Whats the weirdest thing your chickens have eaten or tried to eat??

[Chikas123]

This probably isn't too weird but mine always eat random feathers hehe

 

[Kim95037]

A screw. Nearly killed her.

Hey so what happened to your chicken that swallowed the screw?? Did you have it taken out?? I lost my big orange buff in my avatar Annie, I found her dead when I came home from work a week ago, it was so devastating. She swallowed a 3/4 inch wood screw about a month ago, but I figured if it was going to cause a problem it would be something that would we could deal with and that it would be something that would happen slow. Ive seen stories of all kinds of things being swallowed by chickens and they were fine. I was definitley worried about this one tho. This happened really fast, she was fine the day before and then all of a sudden she was gone. I found her in a really weird position too, flat on her back. Im having a necropsy done to find out for sure and am currently waiting on the results.

 

[theoldchick]

Her foreign object required surgical removal (really didn't expect her to survive), and chelation therapy. This was a learning experience for all involved. Nobody expected her to survive as chickens simply don't do well with surgical stress. Morse Code, however, has always been independent. I did bring another chicken with her and as soon as she recovered she was allowed to see her chicken buddy. I took her home immediately and placed the dog crate she was in with the flock, so she was able to see her fellow flock members. She was brought in the house at night. I was able to perform chelation therapy (wing vein) at home. Somehow she's still alive and doing much better!

 

[Kim95037]

Wow thats amazing, God bless you for doing that for your chicken, I dont imagine it was cheap. I recentlly spent almost 600 bucks trying to save my wyandotte. Did you just take her in right away or did you notice her developing problems later on and deal with it then. I heard theres a thread somewhere on here where someone used a magnet to help get a screw out of their chickens crop. What kind of a screw was it?
What is chelation therapy? Sorry for all of the questions.

 

[mickey328]

Ours seem totally fascinated with DH's and my wedding rings, LOL. I think they must be girly girls to go for the bling!

 

[Malibu99]

Jalapeño pepper. Lol guess how many times they did that XD

 

[theoldchick]

Chelation therapy is using certain drugs that help the body excrete heavy metals. Chelation therapy is not that rare in pet birds as parrots are notorious for chewing on bars of cheap bird cages, eating metal buttons, nibbling on just about anything they are not supposed to.

I kinda suspected Morse Code might have eaten something she's not supposed to as she always pecked at anything, and spent much of her time pecking at the metal waterer and the metal siding of the coop. Her first symptom was anemia-pale comb. Since I am a LVT, I performed a fecal, dewormed her, and did a radiograph as a training aid for a fellow technician who had limited experience with feathered pets.

The screw was as bright as a light bulb. A blood smear revealed abnormal nucleus of RBC's and a sample was sent off to prove our suspicion. Believe you me, a jugular stick is not fun in a chicken! I have no idea where she picked up the screw, wait, she probably pried it loose with her beak. The avian surgeon did her job, and I did mine. Morse Code did her thing and surprised us all.

 

[Flfirecracker]

2 foot corn snake made it into the run. Had a dozen birds on it in a flash. Would not have believed it if I had not have seen the attack. Only thing left of him after 5 minutes was its head and my only RIR hen carried it around like some kind of trophy for 30 minutes or so.

 

[theoldchick]

I heard them Florida chicks were tough!

 

[Flfirecracker]

I was worried when I aquired my flock about the snake issue because we live on a lake and cottonmouth are pretty prevelant around here. After hearing the alarm calls and seeing the attack of the flock, the only thing that worries me is coons and opossums after dark. And of course my Jack Russel Terrier, man he can't be trusted around anything that looks like fun to catch.