Chicken swallowed chicken bone?

[cosmic-chick]

Has anyone ever experienced their chicken swallowing chicken bones? We had chicken wings yesterday and my family threw the bones outside and my chickens found them. I saw one chicken carrying around a bone yesterday and it was trying to swallow it, to which I was able to get from them.

This morning I have a chicken that is acting strange. Sounds like she is weezy, breathing with her mouth slightly open and I heard her sneeze a couple of times.

If it's the bone causing this I'm wondering if it's something that she could pass eventually or if I would need to have it taken care of. Or if it's something completely differently such as a cold what kinds of products can I buy over the counter to treat it? I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to determine what the issue is. I've brought her in the house for now, just to keep her separated from the others.

Any advise/suggestions are much appreciated!!

Thanks much,
Lori

 

[Gargoyle]

If she swallowed it, it should get stuck in the crop and slowly break down (if she also eats enough grit). As long as there aren't sharp edges that pierce her, it probably will ease up over time.

Quote: This sounds more like a bit of a respiratory/illness issue, although I guess something large caught in her crop could possibly cause that.

 

[cosmic-chick]

Gargoyle - so what would you do based on what I've described?

Some newer developments that I've noticed that another one of my chickens is making a similar sound but not as extreme and another chicken sneezing...

Would it be best to treat with antibiotics or what is the most holistic way of treating "colds" or respiratory issues?

 

[cafarmgirl]

Gargoyle - so what would you do based on what I've described?

Some newer developments that I've noticed that another one of my chickens is making a similar sound but not as extreme and another chicken sneezing...

Would it be best to treat with antibiotics or what is the most holistic way of treating "colds" or respiratory issues?

The difficulty in treating respiratory issues in chickens is that there are quite a few things they can catch, either from other chickens or from wild birds, none of them good. They don't contract simple "cold's" like humans do. Some can be treated with antibiotic's to control symptoms and secondary infection but you cannot actually cure most of these ailments. The primary symptoms may go away but in most cases the birds remain carriers with the potential to infect other nearby flocks and any new birds you bring in. If you Google "respiratory infections in poultry" you'll get some good info.

I suspect that's more of what your seeing rather then a problem with an ingested chicken bone. Although I'd not be tossing them out in the yard anymore. Cooked chicken bones become very brittle and sharp when broken and are a real intestinal hazard for any animal that decides to swallow them down.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I suspect that's more of what your seeing rather then a problem with an ingested chicken bone. Although I'd not be tossing them out in the yard anymore. Cooked chicken bones become very brittle and sharp when broken and are a real intestinal hazard for any animal that decides to swallow them down.

x2 If the chicken bone caused a problem it would likely be an impacted crop or vomiting or pooping blood - not the symptoms you are describing. If the crop is impacted you would be able to feel the bone in there.

My chickens swallow mice whole so I think it is possible for the chicken bone to break down without a problem but cafarmgirl is right, bird bones are hallow and becomes extremely brittle when cooked and can cause tearing in the digestive system. It's not good to feed them to dogs and I don't think it would be good to feed them to any animals. Raw, small bones would be fine or cooked bones that have been very well crushed.

 

[cosmic-chick]

I now have 3 girls with what I'm guessing is a respiratory issue...I have them inside the house. I'm going to try and treat them, meaning keep them separate from the others (so it doesn't spread) and try to get their symptoms cleared up as a result of boosting their immune system with vitamins, ACV and I'm thinking of going with antibiotics. I hope the rest of the flock doesn't get this...how awful...

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I'm really sorry. Good luck. Let us know how you are doing.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I now have 3 girls with what I'm guessing is a respiratory issue...I have them inside the house. I'm going to try and treat them, meaning keep them separate from the others (so it doesn't spread) and try to get their symptoms cleared up as a result of boosting their immune system with vitamins, ACV and I'm thinking of going with antibiotics. I hope the rest of the flock doesn't get this...how awful...

Best of luck. This respiratory stuff is so frustrating and there seems to be an awful lot of it going around now, I'm dealing with it in my flock too.

 

[cosmic-chick]

Thanks cafarmgirl. Sorry to hear you are dealing with it too. I read some stuff last night about bronchitis. I'm wondering if my chickens got this because I raked a bunch of leaves in the yard and put them in their coop. I've read the mold spores and whatever else can be bad. So, I'm off to clean out the coop and chalk that up to a learning experience Best of luck to you too!

 

[cafarmgirl]

Thanks cafarmgirl. Sorry to hear you are dealing with it too. I read some stuff last night about bronchitis. I'm wondering if my chickens got this because I raked a bunch of leaves in the yard and put them in their coop. I've read the mold spores and whatever else can be bad. So, I'm off to clean out the coop and chalk that up to a learning experience Best of luck to you too!

Infectious bronchitis in chickens is a virus and a very, very contagious one. It can travel quite a distance so if there are other nearby chicken owners with sick birds it can come in that way or it can be carried along by wild birds as well. Really nasty stuff.

As far as fungal infections I do not have a lot of info on that but unless your leaves were wet and/or moldy I don't think that would be the cause of your problem.

One thing I have started doing on a regular basis is fogging the coop with UNactivated Oxine AH. It is completely safe for birds and you can fog the coop with them in there so they can inhale it when they are sick. It is a fungicidal, bactericidal and virucidal. You can also use it in their waterer's to keep them clean. I just got a little hand held sprayer and I spray a fine mist everywhere around the coop. This has seemed to help. In the meantime my roo is on antibiotic's while we wait for labs to come back from the vet.