st #11The other day my husband was working in the yard. One of the goats knocked over a box of roofing screws. One of our 3 month old emus immediately ate three of them before he could pick them up. We just got back from the vet and he does indeed have the three roofing screws, several other assorted screws, a rectangular piece of metal and a lot of rocks in his gullet. The immediate danger is perforation and later toxicity from the zinc coating of the roofing screws. Our options are surgery, and I am waiting for a call back from the avian vet, or doing a Metamucil flush 3 times a day for several days in hopes of moving the stuff through. Option 1 is "dicey and probably expensive" and option 2 is "not likely to work but worth a try."
We stopped by the Equipment Rental store on the way home and rented one of those big magnets on wheels and DH is using it to pick up all the metal crap left around the barn by prior owners and our barn builder. I am freaking out waiting for return phone calls. Just wanted to let those new to emus know the danger. We will probably take our second emu in for x-rays tomorrow since she has probably been eating the same items.
We stopped by the Equipment Rental store on the way home and rented one of those big magnets on wheels and DH is using it to pick up all the metal crap left around the barn by prior owners and our barn builder. I am freaking out waiting for return phone calls. Just wanted to let those new to emus know the danger. We will probably take our second emu in for x-rays tomorrow since she has probably been eating the same items.
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