2.5 month old Delaware Pullet ate a Penny?!

[sawprops]

So this happened. My nephew dropped a nice, new shiny penny and my 2.5 month old Delaware seized it and ran like crazy! I couldn't catch her, but she made a quick right into the run and into the coop, got waayyy in the corner and poof - the penny was gone. I moved all the pine shavings and it was no where to be found. My coop is small 4x4x4 so not that much to move.I still saw it in her mouth when she ran inside the run and into the coop, so I'm thinking she swallowed it - though I didn't *see* her swallow it. This happened on Friday evening 5/20 and she has definitely been acting normal ever since - eating, foraging, drinking, etc. I didn't find any coins in their poop.

I've google'd it and it has definitely happened before. I also found a few threads here on BYC, but they are pretty old threads and NO ONE ever posts the outcome! I am wondering if any of you have any experience with your teen chicks eating coins?! What was the outcome?

 

[Eggcessive]

There are a lot of threads on BYC detailing chickens who have eaten screws, nails, jewelry, glass, and coins. A coin might not be as dangerous as a sharp object, but the gizzard can become damaged trying to digest such a thing. You could try to isolate the chicken in a crate for a week, to check droppings in case the penny is passed. A vet could also perform an Xray to look for it. Here is some reading about this sort of thing:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/05/hardware-disease-in-backyard-chickens.html
http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2015/07/preventing-hardware-disease-heavy-metal.html
http://www.veterinaryworld.org/Vol....nsively Managed Poultry in Zaria, Nigeria.pdf

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There are a lot of threads on BYC detailing chickens who have eaten screws, nails, jewelry, glass, and coins. A coin might not be as dangerous as a sharp object, but the gizzard can become damaged trying to digest such a thing. You could try to isolate the chicken in a crate for a week, to check droppings in case the penny is passed. A vet could also perform an Xray to look for it. Here is some reading about this sort of thing:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2015/05/hardware-disease-in-backyard-chickens.html
http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2015/07/preventing-hardware-disease-heavy-metal.html
http://www.veterinaryworld.org/Vol....nsively Managed Poultry in Zaria, Nigeria.pdf

In a previous life I worked in my papa's one horse firer-broiler processing plant. All the things that Eggcessive mentioned I have found in chicken gizzards. The truth is that chickens will try to eat or peck at shiny objects to include your eyes. It's just what chickens do.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So this happened. My nephew dropped a nice, new shiny penny and my 2.5 month old Delaware seized it and ran like crazy! I couldn't catch her, but she made a quick right into the run and into the coop, got waayyy in the corner and poof - the penny was gone. I moved all the pine shavings and it was no where to be found. My coop is small 4x4x4 so not that much to move.I still saw it in her mouth when she ran inside the run and into the coop, so I'm thinking she swallowed it - though I didn't *see* her swallow it. This happened on Friday evening 5/20 and she has definitely been acting normal ever since - eating, foraging, drinking, etc. I didn't find any coins in their poop.

I've google'd it and it has definitely happened before. I also found a few threads here on BYC, but they are pretty old threads and NO ONE ever posts the outcome! I am wondering if any of you have any experience with your teen chicks eating coins?! What was the outcome?

You won't find a coin either, it will be ground into nothingness by the action of the gizzard and passed one atom at a time.

 

[sawprops]

Thanks - I guess I'll just watch her. I just wondered if it would eventually pass or get lodged in her gizzard. One thing I do know for sure, is I won't incur a veterinary bill for xrays because it's super expensive, and even more expensive should they find the penny and need to remove it! Basically, I just wanted to know if she is out the woods, so to speak or if anyone here has had it happen and the chicken survived.