I think Ruby ate a (juvenile) black widow

[micstrachan]

So I was rearranging things in the grow-out coop/hospital, which lives inside the main run. Ruby wanted to dust bathe, so I moved a stack of bricks so I could relocate on of the waterers from that spot (keeps getting dirty, anyway). As I was moving bricks, Ruby quickly grabbed and ingested what appeared to be a juvenile black widow. Is this a problem?

 

[imnukensc]

No. Not a problem.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

She will be fine. They eat venomous insects all the time. Being bitten is another story.

 

[Kris5902]

Extra spicy spider flavor! Tasty! Widows aren’t usually very aggressive or quick to bite, poor spider probably didn’t even know what hit it. Good chicken!

 

[coach723]

"Venomous" and "poisonous" are two different things. Venom needs to be injected by a bite or sting and just ingesting it isn't enough to cause illness. Poison on the other hand will cause illness when ingested. I have heard of chickens being stung by scorpions while eating them, the sting is what gets them, not the eating of the scorpion, but I don't think it happens a lot. I think a spider would be swallowed so quickly that the odds of being bitten would be very, very small. Humans can eat venomous snakes (I personally wouldn't!) without becoming sick, it's the bite that is the problem.

 

[Kris5902]

"Venomous" and "poisonous" are two different things. Venom needs to be injected by a bite or sting and just ingesting it isn't enough to cause illness. Poison on the other hand will cause illness when ingested.

And so far we’ve made it an hour and ten minutes without anyone confusing the two! Has to be a new record... also one of my pet peeves, every time I hear someone talking about “poisonous” snakes I just want to shake them and send them back to grade school.

 

[twendt]

I'm more concerned about you! You could've gotten bitten! Good chicken

 

[Kris5902]

Yes! We have widows here too, and although they are fairly reclusive and not quick to bite, I always wear a pair of even light gloves when I’m moving things that might have bitey things around them. I’m highly reactive to spider bites in general, and terrified of them to boot!