My pullet swallowed a long heavy thread!

[amanda1]

i am sick over this. I am treating a girl for prolapse and used a sheet over her cage to keep it dark. One of my three month old pullets somehow got a thread loose and swallowed it. I tried gently pulling it out, but it only came so far until it wouldn’t budge. She squeaked when I tried to get it out further, so I felt I had no choice but to cut it off. Now what can I do? Do I have any hope? I could kick myself over this, she is my daughter’s.

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

Please do not blame yourself. Chickens are just dumb and curious and don't know what to eat. Mine had eaten a small piece of old duct tape. Do you have a vet you can take your chicken to?

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

Someone else had said their chicken ate a Wet One wipe. Chickens will eat the dumbest things, I tell you. Is the string still sticking out of her mouth, or did she swallow it? I'm wondering if you might give her some grit to help her digest the string if she swallowed it.

 

[coach723]

Make sure she has access to grit, and there is a good chance she will be OK. Chickens swallow all kinds of dumb things. As long as it doesn't cause a blockage, she should be OK. Here is a link to a (long) thread about a pullet that swallowed a foot of paracord, and survived. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pullet-swallowed-a-foot-of-paracord.1263789/
I had them eat a 3 foot section of foam pipe insulation once. They were fine. Not saying that's a good thing to happen, it was rectified after that, but stuff happens.

 

[amanda1]

Ok, I gave her some molasses mixed with coconut oil and chick grit. She are a fair amount of it. Now the waiting game. . .

No avian vets near here, and I’m not sure they’d do much more than i did anyway. I just needed to hear that it’s not necessarily a death sentence.

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

The grit should help with the digestion. In the meantime, just give her lots of TLC. Good luck!

 

[amanda1]

Someone else had said their chicken ate a Wet One wipe. Chickens will eat the dumbest things, I tell you. Is the string still sticking out of her mouth, or did she swallow it? I'm wondering if you might give her some grit to help her digest the string if she swallowed it.

It was hanging out about a foot. I pulled as much out as I could, but then it held tight. I cut it off as short as I could. No telling how much is inside of her.

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

Poor girl. The best thing that can be done now is hope for the best. Surely the grit will help it digest. In the meantime, try snipping off anymore loose places on the sheet. Just now I found a loose staple on my chicken building....because my step-father doesn't know how to build things safely. He is a litterbug, which is how my chick ate the duct tape. You have to be very careful of ANYTHING near your chickens that they can peck at, tear off and swallow- it's like keeping breakables, poisonous things and small things, away from babies and toddlers.

 

[FlyWheel]

Please do not blame yourself. Chickens are just dumb and curious and don't know what to eat. Mine had eaten a small piece of old duct tape. Do you have a vet you can take your chicken to?

So? Did your chicken grow a mullet and start carrying around a Swiss Army Knife?
Dumb question, I know. But I just had to ask.

 

[amanda1]

Poor girl. The best thing that can be done now is hope for the best. Surely the grit will help it digest. In the meantime, try snipping off anymore loose places on the sheet. Just now I found a loose staple on my chicken building....because my step-father doesn't know how to build things safely. He is a litterbug, which is how my chick ate the duct tape. You have to be very careful of ANYTHING near your chickens that they can peck at, tear off and swallow- it's like keeping breakables, poisonous things and small things, away from babies and toddlers.

I know! Im always finding little things around the yard and picking them up to prevent that!