Help! Duck ate metal nut.

[jeepgirl13]

Materials


Nuts are commonly made of metal, but other options are available.

• Aluminum nuts are light, resistant to oxidation, thermal and electrical conducive, and easy to manufacture.
• Brass nuts are strong, conductive, corrosion resistant, with low magnetic permeability.
• Copper alloy nuts have good load capacity, wear resistance, and are suitable for dynamic loads.
• Fiber-reinforced plastic nuts use industrial fabric reinforced urethanes. They are wear resistant.
• Inconel®/Incoloy®metal nuts provide good strength and oxidation/carbonization resistance in high temperatures. They can be used in temperatures up to 1200° F.
• Monel®nuts are made of a proprietary metal blend with resistance to chemicals and solutions.
• Nylon nuts are made of a tough and resistant material. It has good pressure ratings.
• Plastic nuts are inexpensive and corrosion resistant for light loads.
• Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an insoluble compound and PTFE nuts have durability and low friction.
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is inert and resistant to chemicals, and PVC nuts are flexible, smooth, and non-toxic.
• Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nuts has less creep and better strength than other fluoropolymers, but is susceptible at high temperatures.
• Rubber nuts are used in specialty applications requiring vibration and noise dampening.
• Steel nuts are produced of strong, carbonated iron. Uncoated steel is vulnerable to corrosion.
• Hardened steel relies on hardening methods to produce a stronger, but more brittle, version of steel.
• Stainless steel nuts are chemical and corrosion resistant with an appealing finish. They cannot be hardened like carbon steel.
  
  
• Titanium nuts are hard and strong, light, and corrosion resistant. When alloyed with other metals, it increases strength and durability.
  

Taken from: https://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/mechanical_components/mechanical_fasteners/nuts

This is a list of what most common hardware nuts are made from. I am assuming this was a regular hardware nut that was swallowed, used for small building projects, and not something more heavy duty like you'd find in the automotive field.

 

[jeepgirl13]

And:

Unlike materials such as stainless steel and brass, steel hex nuts are available in different strength "grades" as designated by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers). Grade 2 is the lowest, in terms of both strength and cost; Grade 5 offers medium strength; and Grade 8 is the highest SAE grade and is usually priced the highest as well. Never replace a graded hex nut with a lower grade or lower strength nut. Surface markings identify the grade.

Common materials include steel (unplated and plated—see more about finishes below), stainless steel, brass, silicon bronze, aluminum and nylon. Steel remains the least costly material followed by stainless steel; copper alloys (such as brass and silicon bronze) are the most expensive.

Common finishes for steel are zinc plating and hot dip galvanizing. Zinc, the most popular and least expensive commercial plating, offers moderate corrosion resistance. Hot dip galvanized is a thick coating of zinc that protects against corrosion in harsh environments. Stainless steel, though, is a better choice when corrosion is of concern except when submerged in salt water without free oxygen where it can suffer from severe pitting corrosion. Unplated and uncoated steel hex nuts—referred to as plain finish—may also be available and are susceptible to rust. Not all types are available in all materials and finishes.

From here: https://www.fastenermart.com/hex-nuts.html

 

[jeepgirl13]

Perhaps if OP knows what type of nut was swallowed we can alleviate some of the concerns about lead/metal poisoning.

 

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...appetite-falling-weight-loss-lethargy.873138/ this information is found in the duck sticky's

 

[Phillisy]

Perhaps if OP knows what type of nut was swallowed we can alleviate some of the concerns about lead/metal poisoning.

I tried phoning the company, and I sent them an email this morning, so I'm waiting to hear back. It came from one of those garage in a bag things, they're probably made of the cheapest material possible so it's anyone's guess what the content of them is. Hopefully I hear back soon.
I magnet sweeped the barn, and as of noon he still hasn't passed it.

