My hen ate a large object

[MsChickenMomma]

hey everyone,

I need to ask this because I need to be sure that she will be fine. I worry.

I have a hen that lives in the house with me, and has for years. She's naughty and tries to eat everything. My house is practically baby proofed. Anyways... I have my ears stretched to 16mm. Sunni decided that it would be a bright idea to pull one out of my ear and swallow it before I had the chance to do anything about it.... Grr.

Like I said, the jewelry is 16mm. It is made of glass, and has a fairly large hole through it. I can feel it in her crop, so I know it made it past her esophagus. My worry is how well she will be able to pass it from there.

Do you think it will be fine? I sure hope so.

 

[Kiki]

I have no advice, just here watching.

I can say that another chicken ate some earrings today too and someone on that thread said that their chicken once at an earring and passed it in three days.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

The earring is still in her crop this morning. Is it possible that it is too large to leave her crop? I'm surprised she even managed to swallow it...

What do I do if she can't pass it through her crop?

 

[MsChickenMomma]

If it helps, this is what she swallowed

A little comparison to her. Trying to eat it while I take the picture... -__- I swear she never learns. Lol

 

[rebrascora]

It is far easier and less dangerous to remove it from her crop than risk it getting stuck further down her system. If you can feel it in her crop, try to work it back up her oesophagus using your fingers on the outside of her neck. If you can't manage to get it out, find a vet who can. Crop surgery to remove it is relatively simple compared to if it gets stuck in her gizzard. The exit from the gizzard is pretty small, so it may well get stuck there and depending on what it is made of, glass or resin, it could take some time to break down and possibly cause a blockage. I don't know if glass or resin would be toxic to the chicken when it does get ground down, but if your chicken is a pet, I would be seeking professional advice if you can't manipulate it back out yourself.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Thank you for your reply.

I tried massaging it out, but once it reaches a certain point just above the crop, I can't get it to move any farther. Is there a trick to it?

Thank you again

 

[rebrascora]

It will be a question of fiddling about and finding the right place in the crop where the oesophagus is attached, so really just trial and error. There will probably be some muscle spasm that will resist the object coming back up, so you will have to be quite firm once you find the outlet.
Another option is to try to vomit her to get it out. Basically holding her with her head below her body and slightly to one side and massaging to see if you can get her to regurgitate it. You have to be careful though as there is a risk of her aspirating vomit into her airway. There are You Tube videos that demonstrate the technique if you decide to give it a go. A search for "Vomiting a chicken" should get you some results. Watch more than one video as there are some that are better than others.

Good luck

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I spent two hours trying to massage it back up her I oesophagus last night, and tried several times to get her to vomit. I even gave her some olive oil soaked bread to see if that was enough to at least make something happen... but no luck.

Luckily the avian vets office close to my home is open for a few hours today. I am going to give them a call and see if there is anything they can do for her. Her crop emptied of completely everything overnight, except for the jewelry. I'm thinking i would like them to just perform a crop surgery on her, if they are willing. I don't want something this large to pass through her digestive system.

Thank you again for the help!

 

[Kiki]

I spent two hours trying to massage it back up her I oesophagus last night, and tried several times to get her to vomit. I even gave her some olive oil soaked bread to see if that was enough to at least make something happen... but no luck.

Luckily the avian vets office close to my home is open for a few hours today. I am going to give them a call and see if there is anything they can do for her. Her crop emptied of completely everything overnight, except for the jewelry. I'm thinking i would like them to just perform a crop surgery on her, if they are willing. I don't want something this large to pass through her digestive system.

Thank you again for the help!

keep us updated please.

 

[alexa009]

Yes, tell us how she goes!