Do chickens feel pain?

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

It sounds like some people are feeling criticized, when i think the OP posted an innocent question. i think it's a good question but probably has a thousand answers. Maybe like people, different chickens may have higher or lower thresholds of pain. Perhaps when they are in a lot of pain already, like that impacted crop, the surgery felt more like relief. It sure sounds like it, and i don't think anyone has an issue with the crop surgery. That was obviously necessary.

My comment about all you have to do is watch one chicken scream when another one pecks it, i hope was taken innocently. i didn't mean to offend or criticize anyone else's actions. And then, i've seen chickens scream when it just looked like another chicken was going to peck them.

i wish i had some vet tech training, as it can get mighty expensive taking each of your chickens to the vet when anything looks amiss. We just spent way too much money on one little silkie who had a bad sinus infection that had swollen up. But i didn't know what to do and lacked the confidence to try. So instead we now have bills piled up.

i guess we all have to gauge for ourselves, in each individual situation, with each of our pets, how best to treat them, keep them healthy, and minimize their pain. Ultimately, it's our own decision, and i think most of the folks on this board are making the right ones.

 

[logan]

yes they feel pain

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

So going with they feel pain (which I agree with given the screeching that happens around here when one snaps at another), what kind of anesthetic would you use for bumblefoot or crop surgery? Is there a Novocain type topical that could be used? I have also been told that totally anesthetizing birds is problematic. I need to do bumblefoot surgery on a couple and would like to make it as easy as possible on them.

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Quote:
Excellent post - very well said!

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

I havn't read the other posts but i feel that chickens can feel pain ...I see it when I accidently step on a toe or foot when there crowding me....or one is limping from a broken toe nail ...

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
AFAIK the -caine anesthetics are still problematic for birds. Speckledhen lost her fave rooster a year or two ago, with that (in a topical cream) interpreted as the cause.

Icewater is a good short-term anesthetic and reduces bleeding, is used by many people in dubbing cocks' combs, you could consider that I suppose.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[AmyRey]

Quote:
Excellent point.

And I think it's very important to remember that (as others have said) when a situation gets bad enough to require at home surgery, the animal is probably in a great deal of pain already.

This thread reminds me of several people I know who have (purposely) drilled holes into the purple fingernails on swollen fingers and INSTANTLY felt relief. I imagine that a chicken with a swollen and impacted crop or a swollen and abscessed foot probably feels something similar.

 

[Akane]

This question may be solved with little disagreement when it comes to chickens but it's a highly debated question about a lot of animals. It came up several times on a fish forum I was on. Some tried to prove that a reaction or avoidance of pain causing stimuli did not mean the animal felt pain as we did. There was even an experiment brought up where a frog was dissected so that the brain was no longer attached to the spine in any way. They then ran mild electric current to make the body capable of reacting and dripped acid on a leg. The frog leg jerked and moved away despite no brain function or supposed ability to interpret pain on a higher level. So the argument went on for page after page and nothing was ever settled on whether animals, and in particular fish in this case, really feel pain the way we do.

The best answer in my opinion that came out of such discussion was, Does it really matter? We know animals react to, avoid, and get stressed by injury or illness. Whether they feel it the same as us or show it the same as us does it matter? You should still try not to do things that could cause greater suffering and try to prevent all the responses that show pain. No matter what the critter is.

 

[nature nut]

Of course chickens feel pain. I think that a lot of people just don't think about animals as beings that feel pain and have emotions. Once my husband and I were taking a swan to the vet that had gotten mowed over by a large turf mower and had its wing badly cut. That poor swan sat patiently in the floor board of our truck crying huge tears. It had salty tear stains all down its bill by the time we got to the vet.

And I have read somewhere on the internet that scientists have found in studies of chickens with leg problems that they will choose to drink a water medicated with pain medicine over an unmedicated water because chickens can understand cause and effect and actually know that drinking the medicated water will cause their pain to go away. I wish I would have saved the site that was on. I found it one night when searching under "intelligence of chickens" or something like that.

 

[rivers2011]

Quote:
First of all, I am sorry to hear about your health. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that we are all thinking about you and hoping for the best. I would say "stay strong," but it's very clear from what you've described that you are more than strong. Please don't apologize for saving the life of Annie. I, for one, am glad you did.

As far as the OP's question goes, of course they feel pain. I was really surprised by the response of people here. First, in terms of animal cruelty, I think I would put my efforts towards criticizing factory farms that absolutely torture chickens, cows, pigs, etc. throughout their short lives, keeping them in unbearable situations with no regard for their pain and suffering. If you feel as strongly as you seem to, hand out pamphlets in front of the egg cartons at the grocery store.

Second, finding an avian vet who knows anything about treating chickens is easier said than done. We've been lucky to find one who will even treat chickens, but he's a good source for Baytril and that's about it.

Third, birds are extremely sensitive and respond in unpredictable ways to anesthesia. Without someone who is an expert in treating a particular species of bird, you are very likely to simply kill the bird using anesthesia. Even if the person is an expert, there's a good chance the bird will die.

Fourth, to the people who think you shouldn't keep chickens if you can afford expensive avian vets, I would again bring up the issue of factory farms. Is it better to keep chickens as sources of eggs and meat, giving them love and protection and lives outside in the sun, even if you can't afford a vet, or is it better to get your eggs and meat from the grocery store, where you know the chickens are most likely living with their beaks cut off in unbelievably crowded conditions, sitting in their own filth without ever seeing the light of day? And if you think that your extra money can buy peace of mind by getting "organic" or "free range," I suggest you do a little bit of research and see how minimal those standards are. Give me the local farm in 10 times out of 10.

great response. food for thought