Do you know what the nut was made of? If it was made of or has anything like lead or zinc in it, you need to find a vet to remove it if it isnt passed. Their bodies treat pieces of metal like stones and keep them in their gizzard to help crush up their food. Thats why when ducks eat lead shotgun pellets they cause so much harm.

I had a duck recently who ate an old nail, and what i later discovered was known as a 'lead head' which is the top part of a roofing nail, and is large and round. They were two separate items,the nail was not the same roofing nail that had the lead on top, and the lead head had fallen off a totally different nail so only the top part was eaten. Anyway I had no idea she had eaten anything dodgy until I saw her limping one evening, and on closer inspection realised she was wobbly and off balance, and had pale membranes and was anemic. By the following morning, she couldnt even stand, and I was pretty sure it was lead poisoning, but the only bird vet at the only clinic which had the chelating agent that is needed for lead poisoning, was not working when I called the vet the next morning. The vet that was there wanted to take blood and send it up the other end of the country to check lead levels with a wait of over a week for results. I pointed out the duck might well be dead by the time the blood results came back, and luckily she agreed to give my duck a calcium edta injection that day to see if she improved.

I took the duck back the next morning when the bird vet was in, and he xrayed her and showed some alarming looking x rays with the nail in front of her gizzard, and the lead head in her gizzard. She was too ill to operate so I took her home and gave her edta shots twice a day for 5 days the back to the vet. She was still very sick but could stand a little, which she had been unable to do 5 days prior (she was walking a little wobbly when I found her at night, and by the next morning she couldnt stand at all).

Anyway, when the vet opened her up, he found that the nail, which was not part of the lead head roofing nail, and didnt contain lead as far as I know, had caused her stomach tissue to die, and he said so much of her stomach was necrotic, that there was not enough of her gi system left to be able to repair it after removing the nail. He said it was hard to tell how long it had been there but for at least a month - a month in which my duck had shown absolutely no signs of ill health whatsoever. And while it was the lead head that she had eaten that made her get very sick very fast, it was actually the non lead piece of metal inside her that killed her. She died under anesthetic. But the vet said if she had survived the operation he would have had to euthanase her anyway as most of her stomach tissue was dead and had basically disintegrated inside her.

If i had been lucky enough to have seen her eat the nail and lead head, I am pretty sure she could have been saved as the damage to her wtomach had occured over time, not instantly - it wasnt from the nail cutting her up or anything.

But that experience cost me almost $1000 for a duck I had to bury anyway, and taught me that you cant just hope they will be ok if they eat metal.

The vet gave me the lead head and the nail after the surgery, and both were smaller than they would have been when she ate the , so they had clearly sat inside her for quite some time and her digestive system was slowly breaking them down, and as well as releasing the lead into her bloodstream, the metal in the non-lead nail was damaging her stomach tissue and causing it to break down and die.

If you dont see a poop come out with that same nut in it, based on my experience I would say thatif you want to save your duck, you will need to take the duck to a vet and get an x ray done. Then find a vet who will remove the nut asap, before it starts caussing tissue death.

If i saw one of my ducks eat something like that in future, If had to, I would cut into their crop myself to remove it rather than let it get into their stomach where its probably going stay and slowly kill them. There is some instruction in storeys gude for raising ducks on how to do this - I've never tried, but i would if I saw a duck eat something metal in future, as from what i have read, its much easier to get a foreign body out of their crop than further down.

Sorry i know my post isnt exactly uplifting, and I hope i am wrong and your bird passes that nut, but I suspect it might not, and in that case youq will need to find a vet who can remove it, as soon as possible.

Don't wait because the bird appears well - by the time enough damage is done for the bird to get sick, it will probably be too late to save it (and if you can save the bird it will be a mich harder recovery and a much bigger vet bill).

On the up side, you have been lucky enough to see it happen, and not find out a month or more later, so you do have the opportunity to probably save your duck.

