Chicken ate a rubber band

[ChickenLadyRN]

Hi guys, I’m looking for advice. Despite my better judgment yesterday I hung up a bunch of Swiss chard using a rubber band. Stupid yes I know. I thought I had it twisted on the hook securely where we usually hang veggies for them to snack on but low and behold I went out to the coop this morning and no rubber band. I’ve looked in every crack and crevice and cannot find it so I’m pretty sure one of my 12 hens/1 roo has eaten it. Besides taking their food away tonight and trying to feel their crops tomorrow morning when they have emptied, I’m thinking about doing a milk flush or maybe canned pumpkin? I’ve never done a milk flush but I’ve read somewhere that if you give chickens a bowl of milk it will help empty their digestive tract, anyone know if that’s true? I know for dogs they say canned pumpkin because of the fiber will help push things through if they’ve eaten some thing bad, does anybody know if that’s true for chickens? Any other advice?

 

[Jersey giant lover]

how big was the band

 

[ChickenLadyRN]

It was a pretty large one of course. I took a pic of a similar sized one. I used a larger one thinking that would hold on the hook a little more securely. Dumb.

 

[Jersey giant lover]

do you have them on grit

 

[ChickenLadyRN]

Yes they have free access to grit

 

[ChickenLadyRN]

It’s now almost one week later and I discovered I have a droopy chicken. I let the girls out to free range when I got home from work and a little while later went out to get them back in the run and noticed one was missing. I checked inside the coop and sure enough I had one girl up on the roost. I thought this was unusual because I had brought them a bunch of veggies and threw some scratch to get them back in the run which always makes them go crazy. her tail is definitely droopy, nothing out of the ordinary going on around her vent. Her crop is definitely mushy. She is moving slowly and just seems a little listless. She ate a few seeds and went over to the water and drank a bunch. I tried offering her some yogurt with probiotics added in but she wasn’t interested. I’m guessing she was the one who swallowed the rubber band. I don’t know what to do. Any advice?

 

[Eggcessive]

You might give a tsp of chilled coconut oil, chopped into tiny pieces for her to peck at. Check her crop first thing in the morning to see if it has emptied. Is she passing droppings? You might want to place in in a wired dog crate to watch her droppings, and control what she is eating and drinking.