Equine bedding pellets safe if eaten?

[ehoneybee]

Earlier this month I bought some pellets for the run because it was pure mud from all the rain we were getting. My rooster ate them right away (thinking it was huge feed?!) and he died a few days ago. He was about 2 and healthy afaik. My neighbor was watching them for us and she said he was on the floor of the coop dying when she found him and very light. I had noticed he was sleeping on the coop floor the last few days but he seemed fine during the day so didn't think much of it. I read that pellets are very safe but also that chickens don't eat them. Well, mine did. Could it have killed him? I only saw him eat them right when I put them down as I'm assuming he figured it out it wasn't food pretty quickly. He was a great rooster and he is missed!

 

[NatJ]

How long was it from when he ate the pellets to when he died?
Are these the kind of pellets that are made from sawdust?

Since the rooster is dead, he clearly died of something.
Maybe you can do an autopsy-- cut him open and see what you find.

If his guts are all full of bedding pellets, then that might have done it. They could take up enough space in his guts that he wouldn't be able to eat food properly, and would starve to death (so his body would feel lighter than expected, if he'd been losing weight.)

I would not expect a chicken to eat enough bedding pellets to hurt or kill themself. Most chickens are pretty good at realizing what is food and what is not. So I would expect that he died of something else. But there's always one chicken that does something that most other chickens don't, so maybe yours did eat so much bedding he died of it.

 

[ehoneybee]

How long was it from when he ate the pellets to when he died?
Are these the kind of pellets that are made from sawdust?

Since the rooster is dead, he clearly died of something.
Maybe you can do an autopsy-- cut him open and see what you find.

If his guts are all full of bedding pellets, then that might have done it. They could take up enough space in his guts that he wouldn't be able to eat food properly, and would starve to death (so his body would feel lighter than expected, if he'd been losing weight.)

I would not expect a chicken to eat enough bedding pellets to hurt or kill themself. Most chickens are pretty good at realizing what is food and what is not. So I would expect that he died of something else. But there's always one chicken that does something that most other chickens don't, so maybe yours did eat so much bedding he died of it.

I'd say about 2 weeks or so. I was thinking that what he ate just expanded and eventually he didn't have room for food. I have had other chickens that just died for no apparent reason so, you're right, who knows. I certainly couldn't ask my neighbor to cut him open so I'll never know. I love it as bedding, though, so would like to continue using it. It broke down very quickly into a nice sawdust and is keeping the run very dry.

 

[NatJ]

I'd say about 2 weeks or so. I was thinking that what he ate just expanded and eventually he didn't have room for food.

Since it breaks down into sawdust, I would have expected it to all make its way through the rooster and get pooped out the other end in a few days, unless he kept eating it. But maybe not

I love it as bedding, though, so would like to continue using it. It broke down very quickly into a nice sawdust and is keeping the run very dry.

I'm glad it's working well for your run! Since the chickens are used to it now, I wouldn't expect any new problems (because if they were going to do something stupid, they would have already done so.)