Ring around your local area and try and find a vet who has bird experience there might be one who doesnt have any specific quals ispecialising in birds, but who happens to have poultry themselves or just has seen a lot of birds, otherwise i guess you may need to consider making a long trip to the exotic vet.

If you cant find a vet locally who feels confident removing it, they should at least be able to x ray your duck, and send those x rays to the exotic vet and liaise with them, so you can get a reasonable idea of the prognosis and cost before you take the duck on a long trip to the exotic vet for removal.

Good luck please post the outcome of this situation for your duck?

A vet isn't an option as no one within 700km deals with exotics (which I only found out recently when my rabbit ended up with snuffles and no one knew how to treat him). As I know it shouldn't perforate anything, and he's not showing any symptoms of toxicity, I'm comfortable waiting to see if he passes it for now, unless something happens in the meantime and I turn into a crazy duck mum who harasses every vet in the country until someone sees him. He lived in the house with me for 2 months because he had bum legs and no friends (both of which he overcame), so I'm pretty attached to the booger.


My luck sucks, but I'm hoping the company gets back to me and tells me it's some plain harmless metal with no coating.

 

[jeepgirl13]

I tried phoning the company, and I sent them an email this morning, so I'm waiting to hear back. It came from one of those garage in a bag things, they're probably made of the cheapest material possible so it's anyone's guess what the content of them is. Hopefully I hear back soon.
I magnet sweeped the barn, and as of noon he still hasn't passed it.



A vet isn't an option as no one within 700km deals with exotics (which I only found out recently when my rabbit ended up with snuffles and no one knew how to treat him). As I know it shouldn't perforate anything, and he's not showing any symptoms of toxicity, I'm comfortable waiting to see if he passes it for now, unless something happens in the meantime and I turn into a crazy duck mum who harasses every vet in the country until someone sees him. He lived in the house with me for 2 months because he had bum legs and no friends (both of which he overcame), so I'm pretty attached to the booger.


My luck sucks, but I'm hoping the company gets back to me and tells me it's some plain harmless metal with no coating.

Yikes! Sounds like quite the wild goose chase you're about to go on. I can see it now:

"We dont have that info, we get them from this company"

That company: "we dont have that info. We just package them. They come from this company."

This company: "we have no clue what they're talking about. We dont sell product to either of those companies"

I hope they actually can get you the right info! I've lost all faith in customer service.

 

[jeepgirl13]

I tried phoning the company, and I sent them an email this morning, so I'm waiting to hear back. It came from one of those garage in a bag things, they're probably made of the cheapest material possible so it's anyone's guess what the content of them is. Hopefully I hear back soon.
I magnet sweeped the barn, and as of noon he still hasn't passed it.



A vet isn't an option as no one within 700km deals with exotics (which I only found out recently when my rabbit ended up with snuffles and no one knew how to treat him). As I know it shouldn't perforate anything, and he's not showing any symptoms of toxicity, I'm comfortable waiting to see if he passes it for now, unless something happens in the meantime and I turn into a crazy duck mum who harasses every vet in the country until someone sees him. He lived in the house with me for 2 months because he had bum legs and no friends (both of which he overcame), so I'm pretty attached to the booger.


My luck sucks, but I'm hoping the company gets back to me and tells me it's some plain harmless metal with no coating.

Yikes! Sounds like quite the wild goose chase you're about to go on. I can see it now:

"We dont have that info, we get them from this company"

That company: "we dont have that info. We just package them. They come from this company."

This company: "we have no clue what they're talking about. We dont sell product to either of those companies"

I hope they actually can get you the right info! I've lost all faith in customer service.

 

[jeepgirl13]

Uh... weird. Not sure why that's double posted. Sorry yall.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

@Phillisy do you have a picture of one of the nut's siblings?
I will certainly help to figure out what kind of nut was swallowed.

 

[jeepgirl13]

Oh good idea!

@Phillisy do you have a picture of one of the nut's siblings?
I will certainly help to figure out what kind of nut was swallowed.