Airsoft pellets, blocked crop

[6chickens in St. Charles]

LittleKitty has a big squishy blocked crop. Our kind bird vet spent a day lavage-ing and suctioning the goo out. We did 7 days of oral baytril then have been squirting nystatin down her throat (she likes this much better than the baytril) because the culture of her crop goo grew out e.coli and yeast.

We pick up the crop daily and massage it, and it decreases in size then she makes normal looking chickenpoops which obviously are made of chicken feed, topped by white urates as usual. Then, she goes to bed up high on the roosts like usual.

The other day, on an unrelated call to the police as our neighborhood kids were once again shooting rounds of plastic pellets all over the place, at our neighbors boat (PING! POING!) and into our yard, the officer asks, "is there any damage to your property?" as I stand holding the giant squishy chicken, and the light goes on in my head, "OMG, I think she's full of those pellets!"

I handed these to the officer, the second handful I collected from my lawn that day:


I have since obtained the MSDS (materials safety data sheet) from the manufacturer of pellets sold in this area (Cosman), and luckily they should be nontoxic. They do not biodegrade.

I can imagine LittleKitty scooping up the colored orbs as they seemingly fell from heaven.

Massaging LittleKitty is akin to working a stressball. You know those squishy balls the physical therapist gives you to strengthen your grip and relieve your anxiety? She's full of these beads.

Does anybody have suggestions on what to do next?

 

[SteveBaz]

This is a job that requires understanding and tact. First write down the real points you want to make. Then go over to the parents and explain that the boys/girls need to shoot their gun safely and never at peoples property. Maybe a gun safety class for the boys/girls so they understand the severity of the gun and their actions. Your pets were hurt and could have died also by what they did. Maybe clean the yard and the chicken area for more of the pellets.

 

[CMV]

This is a job that requires understanding and tact. First write down the real points you want to make. Then go over to the parents and explain that the boys/girls need to shoot their gun safely and never at peoples property. Maybe a gun safety class for the boys/girls so they understand the severity of the gun and their actions. Your pets were hurt and could have died also by what they did. Maybe clean the yard and the chicken area for more of the pellets.

Well stated. The only thing I would do differently is to make the children responsible for cleaning up the pellets under my supervision. I find that when children act irresponsibly and cause a mess, making them clean up their own mess makes them think twice about doing it in the future. (Yup, I get free labor whenever the neighborhood kids are brats, and I shamelessly exploit that.)

The pellets should pass. You are not the first person on here that has had this happen. In the other cases I recall the birds being a little wonky for a few days, but eventually fine from the experience.

Good luck.