Do chickens fast before surgery???

[Annabellaa]

Hi there, I have an incredibly long story that I won’t share unless it happens to be relevant to this question…. Do chickens need to fast before surgery?? My hen is having surgery on a mass in her uterus tomorrow and the vet has not mentioned anything about needing to fast (like humans or other animals) before she goes under anesthesia. I have emailed to ask but they are closed today and am not sure if there is time for me to wait for a response from them if fasting is 12 hours. I have a very sick hen and I don’t want to remove food if I don’t have to but her chances are already quite slim and I don’t want to make them slimmer by risking aspiration while she is asleep. I let my chickens out around 5/6am the surgery begins at 11am. Help pls???

 

[SourRoses]

I don't actually know the answer, but my best guess is:
If they need to fast (I would think so) the duration wouldn't be as long as a human fast. Chicken digestion is speedier.
Probably just don't give her breakfast the morning of, since she would be naturally fasted from the nighttime.
Meanwhile, you will want to keep her energy up with nutritious food, since a chickens speedier metabolism means it takes less time for them to suffer from lack of carbs / protein / nutrients. Just avoid hard things that might get bogged down, like seeds, bug carapaces, etc. Or fibrous material like long grasses, rinds, etc.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would feed her this evening, her usual food before she goes to roost. Then place her in a wire crate first thing in the morning so she doesn’t eat food or grasses. Most animals including dogs and cats can have water in the morning before surgery, so that may be allowed. Chickens do not tolerate anesthesia all that well. With crop surgery for instance, it is done without anesthesia most times. I hope your hen gets along okay.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It is amazing, the things you learn here on BYC!

 

[Annabellaa]

I don't actually know the answer, but my best guess is:
If they need to fast (I would think so) the duration wouldn't be as long as a human fast. Chicken digestion is speedier.
Probably just don't give her breakfast the morning of, since she would be naturally fasted from the nighttime.
Meanwhile, you will want to keep her energy up with nutritious food, since a chickens speedier metabolism means it takes less time for them to suffer from lack of carbs / protein / nutrients. Just avoid hard things that might get bogged down, like seeds, bug carapaces, etc. Or fibrous material like long grasses, rinds, etc.

The suffering lack of nutrients is what’s rlly got me worried . She’s all skin and bone and this surgery is already risky because she has almost no muscle left. I was going to bring her to put her down as I couldn’t find a vet that took chickens. Nothing I was doing was working and my only advice was to put her down. Luckily I got a call back from the vet who was so astonished she was still alive in her condition that he offered to do the surgery to at least give her any chance he could at her living. For his own learning purposes and for my conscience to know I followed every lead I could. I am a bag of nerves and just want her to get better so my natural instinct is to feed her and give her water and make sure she’s at least digesting. Fasting didn’t even cross my mind until now. Fingers crossed, she’s a fighter

 

[Annabellaa]

I would feed her this evening, her usual food before she goes to roost. Then place her in a wire crate first thing in the morning so she doesn’t eat food or grasses. Most animals including dogs and cats can have water in the morning before surgery, so that may be allowed. Chickens do not tolerate anesthesia all that well. With crop surgery for instance, it is done without anesthesia most times. I hope your hen gets along okay.

Yes, I’ve read they don’t tolerate anesthesia. In her thin frail condition I have been watching her eat all day hoping to give her enough energy to at least make it to the vet let alone survive the anesthetic. The vet seems somewhat confident in his ability to put her under and wake her up since he has done it many times before. Obviously that is the first worry that is crossing my mind forefront to all the other things he mentioned could change the outcome. I am just fighting my instinct to give her food and water at all times being as she’s sick and still willing to eat/drink and it feels like a small win. She is much more interested in water than food so at the very least if I can give her some water maybe that will hold her until after. Especially with all the heat my area has been getting, thank you!!

 

[Susan Skylark]

Animals are fasted before surgery to minimize vomiting risk and secondary aspiration and pneumonia. Birds, rabbits, and rodents have incredibly high metabolisms and need constant energy input (especially smaller animals) and have minimal vomiting risk and therefore are not usually fasted or only for a few hours prior to surgery and provided with food immediately afterwards.

 

[Annabellaa]

Animals are fasted before surgery to minimize vomiting risk and secondary aspiration and pneumonia. Birds, rabbits, and rodents have incredibly high metabolisms and need constant energy input (especially smaller animals) and have minimal vomiting risk and therefore are not usually fasted or only for a few hours prior to surgery and provided with food immediately afterwards.

I was told the surgery would be around 2 hours. If it starts at 11 she most likely won’t get her next meal until 2ish. I last fed her at 9:30. 9:30pm-2pm the next day seems like a long time to go without food for an already sick bird in dire condition. I’m glad to hear that I do not have to fast her for that long if her metabolism is that much higher than other animals. Around what time do u recommend I take food away from her? 8/9ish the morning of? The vet is doing this to give her a chance at life and also as a teaching moment for himself and his peers. So he does not entirely know what he will find during the surgery, he said in the case that her digestive tract is affected he would not recommend allowing her to wake up from the surgery (this all started with an egg issue) so I assume if she has a problem w digesting then she is already too far gone (God I hope not) and if her digestion is fine then in theory she should empty her crop no slower than any other bird even though she is unwell? I truly want her to go into surgery with the best chance and I am hopeful she will be okay. If I don’t have to fast her for that long that relieves a lot of my worries.