I'm Such An Idiot! Please Help!

[Sequel]

Just to give everyone an update: I FOUND THE SCREW!!!

Yay! Amy Jane is sleeping tonight folks! I'm so glad you did!

 

[aart]

I swallowed a mouthful of thumbtacks (the short pointy metal ones) when I was a kid, doctor said not to worry about it unless I developed symptoms of something bad... (I wonder how much that cost my parents). I think the advice is sound though, unless you see someone acting funky, I'd not worry about it.

So.....did it all come out OK?

May I suggest the model sold by ACME.....

Yeah, mine aren’t scared of the drill. Weren’t scared of the metal detector either.

On the floor?
Cause I was kinda looking forward to this chicken scanning.

Thanks for the reassurance.
I don’t have access to a metal detector, but I think buying one would be cheaper than vet bills for 13 chickens. I could scan her and see if it’s inside her or not.

 

[Attila the Hen]

Hey, so, like the moron I am , I was doing some work in my coop last night, when what should happen, but my 2 month old barred Holland pullet runs up and grabs a screw from me. I tried to grab her but she wriggled free. I'm not sure if she swallowed it or dropped it when I grabbed her and it's buried in the foot deep pine shavings in the coop. I looked for hours, had a friend bring over a magnet (not strong enough I think), but all to no avail. Now I'm faced with the following possibilities:

1) She swallowed it and could get a perforated digestive tract any minute (of course it had to be a pointy tipped screw) or it doesn't perforate, but she gets heavy metal toxicity.

2) She dropped it into the shavings and it's buried somewhere, just waiting to be dug up and eaten by one of my other babies.

3) She dropped it and it has already been eaten by one of my other babies.

To really feel at peace I'd need to take all 13 of them to the vet for xrays and exams. That's a ton of money that I do not have right now. Couldn't pay for it if I wanted to (which I do). And if they all came up metal free I'd do a clean sweep of the coop. Remove all the bedding from the coop/run and pick through it until I found the screw.

Is it possible for 2 month olds to swallow an inch long screw? I feel like there'd have been some choking or squawking from pain or something. I palpated her crop and didn't feel anything, though her crop wasn't very full or anything, so I'm not sure if I felt the right place. Right front breast, correct?

Please help me. I am just sick with worry.

I thought about emptying out the coop, taking all the shavings and burning them and then sifting through the ash to try to find the screw. Is this crazy? I'm frantic.

 

[Attila the Hen]

Your defiantly freaking out.My birds are 2 months and I’ve dropped nails and screws all throughout the cage and HAVE never had a bird eat them,they don’t do it, they just don’t, the bird would have to be STUPID.Dont waste your money on exams,that’s far out the way.Chickens know what to eat and what not to.

Exactly what I would have said.

 

[AmyJane725]

Yay! Amy Jane is sleeping tonight folks! I'm so glad you did!

Me too!! It was like a wave of relief crashing all around me. I was so emotionally exhausted. I took a shower and fell soundly asleep for the first time since it got lost.

 

[AmyJane725]

On the floor?
Cause I was kinda looking forward to this chicken scanning.

Oh, don't worry. I scanned all the chickens first. When they came up clean I started sweeping the environment. Took out all the shavings from the area of the coop the screw could have flown/landed and dragged them out of the run to go through later. Then I swept the ground around the litter door opening and the keeper door opening. First I found a lot of other hardware the builders left behind. Not thrilled about that honestly. But then I managed to find my screw. I drilled it in immediately, so it's not going anywhere. I'm gonna go over the the entire run tomorrow. Who knows what else the builders left behind. They didn't sweep with a magnet after they were done or anything.

 

[aart]

Oh, don't worry. I scanned all the chickens first.

Video?
Sorry, am just having visuals of 'chicken scanning' that are making me chuckle.

I rebuilt my coop shed roof 2 years before chickens happened.
Used several magnets in multiple sweeps to clean up all the roofing nails,
because of barefeet, dogs, and pneumatic mower tires.
I still find one once in a while in the chicken run but never in a chicken.