Centipedes can be lethal - HEN ATE ONE!

[Bawkbok]

I saw one of our young pullets (5 months old) eat a 5" long centipede. It freaked me out and now I'm worried she will become sick or worse. Does anyone have any experience with this? I approached her to step on and kill it but when she saw me approaching she quickly gulped it down but not after struggling with it, biting it, dropping it, biting it, dropping it, over and over. I'm concerned she got stung. A general google search indicates they are actually good for chickens and provide protein and calcium - but are venomous! How can that be good? I found the following site and now I'm really worried sick about her. What do I need to watch for and how do I react to any issues as a result of this? This happened right before coop time. She seemed fine for 15 minutes afterward. How long would it take to affect her? I feel I need to pluck her out of the coop and inspect her but she freaks out when we do our health checks and they stress her out so I'd hate to disturb her if I don't need to. Thoughts please?? Thank you

https://pestwhisper.com/is-centipede-bad-for-chickens/

 

[WingItRanch]

Just keep an eye on her..I hope she's ok.

I have a ton of millipedes here in East Texas and one time the chickens caught one but they instantly dropped it and shook their head as if he tasted bad or something. I've never seen them eat one.

 

[CoopBoots]

Not an expert, but many venomous creatures can still be safe for eating. Venom causes harm in the bloodstream, but not necessarily in the digestive system. It isn't like eating a poison. If she isn't bitten, and showed no signs of upset during or just after the encounter, I bet she's just fine.

Prior thread I checked as well, there may be more if you search:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/can-chickens-eat-centipedes.968619/

 

[Bawkbok]

Thank you for your responses. Fingers crossed she's alive and ok in the morning. Sheesh - another sleepless night. Thank you for the link - I hadn't seen that.

 

[Logar]

Your chicken will be fine. Those karate kicking toxicognaths that centipedes have would do very little to a chicken. Yes there are some species that can kill a chicken but none are found in the US.

 

[WingItRanch]

These birds like to worry us, huh?

 

[Bawkbok]

Your chicken will be fine. Those karate kicking toxicognaths that centipedes have would do very little to a chicken. Yes there are some species that can kill a chicken but none are found in the US.

Thank you - this made me laugh.

 

[Bawkbok]

These birds like to worry us, huh?

I can't count the number of sleepless nights I've had since February, when our chicken journey began. Not to mention all the grey hair.

 

[Logar]

I have a ton of millipedes here in East Texas and one time the chickens caught one but they instantly dropped it and shook their head as if he tasted bad or something. I've never seen them eat one

Millipedes and centipedes are different things

Millipedes secrete a toxin that tastes bad to animals. It really doesn’t harm them at all though.

Centipedes have modified front legs called toxicognaths that are pretty much used to inject a venom to subdue their prey and defend themselves (from small stuff like a young frog).

 

[WingItRanch]

Millipedes and centipedes are different things

Millipedes secrete a toxin that tastes bad to animals. It really doesn’t harm them at all though.

Centipedes have modified front legs called toxicognaths that are pretty much used to inject a venom to subdue their prey and defend themselves (from small stuff like a young frog).

Learn something new every day! That explains why my girls dropped it and shook their heads. Must have tasted horrible.