addition, some
ducks/geese become immune to the treatment within a short period
of time, making it only a temporary solution.
Many vets will administer HCG to
immediately stop egg production in addition to a Lupron® shot
for a longer lasting effect. A shot of Lupron® may be repeated
about every three weeks, if a longer break in laying is
required. Combined together these two therapies are an excellent
way of preventing egg-laying during the waiting period before a
Salpingohysterectomy can be performed.
If you have utilized either of these therapies, please email us
at
director@majesticwaterfowl.org
and let us know how they worked for your hen, so we can share
your information with others.
Salpingohysterectomy
The only permanent solution to put a
stop to Chronic Egg-Laying and to guarantee the prevention of
further Oviduct Prolapse or Peritonitis incidents is through
surgery. The procedure in which the left oviduct (the
functioning oviduct) is removed is known as a
Salpingohysterectomy.
An abdominal incision is made and the
left oviduct is removed. The operating vet should inspect the
vestigial right oviduct to verify that it truly is
non-functioning. There have been rare instances of the right
oviduct being operative and functional; if so, it will need to
be removed as well. Refer to our
September 2006 newsletter
for a diagram of the oviduct. The ovary is not normally removed
because it can be difficult to reach and can bleed heavily,
resulting in hemorrhaging.
A Salpingohysterectomy is often left as
a last resort because it is a complicated, risky and costly
procedure, but it is commonly necessary to prevent reoccurring
and life-threatening medical issues. It can be especially risky
if your hen is still recovering from prior surgery. Be sure to
research this option thoroughly with your experienced and
certified waterfowl vet before making a decision.
Confirm your vet of choice has performed
this surgery successfully before on ducks/geese—not just on
birds (parrots, etc.). Ask them about their surgical and
post-operative experience, mortality rates, anesthesia risks,
pain-killers, antibiotics, post-surgical care requirements and
expense. Be sure to inquire about after-hours and weekend
emergency situations. Plan out your options in advance should
your vet be unavailable during these times. You may need a back
up vet who is fully versed in the situation and can assist you
and your hen post-surgically if your vet is unavailable.
Metal Detector
Donation
Majestic extends an enormous THANK YOU to Jean for donating her
retired metal detector to us. It has already proven invaluable
in keeping our construction areas clear of hazards. Thank you to
Chris for hand delivering it to us along with some other
goodies—including stamps. It was great seeing you again!
A Special Thanks
Majestic would like to
recognize Damiana and Alice for all of their fundraising efforts
over the past year and a half. Through two butter braid sales
and one flower bulb sale, they have raised nearly $900 for our
sanctuary! As if that wasn’t enough, they have also adopted a
few ducks from us and provided them with a wonderful new home.
Thank you for your generosity and thoughtfulness -- you are
amazing!
Fowl Weather
Auction Results
 Thank
you to Bob Tarte and everyone who participated in our “Fowl
Weather” auction fundraiser. We raised $365 towards the
expansion of our sanctuary!
Waterfowl Art
Project: Cut 'N Paste Duck
View actual size template
here. |
Oviduct Prolapse
