Instead of starting a new thread, I thought I'd post here.
I was doing a project outside and dropped a rubber band. Stupidly, I thought no big deal. I'll pick it up when I'm done. But ten minutes later I heard the hens squabbling and looked over and saw a long stretchy thing being stretched in a tug of war between two of them.
Suddenly it snapped back and wrapped around a beak, and the other hen grabbed it and took off running. The entire flock and I chased her all over tarnation, and since we free range and we're rural, tarnation is HUGE.
She was like the energizer chicken. She just kept going and going. When she finally started slowing down, I made a grab for the rubber band she dropped at her feet. But that's one quick beak. She gobbled it up like it was a worm and it was gone.
She's not gagging and seems totally bewildered that I would have any interest in the strange tasting worm she just ate. I've locked inside the coop and left the food and water in there. I figured she would choke if I tried to induce vomiting. Definitely doesn't seem like a good idea.
So, hopefully it'll pass through on its own without any problems. But I've read how a blade of grass can cause problems and get stuck in the crop and essentially trap other food stuffs in there. There doesn't seem to be anything I can do. I gave her a few drops of olive oil, but only a few.
Am I handling this correctly? I've isolated her only to watch her for a few hours. Plus, these hens all look the same. I'd lose her in the flock of look alikes the moment I set her free.
