Help! Duck ate metal nut.

[jeepgirl13]

@jeepgirl13 I gave the barn a twice over, face a foot from the ground with a flashlight and squishing around every pile of poop in there, but haven't found it yet. He's still eating and drinking and being his normal ridiculous self though, so that's a small win. My pretentious goose, however, was quite displeased to see me poking around in there so early.
I gave the duck a stern talking to about snacking on things he shouldn't, but I don't think he's taking me very seriously. Kids.

Today's agenda, find a magnet to sweep the barn, and possibly the duck ...

Oh dang! I would have kept him in a crate so I could watch for it. I hope the goose just yelled at you for waking it up too early... I worked on a ranch with a goose that was really mean, it didnt matter what time it was.

Great the little thief is still doing well! If you find it, you should put it on a chain and keep it on your keys! Lol!

Good luck with the nut hunt! (Whoa, say "nut hunt" 10 times, fast) And keep us posted cuz I'm a little too invested in this.

 

[Phillisy]

Oh dang! I would have kept him in a crate so I could watch for it. I hope the goose just yelled at you for waking it up too early... I worked on a ranch with a goose that was really mean, it didnt matter what time it was.

Great the little thief is still doing well! If you find it, you should put it on a chain and keep it on your keys! Lol!

Good luck with the nut hunt! (Whoa, say "nut hunt" 10 times, fast) And keep us posted cuz I'm a little too invested in this.

I thought about putting him a crate, but decided against it in case being in closed quarters with the offending object would make him more likely to eat it again. It's one of those damned if you do damned if you don't moments.
I'm lucky, the goose is a sweetheart. Her personality is basically that of an aristocratic old woman, so she was just put out that I threw her usual routine off; looking at me from a few feet a away and asking me "why exactly are you here?".

I was thinking that as I was looking for it . At this point finding it would be more precious than gold. Could even turn it into a necklace, it would make a great conversation piece.

 

[jeepgirl13]

I thought about putting him a crate, but decided against it in case being in closed quarters with the offending object would make him more likely to eat it again. It's one of those damned if you do damned if you don't moments.
I'm lucky, the goose is a sweetheart. Her personality is basically that of an aristocratic old woman, so she was just put out that I threw her usual routine off; looking at me from a few feet a away and asking me "why exactly are you here?".

I was thinking that as I was looking for it . At this point finding it would be more precious than gold. Could even turn it into a necklace, it would make a great conversation piece.

I was going to suggest necklace, but figured it would be too off-putting.

Your goose is all "ugh! How dare you! I'm still in my bedclothes and haven't even powdered my nose yet!"

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Careful with nuts and super powerful (neodymium) magnets!
I would keep away that duck from any strong magnet until i knew the nut has pooped out the nut. A standard hex nut should be out within 1-2 days.
Sweeping the coop and the run with a powerful magnet for the next 2-4 days is definitely a good idea, Harbor Freight Tools has those magnetic floor sweepers for cheap, or you could ask your trusted grease-monkey if you could borrow theirs.

 

[chickens really]

Well I really wouldn't even be too concerned. I'm sure it will be pooped out.

 

[jeepgirl13]

Well I really wouldn't even be too concerned. I'm sure it will be pooped out.

I'm sure most of us are thinking along these same lines. Theres a guy somewhere who eats metal for fun.... bolts, nuts, anything not sharp. Idk how that's "fun", but you know, different strokes

 

[DiYMama540]

#NutWatch2019

 

[DiYMama540]

Still following...waiting on that holy grail of poops!

 

[jeepgirl13]

#NutWatch2019

I'm not sure we should use that hashtag..... could lead to some... disturbing results

 

[Kimmyh51]

Do you know what the nut was made of? If it was made of or has anything like lead or zinc in it, you need to find a vet to remove it if it isnt passed. Their bodies treat pieces of metal like stones and keep them in their gizzard to help crush up their food. Thats why when ducks eat lead shotgun pellets they cause so much harm.

