X-ray photos!!! Impacted chicken from crazy eating habits!!!

[suebee]

Wow, great learning post and picture. I hope she pulls through.

 

[theoldchick]

Have your vet radiograph one of your 'normal' chickens and see what is there. You will see all kinds of things showing up, and you'll be amazed the chicken is acting perfectly fine.

That's a darn good x-ray! I hope your gal does okay!

 

[JenellYB]

Horses and cows will sometimes get "sanded", sand building up in their stomachs, usually from overgrazing on sandy ground, or being fed hay thrown down on sandy ground. If caught in time, before a serious colic/bloating crisis, they tube drench them a few times with mineral oil to flush it on out. I wonder if that's an option if you are noticing a chicken gobbling sand to a degree to be concerned? It should be relatively easy to tube drench a chicken...

 

[suebee]

How is she?

 

[dweder]

My apologies for the delayed reply!

She has recovered really well!!! They performed a "flush" of some kind, similar to what JenellYB mentioned above. She has been on an antibiotic and a digestive movement liquid, all of which seem to be helping. Sadly, I just put her back in with the flock yesterday, and she is eating gravel/sand again!!! Hopefully in normal amounts....

I am giving her the medications (including calcium supplement) via yogurt, hoping to help her insides heal and keep everything moving through her. Funniest thing about this story, is she began laying eggs during all of this. First egg came out right on the exam table at the vet!!! It is very obvious that she was craving minerals, which I am providing with layer feed and oyster shell. I think it will take awhile for her to feel "balanced" before she stops this weird behavior.

I also learned from the chicken-Doc that this behavior is very common in all bird species. They often become impacted from overeating minerals........Not fun!!!

Danielle

 

[Gargoyle]

What I want to know is, how did the vet hold her still to take the x-ray?

 

[BeulahBreezes]

Wow! Glad to hear she's doing better..... and thank you for posting. I am new @ this chicken raising....I have alot to learn yet!!!

 

[mainechicklet]

Just saw your post. Here is a radiograph of one of my (rescued from a hoarder) hens, Orchid. On arrival she had massive ongoing diarrhea and hid under the coop constantly, in spite of the -5degs. Her gizzard is/was packed full of stones. She came from a horrid farm where all the animals had little to no food/water/shelter. So she was most likely eating stones and when she came to me, she was very frightened of both me and my other hens. I have kept her inside for the past three weeks....diarrhea has ceased, she's gaining weight and her comb/wattles are gaining some color. I'm just waiting for the frigid temps to cease so she can rejoin the group and do what hens are supposed to do, rather than live in a big kitty condo........even though she seems pretty content. (I also hate to throw her to the lions, since she'll be the new hen on the block.)