Here's a photo of the band-aid my hen Geobett ate. It's the one at the top, slightly discolored from its trip through her crop and intestines. The lower one is a fresh band-aid so you can see what it originally looked like.
I wanted to report that, even though chickens will eat the most unlikely things, most often it does no harm, and simply passes through. I found the "digested" band-aid approximately 20 hours after Geobett ate it, just lying on the ground. It had probably been liberated from the poop by an investigating chicken who discarded it as inedible.
Geobett is a one-year old Speckled Sussex. I don't think she was intending to eat it when she plucked the band-aid from my leg. But when the others saw it in her beak, they gave chase, and she was compelled to swallow it before someone snatched her prize.
I was pretty worried, having heard much sermonizing on this site about the dangers of chickens ingesting plastic. I wanted to share my experience so others won't worry so much if it ever happens to them.
I wanted to report that, even though chickens will eat the most unlikely things, most often it does no harm, and simply passes through. I found the "digested" band-aid approximately 20 hours after Geobett ate it, just lying on the ground. It had probably been liberated from the poop by an investigating chicken who discarded it as inedible.
Geobett is a one-year old Speckled Sussex. I don't think she was intending to eat it when she plucked the band-aid from my leg. But when the others saw it in her beak, they gave chase, and she was compelled to swallow it before someone snatched her prize.
I was pretty worried, having heard much sermonizing on this site about the dangers of chickens ingesting plastic. I wanted to share my experience so others won't worry so much if it ever happens to them.