I had a duck recently who ate an old nail, and what i later discovered was known as a 'lead head' which is the top part of a roofing nail, and is large and round. They were two separate items,the nail was not the same roofing nail that had the lead on top, and the lead head had fallen off a totally different nail so only the top part was eaten. Anyway I had no idea she had eaten anything dodgy until I saw her limping one evening, and on closer inspection realised she was wobbly and off balance, and had pale membranes and was anemic. By the following morning, she couldnt even stand, and I was pretty sure it was lead poisoning, but the only bird vet at the only clinic which had the chelating agent that is needed for lead poisoning, was not working when I called the vet the next morning. The vet that was there wanted to take blood and send it up the other end of the country to check lead levels with a wait of over a week for results. I pointed out the duck might well be dead by the time the blood results came back, and luckily she agreed to give my duck a calcium edta injection that day to see if she improved.

I took the duck back the next morning when the bird vet was in, and he xrayed her and showed some alarming looking x rays with the nail in front of her gizzard, and the lead head in her gizzard. She was too ill to operate so I took her home and gave her edta shots twice a day for 5 days the back to the vet. She was still very sick but could stand a little, which she had been unable to do 5 days prior (she was walking a little wobbly when I found her at night, and by the next morning she couldnt stand at all).

Anyway, when the vet opened her up, he found that the nail, which was not part of the lead head roofing nail, and didnt contain lead as far as I know, had caused her stomach tissue to die, and he said so much of her stomach was necrotic, that there was not enough of her gi system left to be able to repair it after removing the nail. He said it was hard to tell how long it had been there but for at least a month - a month in which my duck had shown absolutely no signs of ill health whatsoever. And while it was the lead head that she had eaten that made her get very sick very fast, it was actually the non lead piece of metal inside her that killed her. She died under anesthetic. But the vet said if she had survived the operation he would have had to euthanase her anyway as most of her stomach tissue was dead and had basically disintegrated inside her.

If i had been lucky enough to have seen her eat the nail and lead head, I am pretty sure she could have been saved as the damage to her wtomach had occured over time, not instantly - it wasnt from the nail cutting her up or anything.

But that experience cost me almost $1000 for a duck I had to bury anyway, and taught me that you cant just hope they will be ok if they eat metal.

The vet gave me the lead head and the nail after the surgery, and both were smaller than they would have been when she ate the , so they had clearly sat inside her for quite some time and her digestive system was slowly breaking them down, and as well as releasing the lead into her bloodstream, the metal in the non-lead nail was damaging her stomach tissue and causing it to break down and die.

If you dont see a poop come out with that same nut in it, based on my experience I would say thatif you want to save your duck, you will need to take the duck to a vet and get an x ray done. Then find a vet who will remove the nut asap, before it starts caussing tissue death.

If i saw one of my ducks eat something like that in future, If had to, I would cut into their crop myself to remove it rather than let it get into their stomach where its probably going stay and slowly kill them. There is some instruction in storeys gude for raising ducks on how to do this - I've never tried, but i would if I saw a duck eat something metal in future, as from what i have read, its much easier to get a foreign body out of their crop than further down.

Sorry i know my post isnt exactly uplifting, and I hope i am wrong and your bird passes that nut, but I suspect it might not, and in that case youq will need to find a vet who can remove it, as soon as possible.

Don't wait because the bird appears well - by the time enough damage is done for the bird to get sick, it will probably be too late to save it (and if you can save the bird it will be a mich harder recovery and a much bigger vet bill).

On the up side, you have been lucky enough to see it happen, and not find out a month or more later, so you do have the opportunity to probably save your duck.

Ring around your local area and try and find a vet who has bird experience there might be one who doesnt have any specific quals ispecialising in birds, but who happens to have poultry themselves or just has seen a lot of birds, otherwise i guess you may need to consider making a long trip to the exotic vet.

If you cant find a vet locally who feels confident removing it, they should at least be able to x ray your duck, and send those x rays to the exotic vet and liaise with them, so you can get a reasonable idea of the prognosis and cost before you take the duck on a long trip to the exotic vet for removal.

Good luck please post the outcome of this situation for your duck?