The rescue
Sometimes one needs to fly the coop. Pickles’s goose dad had decided just that.
About to turn 2 years old, Pickles goose dad attacked him during the night while in the goose coop. This was the second attack but the wounds were much more severe. Once his human family found him the next morning they knew they needed to get Pickles to safety and that meant finding Pickles a new home. That is when they reached out to us.
We quickly decided to bring Pickles to the sanctuary but knowing Pickles needed a goose friend and worried that his brother, Biscuit, might be the next target of goose dad’s attention, we adopted both boys on February 24th, 2023.
Recovery and healing
Upon picking up Pickles and seeing the extent of his wounds we immediately brought him to Horse Heaven Hills Urgent Care. Honestly, I was fearful the doctor would suggest euthanasia but thankfully with a course of oral and topical antibiotics and antibacterials, Pickles fever went away and his wounds completely healed a month later. In addition, after a couple of courses of dewormer, the fecal test for the brothers came back negative and the boys were officially out of quarantine and splashing in their pool, 5 weeks after arrival.
Now, three months later, Pickles still does not have a full set of feathers on his wing but hopefully, over time, all his feathers will grow back. I’ve finished building their aviary and actively working on building the custom goose coop. This means being mindful of where the coop is placed, the location of windows (e.g., placed so they can see the sunrise) and doors (e.g., such that wind does not blow into coop).
We are excited to welcome Pickles and Biscuit to our Tumbleweed family and look forward to many years of them grazing in the yard, splashing in pools, and living their best goose life.
