Our Chicken has eaten a rubber band

[uninformedLuddite]

Hi All,

Our chicken has successfully eaten a rubber band. We have an identical rubber band that is 17cm in circumference and 3mm in width when it is at rest.
What should we do. I will be in Instant Messaging for a while and very concernedly contactable .

UI

ps: Will chickens basically eat anything that catches their eye regardless of its actual composition?

pps: Chicken is capitalised as that is her actual name(we are deep thinkers here)

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I am constantly picking up little things in my yard that the chickens are trying to eat! They try to eat EVERYTHING...their new fav have been feathers! I don't know if a rubber band will hurt them although my guess would be yes. Watch to make sure the one who ate it keeps pooping. Good luck! Hope someone can give you better advice.

 

[arlee453]

All you can do now is wait and hope it passes through...

You'd be surprised what CAN pass through.

(I've been waiting MONTHs to use that smiley)

If you are really worried, you can put her in a hospital pen/dog crate, etc and watch for signs of crop/digestive trouble (crop that won't go down over night, lack of eating/drinking/pooping) and wait until it passes to make sure you find it before she does again...

Personally, I'd just leave her out with the girls and just keep an eye on her for the next couple days to make sure she isn't showing any signs of ill effect.

 

[uninformedLuddite]

She's a lone chicken but believes that we are her flock so she is a happy young lass. She is about 40 weeks old and lays the most delicious eggs.
So separating her won't be a problem at all as we can tell the flock apart fairly easily.
The toilet training is coming along very well too considering she is a chicken after all.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

"toilet training"???

So how do you toilet train a chicken? Puppy pads?

 

[Baybrio]

My 7 week old roo ate a hair band (covered rubber band) about a week ago. No problem so far. I've been watching carefully. I don't know if the band has passed through, I've looked but haven't found it. Of course he's with 21 others and I could have missed it.

 

[uninformedLuddite]

Quote:
Well we started off with making her spend her evenings lying on an old towel. If she pooped on it then she would be immediately removed and put in her poohing box.
She is now able to watch TV with us from bed and if she needs to poop she stands up and makes it clear what she wants to do. At this point we place her in her box. If we aren't quick enough she gets down off the bed herself and goes to her pooping place (sometimes doesn't make it but is getting infinitely better at it).
Within a few months she will be more than capable of making it under her own steam to the poop box without the few accidents that still happen.
None on the bed though she's getting it. It's a slow process but she is definitely learning.
BTW: Do chickens have exceptional vision?

 

[arlee453]

Quote:
It might be in someone else's digestive tract now.... chickens are the ultimate recyclers...

 

[waterfowlrescue]

It should break down and pass. I knew a rehabber who had a goose accidently swallow a feeding tube made of the rubber and the bird digested it. I would just keep an eye on the behaviour to make sure it doesnt make her sick when it disolves.

 

[LynneP]

I agree, latex is very sensitive to stomach acid. I had a kitten eat one, and never found any evidence in the feces, after days. Lots of worry, right!?