8 weeks old chick has saliva in mouth and slight lump under chin

[Kerioki]

Hello everyone. I am new to chick rearing and am panicking a bit here. One of my 8 weeks old chicks has seemed a bit lethargic since yesterday but she ate and drank with her siblings as normal. Today she seems even more out of it and I noticed there was some drool on the sides of her beak. When I picked her up and to take a closer look, i felt a slight lump under her chin that seems to irritate her when I touch it. Usually it's hard to get a chick to open it's mouth but when I applied gentle pressure where the lump is her mouth popped open and I saw saliva coating the back of her throat. She doesn't seem to be in respitory distress as she's not breathing through her mouth, but she doesn't seem to be able to swallow her grains today. She picked at a piece and it basically just stayed on her tongue so I had to pry it out, which wasn't difficult since she didn't even resist. She's usually one of the rowdier ones in the group so her sudden shift in behaviour is pretty alarming. When she goes to drink water she doesn't do the scoop method, she sort of just nibbles at the water then walks away. I don't know if it's an obstruction or some sort of illness. None of the other chicks are acting like that. Is there a safe method to figure out if the lump is some sort of obstruction? My heart breaks just looking at her, especially since I lost a chick last week from unknown causes. Any insight anyone can offer will be appreciated. I'm trying to not full out lose my mind because other than what I described she does have a bit of life in her and her little chick cries are really strong and she runs around a bit with her siblings before stopping in a corner for a break.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you post photos of her, the inside of her beak and of her poop?

What are you feeding, including treats?

Is her crop full?

 

[Kerioki]

Update:

So I gave her some water mixed with apple cider vinegar this morning because there were some brown pieces of what looked like bug at the side of her mouth. I figured she might be having some trouble with digestion only for her to start gagging after drinking a little. When we shined the light into her mouth again we found HAIR. It was an obstruction after all. The hair was wrapped around her tongue and stuck at the back of her throat which we didn't see before. My sister and I spent the next hour dislodging the hair from her mouth. Her tongue started bleeding a bit and there were some mucus looking things mixed with the hair and blood. She looked exhausted afterwards and we left her hunching on her little bed. Now we're home from work and she's almost back to her old self. She's being rowdy with her siblings and pecking at me. She's eating a lot and drinking water the scoop way. She's more alert. Only thing is her tongue went through trauma and I can see its still a bit tender. There's still some saliva but not as bad as before. I'm going to monitor her closely over the weekend just in case this is a false dawn but I'm just so relieved she's being my rowdy little troublemaker right now. Thank you all for your help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad you were able to find the hair and work it loose.
Her tongue may be a little sore for a day or so, but I think she'll be o.k.!

 

[ChickNanny13]

1st pic - I see some "red" but looks to be intestinal lining
3rd pic - blurry but think I see that "lump" you mention under her beak
Crop should be full in the evening & empty in the morning ... If you can get someone to help you, picture of inside her mouth would really help. Wondering if she's got some feed stuck.

Did she always have that "lump"? What are you feeding them? Grain? Are you providing them Chick Grit?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Where are you located in the world?

If you are giving her grains instead of a commercial chick starter then she will need access to grit. Grit is either crushed granite that you can purchase in most feed stores or sometimes you may have suitable hard small rocks/pebbles where you live that she can find while digging in the soil.

The lump under her beak, are you asking about the lump on the right side of her breast? If so, then that's her crop. This will fill up when she eats/drinks and will go down as she processes foods.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

What wonderful news. I am so glad to hear she is feeling better. Thank the Lord she has you and your sister, who never gave up. Who would have guessed a chick with a hair ball! Those are for cats, I am glad y'all kept trying to find the problem and were able to dislodge it.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Welcome from New Orleans. I am so sorry we are meeting due to a problem. I see you have @Wyorp Rock helping, that is great news! If you can follow those instructions and answer questions with as much detail as you can as well as posting pictures, God willing your little chick will be better soon. Good Luck @Kerioki

 

[Kerioki]

Can you post photos of her, the inside of her beak and of her poop?

What are you feeding, including treats?

Is her crop full?

I will take some pictures later when I get home.

I mostly feed her oats and grains/wheat. She's always catching bugs though. And I give her scrambled eggs with garlic and also greek yogurt occasionally as I hear those help with her immune system. Honestly i'm so green at this that I don't have any fancy vitamins or anthing like that. I'm going to my local feed store tomorrow to get something new for them.

Her crop was not full this morning. She did eat a bit (I gave them the eggs this morning) and she ate it up, but afterwards is when I noticed her being more withdrawn and when I checked I saw the saliva in her throat.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Where are you located? Glad you found the problem and hopefully didn't pull on the hair, her tongue damaged. You need to get Chick Grit not the grit for the adults, size is the difference. Why are you feeding grain instead of Starter/Grower?