Impacted/Doughy Crop + Stool Question, 5-1/2 mo Silkie hen

[azygous]

This is so tragic. Those lead BBs and pellets that people gleefully shoot "harmlessly" at targets end up in birds as they pick up grit. I've heard from some people who had sick cats or dogs finding out their pets had been "harmlessly" shot with BBs by neighbors and ended up with lead poisoning. No one wants to think about consequences when they are having fun.

Aside from that, many of us have ignored or been unaware of environmental dangers, me included, and it has ended up injuring, sickening, or killing chickens in our flocks. It's often a very unfortunate part of the learning curve of keeping chickens.

One of the best parts of BYC is sharing these heart breaking stories so others can learn from them, not needing to have their own chickens suffer from their learning curve. Thank you for this.

I'm so terribly sorry about poor little Peanut.

 

[Swbertrand1]

This is so tragic. Those lead BBs and pellets that people gleefully shoot "harmlessly" at targets end up in birds as they pick up grit. I've heard from some people who had sick cats or dogs finding out their pets had been "harmlessly" shot with BBs by neighbors and ended up with lead poisoning. No one wants to think about consequences when they are having fun.

Aside from that, many of us have ignored or been unaware of environmental dangers, me included, and it has ended up injuring, sickening, or killing chickens in our flocks. It's often a very unfortunate part of the learning curve of keeping chickens.

One of the best parts of BYC is sharing these heart breaking stories so others can learn from them, not needing to have their own chickens suffer from their learning curve. Thank you for this.

I'm so terribly sorry about poor little Peanut.

Indeed. My bf is so mad at himself right now because he loves this little bird more than anything, and it was SO easily avoided. We had just put the stupid targets up to shoot with pellets in the spring. Though we always try to pick up ALL of the spent pellets, it's likely we don't get them all.
My bf has asked for blood work on Peanut to be sure that she's got lead in her before making the next move, but we've already contacted NC State (needs a vet referral) and Avians & Exotics, both in Raleigh...
We will pick her up from the vet later today. It's not over yet, but we've got a HUGE mountain in front of us!

 

[Eggcessive]

I am so sorry that you got this diagnosis of possible lead poisoning and heavy metal ingestion. We have target shooting on our farm, and I worry a bit about the cattle, deer, and turkey that roam and feed all over our land. Luckily our chickens don’t get on that land. Please let us know how she gets along. I really hope it is not lead poisoning.

 

[Swbertrand1]

I am so sorry that you got this diagnosis of possible lead poisoning and heavy metal ingestion. We have target shooting on our farm, and I worry a bit about the cattle, deer, and turkey that roam and feed all over our land. Luckily our chickens don’t get on that land. Please let us know how she gets along. I really hope it is not lead poisoning.

Thank you, but the shapes I see are consistent with what the "pancaked" pellets look like. I'm not encouraged by the information I'm finding regarding treatment for lead poisoning, if that's what it turns out to be AND if they can get the pellets out of her... :-(

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the update, I'm sorry to hear this.

Do look up "hardware disease" in poultry and do a little more research. While it's best to have the metal removed, it's very risky, you may find that you can lessen some of the affects of the metal by detoxifying. Worth a try anyway?

https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2015/07/preventing-hardware-disease-heavy-metal.html

 

[Swbertrand1]

Thank you for the update, I'm sorry to hear this.

Do look up "hardware disease" in poultry and do a little more research. While it's best to have the metal removed, it's very risky, you may find that you can lessen some of the affects of the metal by detoxifying. Worth a try anyway?

https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2015/07/preventing-hardware-disease-heavy-metal.html

We are heart-broken, so thank you for the kind words. We do sweeps of the run/yard often and are always picking up things that we think they might eat, even the pellets, but we clearly missed at least a dozen :-(

Thank you for the article - very informative and like it says, "an ounce of prevention...." Doh! :-(

Our options aren't exhausted, but our checking account might be soon.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Just heard back from Avian & Exotic in Raleigh, NC.

$2500 to do an endoscopy procedure with a mechanical "pincher" type device to remove the items seen in the X-rays. I might be able to swallow that except that they can't guarantee they can get all of the pieces... :-(

 

[azygous]

I'm speechless.

 

[Swbertrand1]

I'm speechless.

About which part?? Yesterday's "visit" with the vet clocked in at $381.80.
Two X-rays were $182+, and a lead screen that cost about $65 was inconclusive.

Their explanation: her lead levels are so high that the machine read a "fail" because it couldn't measure that high. Not sure what to do with that, but Peanut acts as if nothing's wrong. Very strange...

 

[Swbertrand1]

Wanted to share this for a while. This is Peanut relaxing on my boyfriend's lap a few months ago and doing the trilling noises she's become famous for. She LOVES being in "daddy's" lap!

UPDATE: We have not been able to find services for Peanut that don't cost thousands of dollars, but the search continues. We've also created a GoFundMe page to try to save Peanut. I didn't think it was right to put it up on BYC, so I didn't. If you'd like the link, PM me... S