5 week old chick w/ thread wrapped around tongue - crop not filling

[deviflux]

At some point during a 3 hour window this morning, one of my 5 week old chicks got some thread stuck and wrapped around her tongue. When I found her she was pulling and shaking her head to get unstuck. I have no idea how long she was like that. I managed to get her unstuck and carefully cut the tangled thread. It didn’t seem like there was any major damage but I also didn’t even know their tongues were barbed…so there’s that.

She instantly went right back to eating and scratching so I thought she was unhurt and just really hungry. It’s now a few hours later and she’s still voraciously eating (almost frantically, pushing the others out of her way and circling the feeder to get to new spots) but her crop doesn’t feel like it’s filling.

I assume this is just one of those wait and see situations. Is there anything I can (or should) do other than just letting her be and seeing how she is in the morning?

 

[aart]

Are you sure you got all the thread off from around her tongue?
If so, wait and see.

 

[deviflux]

Are you sure you got all the thread off from around her tongue?
If so, wait and see.

Pretty sure we got it all. One snip and it came right off. It was looped around and stuck on the barbs, so when she yanked it kept tightening and digging in. I didn’t even realize they had barbs and was panicking at first thinking she was ripping her tongue off.

 

[deviflux]

Update on my girl.

She made it! She’s got a super wonky beak from the incident, but is totally thriving.

Not exactly sure what happened, but so glad I caught it when I did and was able to save her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the update. She appears to have a cross beak/scissors beak, a common deformity. Chickens with those can live a normal life, but may be able to eat enough if usurping crumbles in a deep bowl, or to moisten some of her feed in a deep bowl with high sides. Sometimes the beak can be trimmed slightly and filed to help it meet better for eating. Here is a good article about this deformity:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/scissor-beak-aka-crossed-beak-what-it/

 

[deviflux]

Thanks for the update. She appears to have a cross beak/scissors beak, a common deformity. Chickens with those can live a normal life, but may be able to eat enough if usurping crumbles in a deep bowl, or to moisten some of her feed in a deep bowl with high sides. Sometimes the beak can be trimmed slightly and filed to help it meet better for eating. Here is a good article about this deformity:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/scissor-beak-aka-crossed-beak-what-it/

Thank you for the link! I’ve been wondering if it could be trimmed/filed to help her. I’ll definitely read up on it.