9 week old chick ate a 1/4" plastic bead

Floopalina

Hatching
Jul 3, 2017
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0
4
Hello, I'm a new chicken mama and not sure how worried I should be. Yesterday I let the chicks have some play time in their new chicken run. Somehow there was a plastic bead on the ground - about 1/4" in diameter with a hole in the center. The chicks were pecking at it, and when I tried to take it away one of them just gulped it down! Of course she is my kids' favorite chick. This chick is a speckled sussex and 9 weeks old. It has been about 24 hours. She is keeping her feathers ruffled up and laying around / sleeping more than normal, but she is getting up to scratch around periodically. I separated her and fed her some treats, food, and water and she ate them fine, and I saw her poop once while separated. When in the brooder with the others I haven't seen her eat and drink, but I might just be missing it.
I saw some other threads about chicks eating foreign objects and being fine, but they mostly covered plastic bags, string, and styrofoam which seem like they would end up small / break down. I would just really like to know if it is realistic to expect her to be able to pass something of that size or if it will most likely cause impaction. I felt her crop and it feels normal, but I had never tried to feel it before. I assume her body will treat it as a rock and send it to the gizzard. What I read about gizzard impaction didn't sound good.
Any knowledge or advice would be greatly appreciated!!
 
I read somewhere about a rooster who swallowed a string of plastic beads. When his owner realised s/he pulled them out and the ones on the end had already started to dissolve, so I think your baby should be fine.
 

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