Pain receptors in chickens

[Dar]

I have a question...

I know chickens have pain receptors but i have noticed that there has been a crop operaton done and now a mass removed from a chickens rear end. I also must add treating bumble foot to this list. How do you manage pain during the procedure?

I know if i get a paper cut i am running for my mommy and I am 30?? (something...lol)

I dont want to turn this into a debate over the treatment of animals I am just asking a question.


(please note...If you have a negitive opinion of this please dont post personal emotions I would like to keep this thread from being locked or deleted)

did the chicken flinch when you started?
did they try to bite you?

I know when I try and put drops in my dogs eye they can get nasty..as well when I cut thier nails...they can bite, growl, ect

 

[PurpleChicken]

Interesting question. I'm going to guess at two possible answers.

Yes, they have pain receptors. They must.
Unlike humans they don't dwell on pain or fear it like we do. Therefore,
they create the impression they don't experience it as much as we do.

My second guess is since they have a much smaller brain the whole pain
thing is limited in comparison with other animals.


I've seen chickens scalped down to thier skull bones or body parts chewed
off that simply don't seem to care.

Even in human history surgery was performed with no anasthetic(bad spelling)
and they got through it.

 

[Jolyn]

Quote:
Good post!!! I've been wondering the same exact things!!!!! Thanks for asking!

 

[SpottedCrow]

When I did Slifer's bumblefoot operation, she didn't try and kill me...she laid there and let me do. Even when I put the needle with the PenG into her foot she just laid there, but she did blink in surprise...

 

[Melilem]

I had a broiler chick catch herself on the fence and peeled the skin off the whole back of her neck. From the base of her skull to between her shoulders. All of it, gone. It didn't seem to phase her. I chased her around for a week trying to help her, wrapping it, putting stuff on it. I was sure she was going to die. She did not appear to feel pain, though she didn't care for being bandaged. She healed up fine without antibiotics. I would guess that an animal such as a ground dwelling bird or rabbit, which is at the bottom of the food chain, does not really benefit from pain like we do. Since when they feel pain, it probably means they are being eaten. Therefore it has evolved differently. That's my guess anyway.

 

[redhen]

hi..yes..i'm sure they must feel pain.....when my RIR got stepped on..(what a nightmare!!

)...i saw her...she felt pain...thank god..she passed in a minute..i had my husband running down cellar to get a hatchet to end it for her.(and thats how i finally discovered that i could cull a bird if i had to...i wouldnt let her suffer.)..but she passed before he got back to us....(talk about bawling like a baby!...

).........and i just hope i'm brave enough to do what i need to do..if it comes down to it...i.e., bumble foot surgery...vent problems..etc...(knowing i'm causing them pain..will be the problem for me..not the blood..and gore..)..but...then i think of it in this way....before there were pain meds....how did a doctor amputate an arm or leg?...maybe a shot of whisky?..that was it..(and it saved many peoples lives)....so..if it saves a chickens life...and there will be no LONG TERM pain involved.....i say...hey...

... you gotta do what you gotta do...and its a personal choice on how far you will take it...Wendy

 

[silkiechicken]

Yep, they sure do feel pain and can start doing so at about day 16 if incubation. However, being bottom dwellers that are nature's snack, showing pain would be a weakness as preds look for weak and animals who are dwelling on things. So it is an advantage to them to always seem strong and roubust no matter how much they hurt if they can still move.

 

[redhen]

yup..silkiechicken...they will try to hide it..like a cat...etc.,..its their survival instinct...good point!!

..Wendy

 

[joyce_huang]

This time yesterday she was still alive and now she is laying underground and I am here mourning her. Pain felt and sustained. She was my best companion, my sweetest girl.

 

[nuthatched]

This time yesterday she was still alive and now she is laying underground and I am here mourning her. Pain felt and sustained. She was my best companion, my sweetest girl.

The op and this topic hasn't been active since 2008.
Sorry you lost a bird, euthanasia is often the best solution to a suffering animal.