Almost a disaster....

[Heather]

Our chickens have fiqured out that pecking at the full garbage bags we set outside for removal rears yummy treats. Obviously we found this a gross mess and put the bags in a can until trash day.

Well, unbeknowst to us, one of our bard rocks got into another bag left in the garage....it was only there literally an hour.

She "unreeled" an eight foot piece of dental floss thin plastic and swallowed 3 feet of it. I found her running around the yard dragging it behind her and pecking at the ground. Apparently this did not bother her.

I was a nervous wreck. Based on the drag on the string, I knew it was way down and had no idea what to do. I thought I would rip something if I pulled but I had no other option. Cutting it would just slow the process. She would never pass that.

So, I pulled....and within 30 seconds out came the other three feet of string with a ball of food and gook on the other end......She was unphased.

I saved it to show the kids how dangerous certain things are to these chickens. My goodness.....it's always something!!!

Anyone else have a bizarre story?

 

[JenniferJoIN]

No bizzare stories of my own yet, but wow!

 

[newchickowner]

Yeah, not chicken related, but eating string related. I was sitting on the couch one evening after the kids were asleep and I fed all the critters. I had an indoor cat and pug, well the cat had gotten into my sewing room the day before and I found a spool of thread unwound on the floor that she had apparently played with. Well all of a sudden I heard a cat screaching and she streaked across the house like her tail was on fire, which sent my pug running after her (he used any excuse to chase her) well, what had scared her so bad was that she had aparently injested some of the string that she played with the day before and when she went poopy in the litter box not all of it came out, when she exited her litter box a litter covered kitty turd followed her and freaked her out so she ran!!!! I finally go a hold of her and had to snip the string so I could free her of her turd demon and the rest came out later! After the initial scare wore off I couldn't help but laugh!!!

 

[PeiTheCelt]

Eep, never had a chicken have that problem, but my cat has (very similar to newchickowner, except my cat has had it happen on and off since he was a kitten, so we just go in with a tissue and remove it), it's usually a result of my hair unfortunately.. *laughs* (It's nearly waist length)

 

[SpottedCrow]

I know how that is Pei...I've killed way too many vaccuums because of mine too.

Nothing beats pulling a glob of slobbery hair from a chicken beak. blech.

 

[mdbucks]

Reminds me of the cats eatting tinsil off the christmas tree, but not knowing about it till the next day, Not a very christmassy sight.

 

[ole-crone]

Last fall we put the chicks in an old playpen once they outgrew their brooder. You know the kind - with a vinyl mesh surround. Peck, peck, peck went the chicks and slowly, they'd pull bits out. Whenever we found this, we'd stick on some duct tape.

One evening I went out to check on them and found my buff colored EE hanging by her tongue! I called my son in case I needed more help as I ran for scissors.

Poor Buffy, we cut her down and her tongue was black. I had no idea how long she had been hanging there. Wit tweezers, we unwound as much of the teeny thread as we cold but you could still see some wrapped tightly at her tongue's base, under that hard barb area (which you probably don't know about - afterall, how many of us grab hold of our chick's tongues and pull it out as far as it will go???)

I was about to amputate the tongue's tip because it was the only way I could think to get to the thread (and it was black and hard) when I remember a crafting light I had bought years before with a strong magnifying glass attached. We set it up, and could finally see well enough to grab the thread's end and remove it. The tongue pinked up a bit - but the tip was still black.

Thread removed, we gave her some water, and put her alone in a box to de-stress. Although she seemed fine, I didn't have much hope for her survival. The tongue was so swollen and dried out that I fully expected the blackened tip to fall off or become infected.

Her tongue just hung there for the rest of the evening (reminding me of that kid in "A Christmas Story" who got his tongue stuck on the frozen volleyball pole - "I double dog dare ya!"). But much to my surprise, even the tip was showing color the next day. A day or two later she was fine.

We carefully mended all of the holes and checked for 'strings' constantly until they were old enough to be removed from the playpen and put in the greenhouse for the winter. We then tossed away the playpen and swore to never use another one with that type of fabric surround (too weavy). I've seen others (like the one my grandson sleeps in while visiting) that has a tighter fabric that would probably serve well as a brooder but IMO woven polyester fabric shouldn't be used to house chicks - too many curious little beaks pecking away at minute strings I can't see.

Buffy is running around out in the pasture right now - doing fine. The greenhouse is full of our latest batch of "girls" - who skipped the playpen brooder and went straight there.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Slifer managed to get one of my hairs wrapped around her foot and leg so tight that it was cutting in! She was thankful to be away from it...
I think I would've needed new undies, if I had seen it...so glad that she was okay, ole_crone.

 

[apbgv]

Oh string can be a terrible thing for kitties if it doesn't pass it can cause an accordion affect in the intestines it can literally cut a hole in the intestines. Not a good thing.

I did find 8 bucks in my dogs stool once, she stole it out of my purse. Needless to say threw it in the wash and it was good as new

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

I wish my dogs would poop out some money.. What brand of dog food did you say you used?