Gosling ate my earring

Aozora

In the Brooder
Mar 13, 2015
33
2
37
My 3 week old toulouse gosling just pulled my stud earring out of my ear and ate it. I'm concerned about the post hurting her. Do I need to take her to the vet? What should I watch for?
 
First of all, do you know what type of metal these earrings are? Waterfowl can get metal poisoning from ingested metals.

How big is the earring? What shape is the stud?

(Not a vet disclaimer here)

You are probably going to have to make a judgement call on this one, unfortunately. Based on the previous answers, if you think at all it needs to be taken out, it's best do do it in the crop. Once you get past the crop, gut surgery becomes more complex in birds...Not that it's impossible, just more involved. However, if your stud has a point, it can perforate your bird's digestive tract. If this happens below the crop, that is very bad news.

If you, or your vet if you take her there and the vet does images, decide it's best to let the bird pass the metal, then some olive oil will help coat it and smooth things along.

Let us know what happens!
 
It's a gold earring. 1 /4 carat diamond stud. I guess she has expensive tastes. The point on the stud is not sharp, but she did eat the whole earring (not including the back), so that is a long post sticking out. (About a half an inch is just gold post, I would estimate.) I will call the vet today and see what they think.
 
Vet says $65 for the visit, $100 for an X-ray, and that's before anything else. I think I will just keep an eye on her... Vets around here are robber barons, I swear.
 
It's a gold earring. 1 /4 carat diamond stud. I guess she has expensive tastes. The point on the stud is not sharp, but she did eat the whole earring (not including the back), so that is a long post sticking out. (About a half an inch is just gold post, I would estimate.) I will call the vet today and see what they think.

Yikes. Yikes on the value and the size of that post! Goosie knows how to pick em lol. Birds are unfortunately way too curious for their own good...

If it's quality gold, and I'm sure it is, the metal itself shouldn't hurt her.

It's definitely already past the crop...So if it's retrievable, surgery is going to be more involved. I will say $100 on images isn't bad for a bird, since most birds have to be anesthetized for rads. Vet costs are definitely prohibitive, though.

I agree that, at this point, you should probably try to let her pass it. It should take about a day, unless the earring gets "stuck," in which case it can just sit there until the goose dies, or it can cause problems for the goose at any point in her life. So hopefully you find it in her poop! In the meantime, watch her closely.
 

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