I lost my favorite hen, Henny Penny, yesterday due to an intestinal obstruction. I hope this posting may alert others of the dangers that may be out in their chicken yard.
Henny Penny was my favorite. She was the alpha hen, five years old, and was a delight to have. Followed you around like a dog and would jump up in your lap to be petted when you sat down. She had survived a dog attack that opened up her crop three years ago and with a good vet and antibiotics, survived with no lasting effects.
Three days ago I noticed she was becoming lethargic and not interested in her food. Her crop was full and appeared to be full of water. She had quite a thirst. When she would put her head down to eat or drink, water would flow out of her beak. She also had very watery droppings with little solid matter in them. I took her to the vet on Saturday and he diagnosed her problem as an obstruction in her digestive system. X-rays showed four or five intact staples lodged in a fairly tight wad in her intestines. It was obvious she would need surgery and the doctor spent an hour on the phone trying to find someone that would do the surgery. Although he was an avian vet, he said it was high risk, given the chance of peritonitis setting in if her intestinal wall had been punctured. He finally located a board certified avian surgeon about 90 miles away in Tallahassee that would do the surgery on Monday morning.
He gave her a sub cutaneous injection of saline solution to keep her hydrated and told be to come back Sunday for more fluid replacement.
She seemed to be doing well. I kept her quiet in a dog crate away from the rest of the flock and on Sunday I took her back to the vet.
There was no vet available on Sunday but was assured that the vet tech was very experienced and could do the fluid injection.
The tech took Henny Penny back in the vets back room while I waited. She put her on her side to inject her between the legs and abdomen.
Unfortunately, while she was being held down, her crop contents came up and she aspirated some of the contents which was mostly water but had some solids in it. The tech returned her to me with the comment 'she sure gurgles a lot'. Simultaneously, Henny Penny began thrashing about in the dog kennel. I took her out and the while I held her, the tech tried vainly to suction out her airway but it was too late. She passed away very quickly. I don't blame the technician, Henny Penny's outlook was not hopeful given the severity of the problem but I blame myself for being negligent and not picking up the loose staples I must have dropped when putting in a new welded steel wire roofing for the girls run.
I wanted to share a couple of points of my experience:
1. Chickens have no innate sense of what might be dangerous to eat. If you do any work with nails, wire, staples and the like in their area, please be careful and pick everything up.
2. If you bird has an intestinal obstruction, the crop will fill up. If you're going to treat her, it would be a good idea to gently express the contents of the crop out while she's in a normal upright position. If she gets any of its contents down her airway, it will kill her quickly.
3. Love your birds, they're dear creatures that bring so much joy to our lives.
Henny Penny was my favorite. She was the alpha hen, five years old, and was a delight to have. Followed you around like a dog and would jump up in your lap to be petted when you sat down. She had survived a dog attack that opened up her crop three years ago and with a good vet and antibiotics, survived with no lasting effects.
Three days ago I noticed she was becoming lethargic and not interested in her food. Her crop was full and appeared to be full of water. She had quite a thirst. When she would put her head down to eat or drink, water would flow out of her beak. She also had very watery droppings with little solid matter in them. I took her to the vet on Saturday and he diagnosed her problem as an obstruction in her digestive system. X-rays showed four or five intact staples lodged in a fairly tight wad in her intestines. It was obvious she would need surgery and the doctor spent an hour on the phone trying to find someone that would do the surgery. Although he was an avian vet, he said it was high risk, given the chance of peritonitis setting in if her intestinal wall had been punctured. He finally located a board certified avian surgeon about 90 miles away in Tallahassee that would do the surgery on Monday morning.
He gave her a sub cutaneous injection of saline solution to keep her hydrated and told be to come back Sunday for more fluid replacement.
She seemed to be doing well. I kept her quiet in a dog crate away from the rest of the flock and on Sunday I took her back to the vet.
There was no vet available on Sunday but was assured that the vet tech was very experienced and could do the fluid injection.
The tech took Henny Penny back in the vets back room while I waited. She put her on her side to inject her between the legs and abdomen.
Unfortunately, while she was being held down, her crop contents came up and she aspirated some of the contents which was mostly water but had some solids in it. The tech returned her to me with the comment 'she sure gurgles a lot'. Simultaneously, Henny Penny began thrashing about in the dog kennel. I took her out and the while I held her, the tech tried vainly to suction out her airway but it was too late. She passed away very quickly. I don't blame the technician, Henny Penny's outlook was not hopeful given the severity of the problem but I blame myself for being negligent and not picking up the loose staples I must have dropped when putting in a new welded steel wire roofing for the girls run.
I wanted to share a couple of points of my experience:
1. Chickens have no innate sense of what might be dangerous to eat. If you do any work with nails, wire, staples and the like in their area, please be careful and pick everything up.
2. If you bird has an intestinal obstruction, the crop will fill up. If you're going to treat her, it would be a good idea to gently express the contents of the crop out while she's in a normal upright position. If she gets any of its contents down her airway, it will kill her quickly.
3. Love your birds, they're dear creatures that bring so much joy to our lives.
