Goose Hemorrhagic Enteritis: Bloody Diarrhea Causes & Emergency Care

See your vet immediately. Hemorrhagic enteritis means the intestines are inflamed and bleeding, which can cause red blood, dark tarry droppings, or blood-stained feathers around the vent. In geese, this is a medical emergency because birds can lose fluids quickly and often hide illness until they are very sick.

This term describes a syndrome, not a single diagnosis. One of the most important infectious causes in waterfowl is duck viral enteritis (also called duck plague), a herpesvirus disease that affects ducks, geese, and swans and can cause watery or bloody diarrhea, weakness, dehydration, and sudden death. Other cases may be linked to bacterial infection, intestinal toxins, parasites, severe diet disruption, or damage to the gut lining.

Because geese can decline fast, home monitoring alone is not enough when blood is present in the stool. Early veterinary care gives your pet parent flock the best chance of identifying whether this is a single-bird problem, a contagious flock issue, or part of a larger management problem that needs immediate correction.

There are several possible causes, and some are contagious. In geese and other waterfowl, one of the most serious is duck viral enteritis (DVE), also called duck plague. Merck and Cornell both describe DVE as a highly contagious disease of ducks, geese, and swans that can cause weakness, watery or bloody diarrhea, blood-stained vents, dehydration, and sudden death. Exposure risk goes up when domestic birds share water or space with wild waterfowl.

Other causes include bacterial enteritis, severe intestinal imbalance after feed changes, spoiled feed, toxins, heavy parasite burdens, and less commonly traumatic injury to the intestinal tract. Some intestinal infections are opportunistic, meaning they become more likely when the gut is already stressed by poor sanitation, overcrowding, wet bedding, or nutritional problems.

Diet and environment matter too. Waterfowl do best on appropriate waterfowl or game-bird diets, not bread-heavy or poorly balanced feeding plans. Merck notes that after 12 weeks, waterfowl should receive a maintenance diet such as commercial duck or game-bird pellets with adequate vitamin and mineral support. Wet, contaminated housing and standing water fouled by droppings can also increase disease pressure.

Your vet will start with a careful history and exam. Expect questions about how long the diarrhea has been present, whether the blood is bright red or dark, what the goose eats, recent feed changes, access to ponds or wild birds, new flock additions, and whether any other birds are sick or have died suddenly.

Testing often depends on how unstable the bird is. A conservative workup may include a fecal exam, gram stain, parasite screening, hydration assessment, and review of husbandry. Standard diagnostics may add bloodwork, crop or cloacal sampling, radiographs, and targeted infectious disease testing. If duck viral enteritis is suspected, Merck recommends collecting tissues such as liver, spleen, esophagus, and affected small intestine for confirmation in deceased birds, while live-bird testing may involve PCR or other lab methods directed by your vet or diagnostic lab.

In flock cases, diagnosis may involve more than one bird. Necropsy of a freshly deceased bird can be one of the fastest and most useful ways to identify an outbreak cause. That can feel difficult, but it often helps protect the rest of the flock and guides treatment, isolation, and prevention steps.

Prevention starts with biosecurity, clean water, and good nutrition. USDA APHIS recommends reducing contact between domestic poultry and wild birds, including using covered enclosures or netting when possible. That matters for geese because wild waterfowl can carry and spread serious infectious diseases even when they do not look sick.

Keep feed dry and protected from rodents and wild birds. Clean waterers often, remove heavily soiled bedding promptly, and avoid overcrowding or muddy, manure-heavy areas around ponds and troughs. Quarantine new or returning birds before mixing them with the flock, and use separate boots, tools, or footbaths for sick-bird areas when your vet advises it.

Nutrition also supports gut health. Merck recommends appropriate commercial waterfowl or game-bird diets rather than bread-based feeding. Sudden feed changes, spoiled feed, and nutritionally poor diets can all add stress to the intestinal tract. If your area or flock has a history of duck viral enteritis, ask your vet whether vaccination, testing, or additional flock-level prevention steps make sense for your situation.