My hen ate a thumbtack.

[aadkins]

We both saw it at the same time but before I could stop her she had eaten a white plastic thumbtack. This was about 4 hours ago. She didn't go to bed with her sisters but hung out on the carport for a while. My husband thinks she seems distressed but I'm not sure. He can't feel anything in her throat. Is there a chance that she might just pass this thing without a problem or is she going to suffer? Please help. BTW I'm new here this is my first post.

 

[HLAC]

Welcome to the site!

Give your hen some grit and plenty to drink. The tack is unlikely to cause any problems. Chances are that it will be harmlessly ground up in her crop.

 

[ChickLover98]

Quote:
My friend accidentaly swallowed a tack and the doctors made her puke it back up.

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[maizey]

Baptism by fire, huh? Id say this is the most interesting 1st post. Its possible it will pass on through without incident, I certainly hope so. Other than

... Im afraid I don't have much to offer, but please let us know how she goes.

 

[aadkins]

My husband just went out to check on her and she wasn't on the roost. He is afraid that maybe she is hurting and couldn't jump up. He put her up there. She is a big beautiful light Brahma and I really hope she is okay. We'll see...

 

[Imp]

The plastic will definately get ground up in the crop.

Maybe give her bread soaked in olive oil to help things pass.

Hope your hen is OK

Good luck

Imp

 

[silkiechicken]

Hopefully it will pass. She may keep the metal part of the tack in her gizzard to grind things. Not on purpose though. You find all kinds of things in gizzards when butchering free range birds. Glass chips, rocks of all different colors, rounded nails...

 

[BigIslandChicks]

Quote:
o my gosh this is terrifying!! i cant even imagine all the crazy stuff my birds may have eaten! we recently moved here and you could say well my landlord is a total slob - he does construction and makes a mess. he ripped out half my kitchen right before we moved in and literally just chucked it out the front door - tile bits, screws, nails, cigarette butts (now i am a smoker

but he just throws them EVERYWHERE) who knows what else - the kids upstairs shot plastic BBs all over too! out back by the coop has stuff all over the ground...i try to pick up i do! but now.. i better get on it!



aadkins i really hope your girl is OK

and i second what maizey said! dang!

i will be praying for her!

oh and

and please let us know how she is doing!

 

[Tala]

Quote:
o my gosh this is terrifying!! i cant even imagine all the crazy stuff my birds may have eaten! we recently moved here and you could say well my landlord is a total slob - he does construction and makes a mess. he ripped out half my kitchen right before we moved in and literally just chucked it out the front door - tile bits, screws, nails, cigarette butts (now i am a smoker

but he just throws them EVERYWHERE) who knows what else - the kids upstairs shot plastic BBs all over too! out back by the coop has stuff all over the ground...i try to pick up i do! but now.. i better get on it!



aadkins i really hope your girl is OK

and i second what maizey said! dang!

i will be praying for her!

oh and

and please let us know how she is doing!

Don't worry too much. My FIL is a total packrat/slob. His property is an unoffical junkyard/landfill and I had to move my chickens out there. The worst I found in some rooster's crops on processing day was some safety auto glass, which is probably about the same as the rocks that they are supposed to pick up. I have 15 birds out there, and none have crop issues. There's plenty of nails and flecks of rusty iron to choose from. Either they don't eat it or it passes without incident. Lots of chickens DO eat some metal stuff, usually without ill effect. I'm sure my chickens aren't any smarter than anybody else's