Chicken swallowed pool toy

[grettasurfergirl]

help! My son dropped a piece of pool toy into the chicken run about 5 inches long and thick as a pencil, probably silicone. The chickens thought it was a worm probably and ate it. Is there anything at all I can do at this point??? Will this kill the chicken??

 

[azygous]

The size of the object may be problematic, but not the substance. Silicone is inert and passes right through a chicken. If the thing is in the least rigid, you may want to watch for any chicken in distress, lethargic and fluffed up and administer some coconut oil to help the object slide through the intestines.

 

[grettasurfergirl]

Thank you! How would I give her coconut oil? A dropper? Also, do you know how long it would take to see any signs of distress? Thanks and I hope you’re right that it just passes through! It’s not at all rigid, just a floppy pencil size piece of silicone.

 

[azygous]

I think you'd be seeing signs of trouble by now if it was going to happen. It's not likely to cause any problems if it's soft and flexible. Watch for it to show up in the poop.

One of the reasons I recommend coconut oil is because it's solid when below 70F and easy to put into the beak of the chicken without it ending up all over you and the chicken. I spoon up a teaspoon at a time when I need to treat a crop blockage. If you can find the unrefined oil that still tastes like coconut, chickens will usually eat it with no arguing.