- Oct 16, 2008
- 3
- 0
- 7
My chickens are about 7months. I thought they were healthy until very recently, when one was standing around listless, her crop full of liquid, no poop, no eggs for a couple of days. I thought perhaps she was eggbound. I'm new to this, but I felt something hard in her.
I took her to a vet, and they took an x-ray. It turns out that her gizzard is full of metal: a piece of a hose clamp, a few metal bbs, some staples, etc. It looks like I'm going to have to put her down. She stands around, raising a foot, looking at me, barely eating.
Out of curiosity, I had my other two chickens x-rayed. I know, it sounds crazy to x-ray perfectly healthy chickens. One was clean, her gizzard had some pebbles in it for chewing and that was it. The other was worse than the first. She had eaten a .22 shell, a plethora of small screws, a broken screw, a washer, some other things--but despite being on the thin side she eats and poops fine.
The thing is, I had no idea this stuff was in my backyard. I have only lived here 1 year. The yard looked tidy when we moved in, and now it still does except I've happily let them dig up stuff and the weeds have come in.
I feel awful. I can't eat their eggs any more because I'm afraid of heavy metals in them. One is about to die, the other is probably on her way, and the third will be left alone with no flock.
The third, I should note, has not started to lay yet. Why isn't she going through the same? They have free choice food and water in two big feeders, one in the coop and one outside, though I see them pecking at the ground more often than at the feeder. I commonly feed them scraps or toss them one of my tomatoes to go after. They are on Honor Laying Ration crumbles.
I don't know what to do. I think I have to put the black one down soon. The other, though she is acting the normal, I wonder if I should put her down now or wait until she is symptomatic. I can't eat the eggs. Should I even bother to think I can ever have chickens on this property again?
I'm really freaked out about this. Please give some advice.
Thank you,
Amanda
I took her to a vet, and they took an x-ray. It turns out that her gizzard is full of metal: a piece of a hose clamp, a few metal bbs, some staples, etc. It looks like I'm going to have to put her down. She stands around, raising a foot, looking at me, barely eating.
Out of curiosity, I had my other two chickens x-rayed. I know, it sounds crazy to x-ray perfectly healthy chickens. One was clean, her gizzard had some pebbles in it for chewing and that was it. The other was worse than the first. She had eaten a .22 shell, a plethora of small screws, a broken screw, a washer, some other things--but despite being on the thin side she eats and poops fine.
The thing is, I had no idea this stuff was in my backyard. I have only lived here 1 year. The yard looked tidy when we moved in, and now it still does except I've happily let them dig up stuff and the weeds have come in.
I feel awful. I can't eat their eggs any more because I'm afraid of heavy metals in them. One is about to die, the other is probably on her way, and the third will be left alone with no flock.
The third, I should note, has not started to lay yet. Why isn't she going through the same? They have free choice food and water in two big feeders, one in the coop and one outside, though I see them pecking at the ground more often than at the feeder. I commonly feed them scraps or toss them one of my tomatoes to go after. They are on Honor Laying Ration crumbles.
I don't know what to do. I think I have to put the black one down soon. The other, though she is acting the normal, I wonder if I should put her down now or wait until she is symptomatic. I can't eat the eggs. Should I even bother to think I can ever have chickens on this property again?
I'm really freaked out about this. Please give some advice.
Thank you,
Amanda
